Page 78 of Omar

Neither of us said anything. I crossed the room and she met me halfway. My arms went around her and hers went around my waist and she pressed her face into my chest. I held her there for a long time. Ma watched us from the table without saying a word. Shanay kept her eyes on her phone, giving us the moment without making it a thing.

"You're here," Asha said against my chest.

"Yeah. I'm here."

"I turned my phone off."

"Good."

She pulled back and looked at me. "Cee's gonna tell Supreme I didn't come back."

"Let him tell him."

"Omar."

"Let him tell him. We ready for that."

Ma stood up from the table, gathered the plates, and took them to the sink. She put her hand on my shoulder as she passed. Didn't say anything. Didn't need to.

Shanay left with Ma once Kadeem's car arrived. I walked them to the door and Shanay stopped in the hallway.

"She's strong," Shanay told me quietly. "Stronger than she thinks. Take care of her."

"I will."

"And Omar." She looked at me. "Don't let this make you sloppy. Kadeem needs you sharp."

She was right about that too. I went back inside.

Asha was curled up on the couch with her eyes closed. I sat down next to her, put her feet in my lap, and let her sleep while I went through my phone.

Devon's updates came in a steady stream over the next few hours. Supreme knew she was gone. His people had called Cee first, then Supreme directly. Supreme made six phone calls in the first hour. Devon's contact inside the crew confirmed he was running a quiet search. No public noise, no street alerts. Supreme was keeping it contained because a man like him didn't let people know his woman had walked out. That was weakness. That was blood in the water.

But the search was happening. Teams in cars, people checking her known locations, someone sitting outside Nene's building. Devon flagged all of it.

I called Kadeem from the bedroom while Asha slept.

"He's looking," I said.

"Expected. How wide?"

"Six teams. Inner circle only. He ain't broadcasting it."

"Good. That means he's embarrassed, which means he's vulnerable." Kadeem paused. "Bring her to the house tomorrow. I want to go through what she knows. Properly. Devon can run the debrief."

"She just got here, Deem."

"I know that. Tomorrow. Give her tonight."

I hung up and went back to the living room. Asha was still sleeping. I sat in the chair across from her and went through Devon's files on my laptop. The territory reports, the financial trail, the Greyline documents. Work I should have been doing all day instead of sitting in East New York watching my phone.

Devon texted at nine: Stone wants to come by tomorrow. Review what she's got. Said he can help structure the Associates presentation.

I thought about that for a minute. Stone reviewing Asha's intel meant Stone in the room with her, asking questions, assessing what she knew. It made tactical sense. Stone was the best at organizing information for the Associates. His presentations were clean, thorough, persuasive.

Tell him noon, I replied.

Stone came the next day. Asha was already at Ma's kitchen table with Kadeem, Devon's laptop open between them, a printed map of Brooklyn spread across the surface. Kadeem had a notepad. Devon had a second screen running his database.