Chapter 13
The next day, Cannon pulled up at The Citizen’s Eye to pick up Nahla.
It had been her fourth time going into work this month, but the first time he hadn’t stuck around.
He told her that it was all a part of their plan to keep things low and routine so that they could lull Lyle PD into complacency.
Really, he wanted to use their time apart to check into Mace.
His story—about leaving the Marines, his father passing away, and his mother being sick—checked out.
After confirming those details, he followed his old friend around for the rest of the day.
Mace hadn’t done much more than chill at his mother’s house and pick up food.
He, of course, couldn’t be sure after one day that Mace and Ox weren’t working together, but the fact that he hadn’t been near Barett Performance Solutions at all that day eased Cannon’s suspicions a bit.
Now, he was about to pick up his girl and head to Porter Protects so that they could finish going through the files. To his surprise, Nahla was walking out of the building as he was pulling up to the curb. Cannon parked the car and exited it.
“What you doin’ out here, baby?”
She huffed and folded her arms.
“I needed some air. I was about to walk to the coffee shop around the corner.”
Cannon grasped her hand. “We can go there before we head to the spot. Come on.” Cannon opened her door and helped her into the car. Once he was inside, he pulled off silently.
He didn’t ask her what was bothering her until after she had had four sips of her coffee.
“Why did you need air, La?”
“Because Mr. Hill showed me this,” she said, grabbing her phone. She pulled something up and extended her arm so that he could see the screen as he drove.
It was that damn sheriff, and he was calling Nahla’s name again.
This time, though, he accused her of paying Lyle citizens for false narratives.
According to him, the ones she couldn’t bribe, she threatened, and they had witnesses who confirmed this on the record.
He ended the press conference by saying they were going to ensure that she could no longer threaten their “quaint city,” because they planned to press charges.
“How is this even possible, Cannon?” she asked when the video stopped playing. “I haven’t set foot in Lyle. I haven’t contacted my sources; I haven’t leaked any of my intel.”
Cannon was wondering the same thing. He checked his vehicles, the perimeter of the house, and all their devices daily.
Her car had been parked at her home since the day they moved into the safe house.
There were no bugs or tracking devices anywhere near them.
But there must have been something—a trigger—that caused Sheriff Redding to publicly threaten Nahla one whole month after his first press conference.
Nahla continued. “This is really not making any sense to me. I mean, for all they know, I’ve moved on. I haven’t even been telling my co-workers about where we are in the case. The only one I update is Mr. Hill, but—”
“Fuck,” Cannon said, cutting her off. He pulled into his office building.
“What?” Nahla asked.
Cannon sighed as he put the car into park and sat back.
“I’ve been so caught up in protecting you that I didn’t think about the other people connected to you.
You haven’t been bugged, but your boss prolly was.
He’s the only one other than us who knows what you’ve been working on.
They bugged his shit. Damn,” Cannon said, annoyed that he didn’t consider that possibility sooner.
Nahla paused. “Wait. You don’t think that—”
Cannon shook his head. “Nah, he doesn’t have anything to do with this.”
Nahla had been checking in with Mr. Hill every step of the way. He was the one who hired Cannon in the first place, so Cannon didn’t waste time considering him as a culprit.
“So what are we going to do?” she asked.
“We’re gon’ move forward, and I’ma keep you safe. He’s doin’ this because you’re rattling’ the right cages. Somethin’ you told Mr. Hill in your last update has them nervous, and that means we’re on the right track.
“You got this, La. And I got you.”
She nodded. “I know. I trust you.”
“Good. Let’s get inside.”
With that, they headed into the office. Capri went straight to her.
“I saw the press conference. You okay?”
Nahla sighed but nodded. As she began to explain everything we’d just realized to Capri, I headed to my office to make a phone call.
By the time I sat behind my desk, he answered the phone.
“Cane, wassup, homie?”
“What’s good, man. Look, I was thinkin’ ’bout what you said yesterday, and I ain’t lie ’bout what I said. I’ve always trusted you with my life. I ain’t lookin’ for that to change, so I’ma be up front witcha.”
“Aight,” Mace said. His tone wasn’t necessarily defensive, but it was a little clipped. Like he was preparing himself for some bullshit.”
“Are you workin’ with Ox?”
