“That’s why I count exits. All that time. She had us scared, traumatized. And it was her. I think my mama killed my daddy, Farrah.”
His voice cracked, his lashes sweeping down to hide his suddenly damp eyes. I’d seen Mekhi Venzant without clothes, but I’d never seen him naked, not like this. My heart broke for him.
“You remember what you told me about Marissa?” I began softly. “You were a kid. A child who was scared. There was nothing you could do.”
I stopped suddenly, wouldn’t let myself say his mother was a selfish bitch for ever putting him in that position. Instead, Ikissed him, slow and sweet, letting my lips say all the things my mouth wouldn’t.
He exhaled when I pulled back, a long breath that I prayed released some of his tension. His hands finally tightened on my hips, pulling me down into him.
“You shouldn’t be in this shit,” he said quietly. “None of this should be touching you. You supposed to be studying, going to class, living your life?—”
“And I am,” I cut in. “But I’m also here. With you.”
“Annoying the hell outta me,” he teased.
I kissed my teeth. “And you like it. I’m not scared of no Trell,” I continued. “And any of the shit he brings. You make me feel safe, Mekhi.”
His lips brushed my forehead in a soft kiss. It felt like a thank you.
“Good. Took yo’ irritating ass long enough to admit it!”
Smiling, I settled back down on his chest, back over his heart. The low, steady beat of it was becoming my favorite rhythm. I hadn’t lied to him—his presence made me feel safe. And now that Trell had a name, had an origin story like other villains, I trusted that it was only a matter of time before we caught him.
The room was quiet except for our breathing. I was used to arguing with him, fussing at him, used to some kind of noise between us. But right here, in this bed, wrapped up in silence, wrapped up inhim, I was content.
My office was too damnquiet.
That was the first thing I noticed. It was a couple of days after my meeting with Medgar. I was in my office to bring together a team I trusted implicitly to finish this shit up. I didn’t like the silence of the men here. It wasn’t the usual quiet calm you get in an office perched above a city that typically moved slow. This was a different kind. The wrong kind. The kind that said everybody in the room was thinking the same shit and not one of us wanted to say it out loud.
I dropped into the head chair at the long glass conference table, the view behind me stretching over the compact downtown rows of restored warehouses and low-rise offices andthe casinos perched on the Red River. The sun was blazing a buttery yellow, but the mood in here stayed cold.
Tex was at the foot of the table, ready to make technology give up the secrets I was damn near desperate to uncover. Seth leaned back in a chair to my right, hands laced behind his head like he was trying to relax, even though the bounce in his knee said he was anything but. Ajani Miller was across from him, tapping a pen against a legal pad like the damn thing owed him money. Braeden Christopher stood near the window with his arms folded, unreadable as always. And the great Optimus “Prime” Fontenot was posted near the door, scanning the room like he was expecting a threat to walk in. Trell was a special case, a man who existed, but didn’t. The other men had already been working at the edges of this. Now, I was bringing them to the center.
Finally, I spoke.
“A’ight. Somebody tell me what I’m missing.”
Seth scoffed. “Where you want us to start? The part where Trell ain’t supposed to exist? Or the part where he somehow everywhere at the same time?”
I shot him a look. He shut up.
Ajani cleared his throat. “Let’s start simple. Legally—and I do mean legally—Trell does not exist.”
He slid a file toward me.
“Birth certificate sealed. Previous identity scrubbed from all accessible federal systems. No hospital records. No DMV records. No utilities, no bank accounts, no phone contracts. It’s like somebody hitdeleteon the man.”
I flipped through the file, my temper ratcheting, slow and steady. Medgar had said this shit, but seeing it on paper? That was something else. I looked at Tex. He shook his head.
“Same so far, Khi,” he said.
“So, he a ghost,” I murmured.
“A ghost with excellent connections,” Braeden commented, voice low, unbothered. “This type of erasure doesn’t happen without a federal-level assist.”
Prime scoffed. “Or without daddy issues.”
“Oh, yeah. Definitely daddy issues,” echoed Seth. “Trell was hidden from Medgar, right? His granddaddy went out of his way to bury him. I mean above and beyond.”
