Chapter 239
ROO POV
The knock ca once. I didn’t look up from the file in front of , but I already knew sothing was wrong.
Jas never knocked like that unless he had to. "Enter," I said. The door opened, and both Jas and Antonio stepped inside.
That alone was enough.
Jas moved first, his expression carved from stone, jaw tight, eyes sharp. Antonio followed, broader, heavier, his presence filling the space without a sound.
Neither of them spoke. They didn’t need to. I leaned back slowly in my chair, fingers steepling in front of .
The room felt smaller all of a sudden. Tighter. Like it was holding its breath. "What happened."
Jas walked forward and placed sothing on my desk.
Katya’s phone. It made no sound when it touched the polished wood, but my gaze locked onto it imdiately. I hadn’t expected it back this soon.
Beside it, Jas set down a small transparent sleeve. Inside was sothing no bigger than a grain of rice—dark, precise, unmistakable to anyone who knew what to look for.
I didn’t reach for it.My eyes flicked to Jas instead. "You checked it," I said.
"Yes."
"And?"
"It wasn’t clean."Jas’ voice was flat, Antonio shifted slightly behind him. Not restless. Just alert.
I picked up the transparent sleeve between my fingers and held it up to the light. The device inside caught faintly, a dull glint against the plastic.
"A passive micro-transmitter," Jas continued. "Low-frequency. Not constantly active. It wouldn’t ping unless triggered remotely."
Careful. Clever.
"And not sothing an ex cop now civilian just ’has,’" Antonio added quietly.
No. It wasn’t, even the best of best Police doesn’t have access to such technology.I turned the sleeve once more, my expression unchanged.
"Traceable?"
"Potentially," Jas said. "If activated. But whoever planted it knew what they were doing. It’s buried deep. Factory-seated. Wouldn’t show up on a surface scan."
aning this phone hadn’t been bought that sa day it was given to katya. I set the sleeve down gently and finally looked at the phone itself.
Katya’s phone.
So small. So ordinary. And now sitting on my desk like an accusation.
Michael.
The na surfaced uninvited, slow and deliberate.
That guy, huh. A forr cop. A coincidence that walked too close to Katya. I’d dismissed him too quickly—filed him under inconvenient but manageable.
I didn’t like realizing that. I straightened and looked back at Jas and Antonio. "Update on Michael," I said calmly. "Everything."
Jas didn’t hesitate. "We ran a deeper sweep after you ordered the background check. His service record checks out. Clean discharge. No active warrants. No current affiliations with law enforcent agencies that we can confirm."
"Confirm," I repeated softly.
Antonio crossed his arms. "He’s been living quiet. Too quiet, if you ask . No debts. No obvious vices. No close ties."
That wasn’t reassuring. "Have we put eyes on him," I asked.
"Yes," Jas said. "Two n. Rotating. He doesn’t know they’re there."
"Good." I picked up the phone again, turning it over in my hand. "Any movent since last night?"
"He stayed ho," Antonio replied. "No calls. No visitors. He hasn’t tried to reach her."
That made my jaw tighten. Because if he had tried, the transmitter might already be active.
"And the device," I asked, tapping the transparent sleeve lightly with one finger. "Any indication it was triggered."
Jas shook his head. "No outgoing signal detected yet."
Yet. Silence settled between us again, heavier now, layered with implication. Whoever planted that transmitter wasn’t sloppy.
They were patient. Strategic. Waiting for proximity. Waiting for relevance. Waiting for her.
I exhaled slowly through my nose.
"So either Michael is exactly what he claims to be," I said, more to myself than them, "or soone is using him as a convenient shadow."
Antonio’s eyes hardened. "Either way, he’s too close."
"Yes, he is" I agreed quietly, placing the phone back on the desk, decisively this ti. "Double the surveillance. No contact. No pressure. I want him comfortable."
Jas nodded once. "And if he makes a move?"
"Then I’ll know which version of him is real."
I paused, then added, "And Jas....."
"Yes, Don?"
"Bring a new phone, sa copy as this one, I don’t want Katya suspecting anything." Jas nodded once, already turning toward the door.
"I’ll handle it," he said. The door closed behind him with a soft click.
Antonio didn’t move. I exhaled slowly and leaned back in my chair, rubbing a hand over my face. Of course he stayed. Antonio never left when sothing bothered him and this was practically an invitation.
He pulled out the chair opposite my desk and sat down without asking, the wood creaking under his weight.
He leaned forward, forearms resting on his knees, eyes fixed on .
"She’s unraveling," he said.
I didn’t answer.
"You know she is," Antonio continued, voice low but relentless. "First adelasia, Then this?."
That made sothing sharp twist in my chest, fast and unwelco.
" She wasn’t the cause of that woman’s death, I killed adelasia on my own terms," I said evenly.
"No," Antonio argued. "You didn’t. You shot her on impulse." I shot him a warning look. He ignored it.
"You killed your cousin because of her whether you believe it or not."
Silence stretched between us. Thick. Familiar. The kind that only existed between n who had survived too much together to pretend politeness mattered.
"You’re getting sloppy," Antonio added after a mont. "Not in strategy. In attachnt."
My jaw tightened. "Choose your next words carefully."
He didn’t flinch. "You didn’t even look this hard when we found a tracker in your own cars years ago. But one phone in her hand and suddenly it’s war protocol."
I stood abruptly, chair scraping against the floor. "Because she is the point of entry," I snapped. "Because she doesn’t know how this world works. Because she doesn’t know how to lie."
Antonio straightened slightly. "Exactly." That stopped .
"She’s not bait," he said firmly. "And she’s not a soldier. But you’re treating her like both."
I turned away, staring out the window without really seeing anything. The city below looked distant. Unimportant.
"I am preventing a problem," I said.
"No," Antonio replied. "You’re trying to control the fear that she’ll be taken from you." I laughed once, a short and humorless one. "That’s rich coming from you."
"Say what you want," he said. "But answer this....do you ever once consider telling her the truth?"
I didn’t respond. Antonio stood slowly. "That’s what I thought."
He moved toward the door, then paused, hand on the handle. "Michael may or may not be a threat," he said over his shoulder. "But if you keep tightening the leash around her neck, you’ll be the one she runs from."
††
Well well well, Michael isn’t trustable?
And what truth is Roo hiding lol
Is it about the tracker or is it sothing else lol
Thanks for reading
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