I glanced over my shoulder at Levi who was listening attentively.
“I found her behind a dumpster at the back of the building. Strangled.”
I heard Levi gasp and turned to see him with his hand over his mouth.
“Did you call it in?” Ronan asked.
“Yeah, I called Declan.”
“Good,” Ronan said. “Tell him what’s going on, but make sure he knows we don’t need backup. If T sees even a single patrol car, he might panic and do something stupid.”
“Okay. Seth and I will wait here for Declan and his guys. Keep us posted.”
“We will,” I said and then I hung up. I looked at Levi again and saw he was barely holding it together.
“She…she was a shitty mom, but she didn’t deserve that,” Levi whispered.
“I know,” I responded, because what else could I say?
Once we reached the apartment, we parked a street over where T wouldn’t be able to see us. I was torn with what to do next because I didn’t want to leave Levi in the car, but I knew Ronan and I would both need to go to the apartment to get Henry. I got out of the car and opened Levi’s door. I extended my hand into the backseat and waited until he took it. I urged him out of the car and then leaned him against it, caging him in with my body.
“I know you hate me right now, and I can’t say I blame you, but I need you to do what I tell you. And not just because I don’t want to put you or Henry at risk, but because if I have to worry about you for even a second, it could get me or Ronan killed. And I don’t think you want that.”
“No,” he quickly said. “And I don’t hate you,” he whispered.
I leaned down and kissed him. “I need you to stay in the car and lock the doors. If you hear gunshots, I need you to stay in the car. If you see T, I want you to duck down so he can’t see you. If you are at risk of getting hurt at any time, you take the keys and drive away.” I caught the car keys when Ronan tossed them to me.
“Please, promise me you’ll do that for me.”
“I promise,” Levi said solemnly.
I kissed him again, but when I went to pull away, he grabbed my arm. “Promise you’ll come back. All three of you,” he said as he glanced over at Ronan.
“Promise,” I whispered and then I pressed a soft kiss against his lips.
“I love you,” I said, but I didn’t wait to see if he’d say it back. I was afraid he wouldn’t. “Get in the car and lock it,” I urged as I left his side and strode around the car.
As Ronan and I approached the building, I glanced at him and said, “Thank you for this.”
He nodded. “I think we both have some things we need to say to each other when this is over,” he murmured. “I fucked up. I put my fear for one family member above my trust of another.”
His words warmed me and gave me hope that maybe my friendship with this man wasn’t beyond repair.
“I’m not sure I would have behaved any differently. I understand that now,” I said. “I wouldn’t have before Levi.”
Ronan nodded and then he gave me a slap on the back. “Let’s do this.”
The apartment building wasn’t big and the neighborhood was even worse than Levi’s. The few people on the streets sent glances our way, but didn’t do anything more than quicken their strides when they saw us pulling our guns out. I suspected guns weren’t anything new for the residents around here.
“Fire escape,” I said. Daisy had given Ronan enough information to confirm there were only six apartments in the building and that Jalissa’s was on the top floor facing the street. Like Levi’s apartment, there was a fire escape in front of the window. But unlike the day I’d climbed up from the bottom of it to get to Henry, I needed to be quieter this time around so I wanted to climb down from the roof. Ronan and I entered the building and took our time clearing the stairwell as we made our way to the third floor. Ronan waited as I went to the door leading to the roof and quickly picked the lock. It took just minutes to get to the fire escape. I’d put in the earpiece for the communications system that would allow me to interface with Ronan through an identical earpiece he was using while I’d been in the car.
“I’m at the fire escape,” I said.
“Copy.”
I carefully climbed over the edge and tested the fire escape to make sure it would hold my weight. Fortunately, it was more solidly put together than it looked. It also didn’t make as much noise as I’d expected.