Chapter 5 Hawk
HAWK
I pace the length of the hallway outside Belinda’s room until my vision blurs. My head’s pounding, a mix of exhaustion and guilt, but I can’t stop moving. I need momentum. It’s the only thing that’s ever kept me sane.
My mind keeps looping through everything that’s fallen apart in less than forty-eight hours—Eagle’s call, Reyes disappearing, Daniela’s immigration nightmare, and now Belinda.
It feels orchestrated. Like someone set up dominoes months ago, and I was too busy trying to breathe to notice them falling.
I glance toward the stairs. Daniela’s shadow flickers at the bottom, faint against the hall light. She hasn’t gone to bed. She won’t.
When I find her in the kitchen, she’s sitting at the counter, knees drawn up, phone in one hand, staring at nothing. Her hair’s falling loose around her face, and there’s a new kind of distance in her eyes.
I take the seat next to her. “You should try to rest.”
“I can’t,” she says without looking up.
“I know.”
Silence stretches. A pot of coffee steams on the counter, untouched.
She finally looks at me. “Do you really think we’ll find her?”
“Yes.” I don’t hesitate. “And we’ll find whoever took her.”
“You say that like you already have a plan.”
I smile. “I do.”
She widens her eyes. “What is it?”
“I’ll tell you when I know it’ll work.”
Her mouth tightens. “You always think you can fix everything.”
“I have to believe I can,” I say.
She stares at me for a long time, like she wants to argue, but she doesn’t. Her eyes flicker—anger, grief, maybe both—and she nods once.
“Fine,” she says softly. “Then let’s start trying.”