15. Vice Blackwell
VICE BLACKWELL
Milan’s name flashed across my screen while I was sitting in my office going over the latest information Mace had sent me. The second I answered, I knew something was wrong.
“Vice...”
Her voice was low and tight, and whatever little peace I’d managed to find over the last few hours disappeared immediately.
“What happened?”
“Somebody left something outside my door.”
I was already standing. “What?”
“A picture.”
I grabbed my keys from the desk and headed toward the door. “A picture of what?”
There was a short pause before she answered. “Me and you.”
My steps slowed for half a second, but my mind kept moving. “From where?”
“That restaurant. The first time we had lunch.”
That meant whoever took it had been watching longer than I thought. They hadn’t just found her new address. They had followed us, taken the picture without either one of us noticing, held onto it and waited until she moved somewhere new before leaving it outside her door.
“Are you inside your apartment?”
“No. I’m still in the hallway.”
“Don’t go in.”
“I wasn’t planning to.”
“Get back on the elevator and go downstairs.”
“I already called security.”
“Stay with them until I get there, but I don’t trust them mothafuckas either. Just make sure you stay in the lobby where people can see you.”
Her breathing changed a little, and I could hear that she was trying hard to keep herself calm.
Milan didn’t scare easily. Even when somebody had broken into her first apartment, she’d held herself together long enough to argue with me about leaving.
Hearing the fear in her voice now made something inside me tighten.
“I’m on my way,” I told her.
“You don’t have to rush.”
“I’m already rushing.”
“Vice—”
“Milan, stay downstairs. Don’t talk yourself into going back up there because you think you’re overreacting.”
“I’m not.”
“Good.”
I ended the call and dialed Mace before I made it to the elevator. He answered quickly.
“What’s up?”
“They found her again.”
The line went quiet. “What happened?”
“Somebody left a picture of me and her outside her door. The lunch from a few weeks ago.”
“Damn.”
“Get everything you can from that building. Cameras, entry logs, employees, deliveries. I want every person who got access to her floor.”
“I’m on it.”
“And send somebody to the restaurant. Find out if the cameras caught whoever took the picture.”
“You think they watched ya’ll from outside?”
“She said it was through the window.”
“I’ll handle it.”
I stepped onto the elevator and hit the lobby button. “Meet me at her building.”
“Bet.”
The ride down felt longer than it should have.
I kept seeing Milan standing in that hallway alone, holding a picture somebody had taken while we were laughing and getting to know each other.
That lunch had been the first time I’d seen her relax around me.
She’d talked shit, threatened me over some fries and tried to pretend Simone hadn’t gotten under her skin.
Now that moment had been turned into a warning.
There hadn’t been a message, and that made it worse. Whoever left the picture didn’t need one. They wanted Milan to know they’d seen us together, knew where she lived and could reach her whenever they felt like it.
They had made their point and I was about to make mine.
By the time I pulled into her building’s parking garage, two police cars were parked near the entrance and Mace and Boog was already outside. I got out and headed inside without waiting for anyone to greet me.
Milan stood near the front desk with the same security guard I remembered from the last building. She still had on her scrubs, her purse hanging from one shoulder while both hands were wrapped around the photograph.
The second she saw me, some of the tension left her face.
I walked across the lobby and stopped in front of her. “You good?”
She nodded, then immediately shook her head. “No.”
“Let me see it.”
She handed me the picture, and my jaw tightened the moment I looked down.
It was exactly what she described. Milan sat across from me at the restaurant, her head tilted slightly while she laughed at something I must’ve said.
I was watching her instead of the food in front of me, and from the angle, whoever took it had been standing outside long enough to get a clear shot through the window.
There was nothing written on it.
Nothing on the back either.
Mace walked in while I was still looking at it. He took one glance at my face and knew better than to ask whether I was pissed.
“What we got?” he asked.
“Enough to know she ain’t staying here.”
Milan turned toward me. “Vice.”
I ignored the warning in her voice and handed the picture to Mace. “Get that checked for prints.”
“Already got somebody coming.”
One of the officers stepped closer. “We need to bag it first.” Mace handed it over without arguing. The officer looked at Milan. “You said you didn’t touch anything else?”
“No. I picked up the picture, turned it over and called security.”
“Did you notice anyone following you into the building?”
“No.”
“Anybody in the elevator?”
“No. I was alone.”