“Hell nah. I ain’t seen Ox since he retired.” Cannon could tell he had offended Mace, but it was a question he had to ask. He also heard the sincerity in Mace’s tone, and it relieved him.
“He retired?” Cannon asked, his tone a lot more relaxed.
“Yeah, man. He was granted early retirement a year ago. I’on really know what he’s been up to since, though.”
Cannon ran a hand across his face. Although he was 80 percent sure Mace could be trusted, it was still proving difficult for him to give all the details. He would never forgive himself if something happened to Nahla because he let the wrong person in.
This is your brother, Cane. You can trust him, man.
He paused a little longer, then just went for it.
He told Mace what was going on with Nahla, from the moment he was hired to last night’s stakeout and today’s press conference.
“So, basically, Ox done turned into a snake?” Mace said once Cannon was done talking.
Cannon kissed his teeth. “I’on really feel like gettin’ into the details, but that nigga been a snake, Mace.”
“Well, like I told you yesterday, I’m rockin’ wit’ you over everybody. Just tell me what you need.”
“I’ma send you the address to Ox’s new hustle. I just want you to go by there and ask for him. Just be on some cool shit. Let him know you’re back in town and that you looked him up. At some point, I want you to let it drop that you just started workin’ with me. Let me know how he reacts to that.”
“Easy. I’ll hit you when I leave his spot.”
“I appreciate you, homie.”
They hung up, and Cannon went to find Nahla and Capri. They were about to get through the rest of these files, and then he was going to do something nice for his lady.
Cap:
Everything is set up in the backyard. Except the food. That’s in the oven.
Cannon:
Preciate you, sis.
“How you feelin’?” Cannon asked as they walked into the safe house.
Nahla sighed. “We confirmed that Darius Laston is who sent both emails, so that’s a good thing. But the fact that he skipped town and isn’t willing to actually talk to us is frustrating, I just think—”
“Nahla,” Cannon said. “We’ve been talkin’ ’bout work for hours. I asked how you’re feelin’. Tell me about you.”
She smiled softly. “I’m okay. Just ready to take a shower and lie up under you.”
They walked into the kitchen, and he kissed her neck.
“We can make that happen. Go ahead and take your shower.”
“Kay,” she replied in a singsong voice. Once she was out of sight, Cannon hurried to his bedroom for a shower of his own.
When he decided he wanted to do something special for Nahla, he had to enlist his sister’s help to make it happen.
While they were all working in the office, he sent her a detailed message about what he’d like her to do before he and Nahla got home.
Cannon had to be discreet because Nahla was hella observant.
Surprising someone like her wasn’t a small feat, so the fact that she wasn’t suspicious meant that he and Capri did a good job of keeping things low-key all day.
It was just a simple back-door movie night, but he felt like she would enjoy it because she loved storytelling.
Whether it was in a newspaper, a book, or a film, that was her vibe.
The movies he had in mind were some of his favorites, and because Nahla kept saying she wanted to know more about him, he felt like this would be a good way to let her into his head a little.
He kept his shower short so that he would be out before Nahla. Once he got back into the kitchen, he checked inside the oven and realized Capri had ordered from both Nahla’s and Cannon’s favorite restaurant: The Rose Garden.
He grabbed the tins from the oven, got plates and utensils, then headed outside to set them up. Once he stepped out the patio door, he shook his head as he looked around.
All he asked Cap to do was pick them up some dinner, put out a blanket and pillows, and set up the projector.
She had gone above and beyond, though. Candles were flickering on the picnic table, fairy lights strung across the backyard, and on the table was a large covered tray. He took the cover from it, and there were strawberries, chocolate, and wine on it.
Nahla was about to eat this up.
He chilled outside until he heard her calling his name inside. Because he left the patio door open, he just waited for her to make her way out. Seconds later, he saw the door opening wider.
“Cannon, are you out here?” she asked as she walked out.
By the time Cannon turned to look at her, she had already placed her hands over her mouth, and tears were in her eyes.
He stood and made his way to her. Before he could even wrap her up in his arms, Nahla fell into his chest.
“When in the world did you have time to do this?”
He kissed the top of her head. “I asked Capri to come and hook us up. That’s why she left work early.”
“I knew she was up to something. Oh my goodness, Cannon.”