“Not exactly. Where you were, was the other operation. This other place—”
“Home base,” I guessed.
“Smart man.”
“Holy shit, how did Mason and I not know? There was never any talk, no word about another house.”
Sunny made some sort of affirmative noise. “From what my men could gather, no one knows about this place. One of them knows a guy, that knows a guy, that’s fucking this chick, who belongs to Juarez. She’s been to both places; she’s the one that spilled about the other house. Said something about not knowing why she couldn’t live at the main op while he was locked up, but that Juarez was locking it down so no one could get in or out. Locking down a house from prison . . . now if that doesn’t sound like a man hiding something—or someone—I don’t know what does.”
I was already out of bed and grabbing at the nearest clothes I could find.
“So we brought the girl to our place, got her high, and waited for her to start talking. Looks like the reason no one knows about this place is because if they’ve been privileged to learn about it, they can live there. But if they’ve been told about it, they don’t ever make it out of the crew to tell about it.”
“Where is it, Sunny? Did she tell you where it is?”
“She did, but I’m going to tell you to cool your ass, because you’re not going in right now.”
I straightened from grabbing a shirt and pulled it over my head. “Why the hell not?”
“I told you, they’re locked down, which means they’re waiting for you or the department to show. And this isn’t just some house, it’s a warehouse turned into a fully functioning house and office for his business. Juarez’s princess looked like the type that was well taken care of, and she wanted to live there. So it’s not going to be as simple as busting down the door and running out with her. It’s going to be big, they’re going to be waiting for you, and it’s going to probably be locked up good. You need to go do some surveillance, sit on it for a while, and make sure you know what you’re doing first.”
My head dropped back and I groaned. I hated it when Sunny was right.
“Hey, K-money.”
“What?”
“I’m not taking offense to what you said, because I’d probably be in the same state you’re in now. But I’m telling you . . . don’t let this change you into that person. It’s one thing when you’re on assignment, it’s another when it’s just you. Ya feel?”
“I’m sorry, man. I just—fuck. I don’t even know.” I didn’t know how I felt about the fact that I’d just threatened an entire crew, but I hated that I’d just threatened another officer . . . especially one putting his career and life on the line to help me.
“I’d go in with you if I could, but you know I can’t. Don’t go in it alone. And make sure no one at the department is watching you, because if they are, you know they’ll stop you before you can take action.”
“Got it.”
Sunny rattled off an address and grunted in confirmation when I repeated it back to him. “Be safe, go get your bitch.”
I huffed lamely and sucked hard on my lip ring. “Hey, uh, thanks, man. I really do appreciate everything you did for me on this. I’d send you an invite to the wedding whenever I get her back, but I know you wouldn’t show.”
He laughed, and suddenly the Street Sunny was gone, and the Cop Sunny was there. “Just love her man, take care of her. And maybe send me a picture of you two on the day so I can feel like I was there, yeah?”
“Yeah, man, I’ll do that.”
“Later.”
I pressed the END button and sat on the bed as I pulled up the address on the map and memorized the location, as w
ell as a handful of ways to get there. Pulling up my contacts, I hit Mason’s name and waited.
“Mmm?” Mason groaned when he answered his phone.
“Get up, get over here . . . we need to go. I got info, Sunny just called me. I know where she is, man. Come on, let’s go.”
“Kash? The hell—do you know what time it is?”
I looked around me until I found the clock. Just as I started to apologize out of habit for calling him at three in the morning, I stopped and huffed. “Do you think I give a shit? She’s been gone for thirty-four days now! Who cares what time it is? My fiancée was snatched and I think I know where she is, so we need to get her back, you asshole!”
He grunted a couple of times like he was sitting up, and yawned. “I know, sorry. I wasn’t thinking. Kash, man, you know they’re not going to let you go anywhere without watching you. Wait, did you say Sunny called you? When?”