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"The boy is with you now?" Mick asked urgently.
Harry nodded, and looked out the window at his car. "I couldn't bring myself to take him there. I care about Rose, Mick. She's someone special to me. Our circumstances are all messed up and the situation is horrible, but there is something between us. Something we never have the opportunity to explore because of all the dark shit around us all the time. I need to find her and I need to protect her son.”
Damn. Feelings were involved here. That always complicated things. Mick knew firsthand that when you love someone, it actually became harder to protect them, not easier. You couldn't be objective if all you thought about was keeping them alive. What it would feel like if you lost them. It was like trying to drive through fog, not impossible but certainly harder than a bright sunny day.
“The boy is still with you? He’s in your car?”
“Yes, I couldn’t drop him off. I think something happened yesterday after her meeting, and she's been caught or is being punished. I can't risk this boy's life by taking him to that place."
Mick's mind raced. They couldn't afford to wait. If Harry didn't show up at the location soon, it would raise suspicions, and everyone involved would be in grave danger. Mick needed to act quickly.
"Where do you think Rose might be kept if she's being punished?" Mick asked, trying to formulate a plan.
Harry hesitated for a moment, thinking. "There are three apartment buildings with basements. I don't know which one she might be in. I thought maybe they decided to keep her separated from her son as punishment for something small. But once I got the orders this morning, I knew it was much worse. They're trying to permanently separate them. And that means they don't plan to keep Rose around anymore. They're giving away their power over her if they sever her relationship completely with her son. There would be nothing left to lord over her and keep her quiet. Which means a more permanent solution to silencing her.”
Mick knew they didn't have time to search all three apartments. They also hadn’t secured any tactical force or bureau that was willing to get search warrants or participate in this yet. It wasn't time to try to take these people down. He needed to get Rose and her son out of the equation so they could buy more time to get what they needed. But if Brenda was suspicious enough about Rose to punish her in this horrific way Charlize could be in danger too.
He pulled out his phone and sent a text to Charlize, knowing she was at the office. He couldn't explain everything but hoped she'd get the message to at least watch her back.
"Harry, we're going for a ride," Mick said, his tone firm. "But it has to be somewhere with security cameras, and in public. We need to protect the boy and not blow your cover."
Harry nodded, his face pale. "I'll do whatever it takes. Just please help them, Mick."
He and Mick hurried to the car. Mick glanced at the boy in the backseat, who was hiding and cowering, trying to make himself as small as possible.
“It’s going to be okay,” Mick promised, the plan still coming together in his mind. “A fast food place. That’s where we need to go.”
“You’re hungry or something?” Harry asked sounding annoyed.
“Just trust me. We need this to work.”
CHAPTER 24
CHARLIZE
The office was buzzing with nervous energy as Charlize stared at her phone screen. The ominous and cryptic text from Mick left her with a sinking feeling in her gut. She hadn't seen Brenda that morning, and everyone seemed to be skittering around, talking about an impromptu board meeting. Panic started to bubble up within her as she tried to text Mick back, but there was no response.
Finally, Brenda appeared at her office door, her usually confident demeanor replaced by an air of unease. "Charlize, there's a board meeting. We’d like you to sit in on it. I think it’s important for you to be there.”
Charlize considered pretending to be sick, but the idea of accessing a board meeting was too valuable. She needed to look these people in the eye and find out for herself who knew what was truly going on. Her gut told her it was all of them but she wanted to see for herself.
With a nod, she followed Brenda to the meeting room, her heart pounding against her ribs. Would this be some kind of ambush? Had they been able to crack her fake background or maybe even discover the fact that the grant proposal she was applying for was not real? Charlize couldn't know for sure what this was about but she had confidence she could talk her way out of any of it. Even if the board was full of heinous criminals, they certainly wouldn't do anything to her in the middle of a corporate office.
As she entered the large board room, she tried to take in everyone's face. It was laughable. It wasn't as if she'd have to point them out in the lineup someday. These were public figures who, if they were caught, would be easy to identify. But still she raked over their faces, their diamond necklaces, and their expensive cufflinks. How many of them knew about the trafficking and the drugs?
Before she could get that answer, Brenda was directing her to look over at the far wall. The presentation displayed on the screen was regarding the grant Charlize had been working on. The atmosphere was unexpectedly positive, and Charlize couldn't help but wonder if she had misinterpreted Mick's text message. Perhaps her panic had been for nothing, and everything was still on track.
Brenda addressed the whole room, detailing all the positive things about the potential grant funding that might be coming their way. She spoke incredibly highly of Charlize and her expertise. Everyone in the room looked excited and engaged. Whatever concern Charlize had about their interaction yesterday was subsiding.
As the board meeting concluded and people started filing out of the room, Charlize prepared to leave. However, Brenda, along with a man named Stephen and a woman named Fiona, motioned for her to sit back down. Her anxiety surged as they exchanged uneasy glances before finally addressing her.
"Charlize," Brenda began, her voice gravely serious, "this is a difficult conversation. We debated even having it with you but I'm worried what will happen if we don't. You are proving to be an integral part of our team and our best shot at growing what we have here. Obviously, you can tell from the reaction of our board members everyone is excited for the work that you're doing and the contributions we think you'll be able to make. Even if this grant doesn't come through, we have a high-level of confidence that you will increase our funding tremendously.”
Charlize heard the words, but the expressions of the three people did not match the positive message. She stayed silent while Stephen began explaining further.
“Brenda, Fiona, and I have been incredibly focused on taking Angels of a New Day to the next level. That's always been our goal. We started with a very bare-bones idea and have had to be creative in order to ensure the work could continue, no matter how well fundraising was going. There are some very deserving nonprofits that never get the opportunity to succeed because the funding isn't there. We never wanted that to happen here.”
“I completely understand,” Charlize chimed in. “That’s a big reason I do what I do.”
