Nelson slowly raised his hands into the air as he stepped forward, trying to calm the situation.“Hey.” His voice came out calm. Easy. Like there was no gun pointed at his face. “Isah.” He kept his eyes steady on the man in front of him. “You do not have to do this. Look at me. We are not here to hurt you. We did not come all this way to hurt anybody.” He took another small step. “And you are not a killer. We both know that. So just lower the gun and let us talk like two people who have something important to figure out together.”Isah kept backing up. His breath was still coming in pulls that had not found their rhythm yet. His eyes were jumping between Nelson and John and the gun in his hand was doing the same, the barrel moving between them like he had not decided which one to be more afraid of.Then his hand stiffened.His finger moved toward the trigger.“Do not come any closer.” His voice cracked on the last word. “I swear if either of you moves one more inch I will shoot. I mea

“I am not one hundred percent sure but everything is pointing to Karlus having Emily.”The line went quiet for a moment. Long enough that Nelson could hear the faint background sound of wherever Kyler was sitting. Then his voice came back through the phone.“What do you need me to do?”Nelson did not hesitate.“Go to the office. Right now. Walk in there and find out what is happening and what Emily is caught up in. But you have to go in clean Kyler. No tension showing on your face. No anything that makes a single person in that building look at you twice. You walk in like you have every reason in the world to be there and you belong in that room.”“I can do that. But Nelson listen to me for a second.” Kyler’s voice dropped slightly. “Karlus has been trying to get his hands on something for a while now and the feeling I am getting is that Emily has become his way in. He is running out of patience and a man like Karlus with no patience left is more dangerous than when he was still willi

Nelson and John rushed to Mrs Salvador’s house with a different energy from every other time they had made that drive. The roads felt shorter somehow even though nothing had changed about them. Nelson sat forward in the passenger seat the whole way, the flash drive turning over and over in his fingers, his mind already in that sitting room before the car had even stopped.As they pulled up to the gate and stepped out one of the house helpers was already at the front door pulling it open before either of them had raised a hand to knock. Like the house had been told they were coming. Like Mrs Salvador had a way of knowing when something important was heading toward her front door.Nelson paused just long enough at the entrance to dip his head toward the young woman holding the door.“Thank you.”Then they were inside, moving through the house at a pace completely different from the first time they had walked through it. The first time they had come in carefully, quietly, two men arrivin

As Nelson walked out of the church, the morning air hit his face, and something that had been sitting tight on his shoulders since the night before loosened slightly. Not gone. Just lighter. The church had taken a small portion of what he was carrying and agreed to hold it for him.He came down the stone steps slowly. Each foot finds the next step without rushing. The street below him was still quiet. The city is still finding its morning. He stood at the bottom of the steps for a moment and looked down the empty road ahead of him.Then his phone buzzed in his pocket.His hand moved to it before he had decided to move it. He took it out and looked at the screen. John. He stood there for a second looking at the name. Then he picked up.John’s voice came through immediately like he had been holding the phone waiting for the call to connect.“Good morning sir. I woke up this morning and you were not here. Just tell me where you are and I will drive down to you. We can continue this toget

“How the hell did you let Nelson get himself involved in something like this?” James’ voice echoed through the living room, sharp with frustration. John stayed quiet, his hands clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned pale. He looked like he wanted to pierce through his own skin from the pressure building inside him. “Look, James,” John finally said, his voice low but strained. “I talked to Nelson about this. I tried to stop him, but he was certain about the decision. Then you fly all the way down here and start talking to me like I never made an attempt.” James paced around the room, his frustration clearly written across his face. He stopped suddenly and turned to John. “You are his personal assistant, John,” he said firmly. “You’re supposed to know every move he takes, even before he takes it.” John slowly rose from his chair. Anger flashed through his eyes. “What the hell kind of words are those coming from you?” he snapped, walking closer. “Do you even realize you’re