I left her again. Midway through our conversation. Just like that.
Oh my days… I didn’t even look back. Didn’t tell her goodbye. Didn’t explain why I had to go.
And the worst part? I wanted to. God, I wanted to. Every step I took away from Debby felt like I was ripping myself in two.
But when Maddox calls, you don’t hesitate. You move.
The moment I saw his name flash across my phone screen, I knew it was serious. So I exited the ice cream shop without saying a word.
By the time I got to the black SUV parked down the street, Maddox was already in the backseat. Door open. Face tense.
I slid in and shut the door behind me. “What’s going on?”
Maddox didn’t even greet me. “We confirmed it,” he said. “The person keeping tabs on Debby… is someone from her school.”
My stomach dropped. “What?”
“They’re watching her. Trying to use her as a way to get to you.”
I groaned, slumping in the seat. “For what? What the hell do they want from me now?”
Maddox turned toward me, his expression hard. “Do you remember the human trafficking ring you infiltrated last year? The one based in Brooklyn?”
“Yeah.” My voice came out sharp. That mission had nearly cost me my life. I spent six months in deep cover, hacked their systems, exposed their supply routes, and handed over the names of every single sick bastard involved.
I remembered it all.
“You destroyed their infrastructure,” Maddox said. “You took out their top recruiters, froze their crypto wallets, and got their leader—Silas Crane—locked away.”
“So what?” I snapped. “They want payback?”
“Worse,” Maddox muttered. “Someone else has taken over. Another boss. A ghost. And they’re trying to rebuild the ring.”
I stared at him. “By going through Debby?”
“You’re the only one who knows the system inside and out. They know they can’t get to you directly, so they’re targeting your weakness.”
My jaw clenched. “She’s not a weakness.”
“She is to them,” Maddox replied. “And right now, she’s exposed.”
I cursed under my breath. “So what do you want me to do?”
“We need to identify the person on the inside,” Maddox said. “The one at her school. Whoever’s keeping tabs. They’re feeding information—photos, routines, tracking patterns.”
“Jesus,” I breathed. “She has no idea.”
Maddox nodded. “And she can’t know. Not until we’re sure.”
I leaned my head back against the seat. “I should’ve told her. I should’ve told her everything.”
“She wouldn’t have believed you,” Maddox said.
“She did,” I whispered. “She just didn’t understand.”
Maddox glanced out the tinted window. “Let’s get you back to base. We’ll figure this out.”
I went straight to the medic’s office. Not because I was hurt—but because it was the one place I could sit and think without cameras watching my every move. I sank into the corner chair, the sterile white walls pressing in on me, my brain buzzing with one name:
Debby.
She was probably back inside the shop with Susan, wondering where I went. Maybe pissed. Probably hurt.
And I hated myself for leaving her like that.
Again.
Because none of what I said was fake.
None of my feelings were a lie.
She mattered.
Hell, she was the only thing that mattered. Maddox entered the room a few minutes later. He sat down across from me with a tablet in hand, eyes scanning rapidly.
Then he paused. “Wait… Debby’s getting a phone call.”
My head snapped up. “From who?”
Maddox tapped the screen a few times. “Hold on… tracing… tracing…”
I stood up. “Maddox.”
“Give me a second—there. It’s… Dave.”
My eyes narrowed. “Dave? Her ex?”
“You mean the Dave who cheated on her with his ex—skank Rachel?”
Maddox nodded. “Yeah. That Dave.”
I stepped closer, heat rising in my chest. “Why the hell is he calling her?”