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Instead, Charlize lowered her voice and sighed. “He was going to kill them all if I didn’t.”
“He nearly killed you.” Mick’s tone started rough and then softened. “Robert Albanese held a gun to your head and pulled the trigger.”
“It jammed.” She smiled wryly. “And if I hadn’t been there to get all those kids out, they’d be dead. We knew it was at a boiling point. It was clear he couldn’t be stopped. I had to go in.”
“We could have gone in together,” Mick bit out.
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t lie to yourself, please. There was only one way that was happening that day. The basement window was small. Time was ticking. You were still fifteen minutes away. I had to make a call.”
“It was the wrong call.” He set his jaw angrily. “You were a cop for how many years? You know you don’t go in somewhere without backup. You don’t go in unarmed. It creates more risk.”
The rage built in her again. “And you made sure to tell anyone who would listen how I’d screwed up. They sidelined me for a year. I had psychological evaluation. Mandatory therapy. You sold me out. You could have covered for me. I got those kids out that window. I did what I had to do and you hung me out to dry.”
“We risk our lives all the time for this job, but we do it in a calculated way. We do it together and with the intel we get from the people we work for. I understand bending the rules. You know I do, but you should have waited for me to get there.”
“They’d be dead. I’d rather live with your judgement than their blood on my hands.”
“The problem is you almost didn’t live. That’s what I’m saying.” Mick shook his head.
“Almost doesn’t count. You should be familiar with that sentiment.” She eyed him closely, waiting to see if he was reading between the lines. They’d had a lot of almost moments over the years. Near misses of a relationship that never was. Almost was.
The unspoken memories hung between them for what felt like ages. She sure as hell wasn’t going to get sentimental out loud about all the times they’d stayed up all night on a stakeout and laughed until their sides hurt. How his hand would always brush hers. The way their stares lingered. She knew, for a guy who ran toward danger, he wouldn’t be brave enough to bring it up either.
“I thought he shot you that day. The last thing I heard over the phone was the gun cocking. Then the line went dead.” The way he blinked, slow and deliberate, made her wonder if he was fighting off tears.
“You should have trusted me.”
“You should have waited for me.”
This is why she’d never reached out before now. She knew he wouldn’t back down. In his eyes, she’d screwed up that day. Broken protocol, and it nearly cost her everything. The problem was, he’d never been some hard and fast rule follower. She’d seen him push boundaries. Work around protocol. The look on his face confirmed what she’d always wondered. It was different when she did it because he was more afraid to lose her than to lose his own life. He cared about her. Not just as a partner.
“None of it matters,” Charlize finally offered firmly. “We aren’t working together again. That part of our lives is over. I came here as a courtesy to Carmen. I had no clue you’d be here. This could never work again.” She gestured between the two of them.
“I agree. Do you want to call Carmen or should I? She’ll need one of us to stay on this. It’s monumentally bad. Needs to be dealt with. The file reads like a horror movie script.”
Charlize tipped her head to the side and looked down at the open file on the coffee table. “What are we dealing with?” The wordwehad just slipped out. She had no intention of working with Mick again. But it was time to decide if she’d stay and work the case on her own.
Mick had a funny look on his face which intrigued her. This wasn’t going to be like any normal situation they’d handle for the Kinross family.
“Read it through. It’s messed up. Apparently, there is this group going around Florida and rounding up people experiencing homelessness. Young folks. Desperate. Single parents. They’re promising them resources and a new start.”
“Too good to be true, I’m sure.”
“It’s awful. They get them in housing. Make it look like they’re going to finally get a chance to succeed then put them to work selling or making drugs. Sometimes getting them hooked too. They essentially hold them hostage and force them to work, taking all the money they make selling. There is a really special element to what they do. Something so heinous.”
“Worse than forcing people to sell drugs and keep them captive?”
“It’s single mothers. They target them. Their children become the collateral. This group is parading around as a charity trying to give mothers a chance at a new life. Then they threaten them and their children into doing what they want.”
Charlize was skeptical. “Why do they need us? It’s clearly a criminal enterprise. The cops would be all over this. Trafficking. Endangering minors. Kidnapping. It has no shortage of prosecutable offenses. Some young detective out there would love to slap their name on a high profile bust.” Charlize furrowed her brows and thought of all the pushy and eager detectives she’d worked with who’d step on anyone in their way to get their name in the paper.
“The women are getting busted and won’t turn on the people putting them out on the streets to sell. They know if they do, they’ll lose their kids for good one way or another. So cops pick the women up for selling drugs, try to get them to turn on the next rung up of dealers, and they’re too afraid. The organization has a good front. They’re legit in a lot of ways. They do help find housing, and even real employment, offer childcare, but this other faction is a form of trafficking that’s not on the radar yet.”
“So how do we know about it?” Charlize understood the Kinross organization had a far-reaching network of people, but if an organization was trying to keep their dealings quiet, maybe someone at Kinross had gotten it wrong.
“Kinross was tasked with tracking down a missing woman who was thought to be in danger. At first, once they knew she’d been taken in by the Angels of a New Day Charity, they nearly closed the case. She was found. Living with her four-year-old son in one of their rent-controlled apartments. It all looked positive.”
“But we know not to take anything at face value.” Charlize thought of all the cases she’d seen over the years that were far more sinister than they appeared.
