Chapter 20 #2
But this could be important.
He answered. “Yeah?”
“We’ve got movement. Shaw just booked a flight to Seattle. Arrives tomorrow. And get this, his credit card shows a reservation at The Brew & View for Tuesday afternoon. Private room in the back.”
Carson’s pulse quickened. “He’s meeting with Maggie.”
“That’s what it looks like. Captain wants surveillance in place. This could be our chance to catch them together, document the meeting.”
“I’ll be there in twenty minutes.”
He ended the call and turned to find Nora standing in the doorway, her expression a mixture of resignation and hurt.
“You have to go,” she said.
“There’s been a development. Shaw’s coming to town. We might be able to catch him meeting with Maggie, prove their connection—”
“I understand. Go.” But her voice was flat.
“Nora—”
“I said go, Carson. The case is important. I get it.”
He wanted to stay. Wanted to show her he meant it about finding balance. But this was the break they’d been waiting for. A chance to get solid evidence against Shaw.
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“I know.”
He kissed her quickly and left, missing the tears that welled in her eyes the moment the door closed.
***
The surveillance setup at The Brew & View took most of the day.
Silas and Knox positioned themselves in a panel van across the street with long-range cameras and recording equipment. Carson and Finn took positions inside an empty office building next door with a clear view of the coffee shop’s back room through the windows.
“This is good,” Finn said, adjusting the camera. “We’ll have visual and audio once we get the directional mic set up.”
Carson watched Maggie through the coffee shop windows. She looked like she always did—friendly, approachable, serving coffee with a smile.
It was hard to reconcile that image with the woman who might be laundering money and connecting criminals to a corrupt cop.
“You think she knows we’re watching?” Finn asked.
“If she does, she’s a better actress than I gave her credit for.” Carson zoomed in on the back room. “That’s where Shaw’s reservation is. Private room. Supposedly for ‘business meetings.’”
“How often does Maggie rent that room out?”
“According to her booking records, about twice a month. Always for cash. Always to repeat customers whose names don’t match any legitimate business in the area.”
“Criminal meetings.”
“That’s my guess.”
They settled in to wait. Shaw’s flight landed tomorrow morning. His reservation at The Brew & View was for two PM.
Twenty hours until they might have the proof they needed.
Twenty hours of surveillance and waiting and hoping Shaw didn’t get spooked.
Carson texted Nora: Might be late tonight. Surveillance. I’m sorry.
She didn’t respond.
***
Nora stared at Carson’s text and felt something in her chest crack.
She’d known this would happen. Known that the moment the case heated up, she’d lose him to it. That his promises about balance and being present were sincere but ultimately impossible for him to keep.
Because this was who Carson Black was. A detective who couldn’t let go. Who couldn’t stop until justice was served, no matter what it cost him personally.
She understood it. Even admired it in some ways.
But it still hurt.
Lila called while Nora was making dinner for one. “Hey! How’s my favorite business owner?”
“Overwhelmed. Excited. Terrified.” Nora stirred pasta that Carson wouldn’t be home to eat. “I might have my first client.”
“That’s amazing! We need to celebrate. Girls’ night. Tomorrow?”
“Can’t tomorrow. I have the client meeting. But maybe this weekend?”
“Perfect. We can go to that new wine bar downtown.” Lila paused. “How’s Carson? How’s living together going?”
“It’s...good. Mostly. When he’s actually here.”
“Uh-oh. Trouble in paradise?”
“Not trouble exactly. Just...he’s working on this big case. Corruption investigation. And it’s consuming him. I barely see him even when he’s home.”
“That’s cop life though, right? The job always comes first?”
“I know. But he promised it wouldn’t. Promised he’d find balance. And now—” Nora stopped, not wanting to sound like she was complaining.
“Now you’re realizing promises and reality are different things,” Lila said gently. “I’m sorry, babe. That sucks.”
“I don’t want to be the girlfriend who resents his work. Who makes him choose between the job and me. But I also don’t want to be invisible. Don’t want to spend my life waiting for him to come home and be present.”
“Have you told him that?”
“I tried. Last night. He said he’d try harder. Then this morning he got a call and left immediately.”
“So he’s trying but failing.”
“Or he’s not really trying at all. Just saying what I want to hear.” Nora dished pasta onto a single plate. “I love him, Lila. So much. But I don’t know if love is enough when the job will always win.”
“Maybe you need to give him an ultimatum. Tell him he has to actually make changes or you’re done.”
“I can’t do that. These victims deserve justice. This case is important. I can’t ask him to choose between them and me.”
“Why not? You deserve someone who chooses you. Who puts you first at least sometimes.” Lila sighed. “I’m not saying dump him. I’m saying make him understand this isn’t sustainable. That if he doesn’t find real balance, you won’t stick around forever.”
After they hung up, Nora sat with her dinner and thought about what Lila had said.
Was she being unreasonable? Expecting too much from someone whose job demanded everything?
Or was she right to want more than the scraps of attention Carson could spare between cases?
She didn’t have an answer.
All she knew was that loving Carson Black was harder than she’d expected.
And she wasn’t sure how much longer she could keep doing it.
***
At eleven PM, Carson finally left the surveillance position.
Shaw wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow. There was no reason to stay all night. Silas and Knox would take the overnight shift.
He drove home exhausted, his mind still on the case. On Shaw’s upcoming meeting with Maggie. On what they might be able to prove.
The apartment was dark when he let himself in. Nora had already gone to bed.
Carson found a plate of pasta in the fridge with a note: In case you’re hungry.
Guilt twisted in his stomach. She’d made him dinner. Waited for him. Eventually given up and gone to bed alone.
He heated up the pasta and ate standing at the counter, too tired to sit. Then he showered and slipped into bed beside her.
Nora was asleep—or pretending to be. She didn’t turn toward him like she usually did. Didn’t press back against him when he wrapped his arm around her waist.
The distance between them felt wider than the few inches separating their bodies.
“I’m sorry,” Carson whispered into the darkness.
Nora didn’t respond.
And Carson lay there, holding the woman he loved, feeling her slip away from him one broken promise at a time.
Tomorrow, he’d catch Shaw. He’d get the evidence they needed. He’d break this case wide open.
And then—after that—he’d fix things with Nora.
He’d be better. More present. More balanced.
After this case.
But even as he thought it, Carson knew the truth.
There would always be another case. Another victim needing justice. Another reason to obsess and push everything else aside.
This was who he was.
And he didn’t know if he could change.
Even for her.
Even for love.
The question was: would Nora still be there when he finally figured out how?
Or would she realize she deserved someone who could actually put her first?
Someone who wasn’t irreparably broken by nineteen years of chasing ghosts and trying to save people he couldn’t save?
Carson held her tighter, as if he could keep her through proximity alone.
But he could feel her slipping away.
And he didn’t know how to stop it.
Not when the case demanded everything.
Not when justice was on the line.
Not when he was Carson Black, the detective who never let go.
Even when letting go might be the only way to keep what mattered most.