I looked toward the security guard. “Pull the footage.”
“We already have building management doing that.”
“How long?”
“They’re working on it now.” I didn’t say shit but the look on my face said it all. The man’s expression tightened. “We’ll have it as soon as possible.”
Milan touched my arm before I could say anything else. “They’re trying.”
I looked at her, then back at the guard. “Somebody got on her floor and stood outside her door long enough to leave that picture. So either the cameras caught them, or somebody made sure they didn’t.”
The guard nodded. “I understand.”
“Do you?”
“Vice.” Milan’s voice was firmer this time.
I let it go for the moment and turned back to her. “Pack a bag.”
Her eyes narrowed. “I knew that was coming.”
“Good. Saves time. You’re going to my place.”
“I’m not moving in with you.”
“I didn’t say you were moving in.”
“Then what are you saying?”
“I’m saying you ain’t sleeping here tonight.”
She folded her arms across her chest. “I can stay at the hotel again.”
“No.”
“Why not?”
“Because whoever did this found you after you moved once already. I’m not putting you somewhere else so they can figure out where you are again.”
She didn’t say anything.
I didn’t like the look on her face, but I wasn’t about to soften what needed to be said. Milan had spent the last few days convincing herself this place was different. Better security. More cameras. People checking IDs. None of that had stopped somebody from getting onto her floor… again.
“I know you like this apartment,” I told her. “I know you just moved in, and I know you don’t want me telling you what to do—”
“It’s fine, Vice… Let’s go so I can pack my things.” With that, she turned around and walked off. She sounded and looked so defeated, and honestly, I didn’t blame her.
The officers cleared the apartment again before allowing us upstairs. I stayed beside Milan the entire way, while Mace remained downstairs handling the footage and talking to building security.
When the elevator opened on her floor, Milan stepped out slowly and headed to her door, unlocked it, and I followed her inside.
“I’ll be quick,” she said.
“Take your time.”
While she was packing her bags, Mace came up. I told him, “I want you to check out that one bitch that was standing at the front desk. I remember her from the other building Milan stayed in. She was security there and now she’s here and the same shit is happening.”
“Oh, believe me, I already peeped that out and got someone getting her information as we speak.” I just nodded because Mace didn’t miss a beat.
By now, Milan was walking back out with her bags. Her eyes dropped for a second before coming back to mine. “I’m ready… I can’t believe I’m going to your place. I barely even know you.”
“You know enough to call me every time something happens.” Her mouth closed. I stepped closer and lowered my voice. “I ain’t asking you to trust me with your whole life. I’m telling you my place is the safest option right now.”
“What makes your place any safer than this?”
“Nobody gets to my floor without my approval. I control the access. There’s no shared hallway. No front door anybody can stand outside of or none of that.”
She searched my face for a few seconds, probably trying to decide whether fighting me would change anything.
It wouldn’t.
“You can stay in the guest room,” I added. “I’ll give you space, but you’re leaving with me.”
“Okay…”
We left the apartment, and Milan locked the door behind us. She stood there for a second with her hand still resting on the knob. “You okay?” I asked.
“I just moved in.”
“Yeah, I know.”
“I actually liked it here.”
“I know that too.”
Her shoulders dropped slightly. “I’m tired of people making me feel like I don’t have control over my own life.”
I set the suitcase down and turned toward her. “They don’t.”
“It feels like they do.”
“They got you scared. That ain’t the same as controlling you.”
“It doesn’t feel different.”
I understood what she meant. Somebody had taken the simplest things from her. Going to work. Coming home. Sitting at lunch without wondering who might be watching. She was trying to rebuild her life after her ex, and now people she didn’t know were making every decision feel temporary.
I reached for her hand.
“This ain’t forever.” She looked down at our hands before meeting my eyes. “I’m gonna find out who they are,” I continued. “Until then, you’re staying somewhere they can’t reach you.”
Milan held my stare for another second before giving a small nod.
“A’ight,” she said quietly.
I almost smiled at her using my word but didn’t. I picked up the suitcase, and we headed back downstairs.
Mace was waiting in the lobby when we returned. “Cameras on her floor went down for twenty-three minutes.”
My grip tightened around the suitcase handle. “Again?”
“Different system, same shit.”
Milan looked between us. “So somebody shut the cameras off, again?”
“Looks that way,” Mace answered.