The Fall of East

by Nana Malone

  I tried to look anywhere but at them. The level of intimacy was too much. Sure, the two of them kissed each other a lot. And Ben's hands were always all over her, but there was something different about them now. Something so settled. And I wondered if I would ever feel like that.

  Livy said, "Well, it's obvious why Theroux wants Nyla in on it. He wants you to catch him."

  I lifted my brow. "Oh, yeah?"

  "Well look, no one goes to this much trouble for a mere gripe, right? Maybe Warlow stole from him. So he wants vengeance. Makes sense. But to systematically go after someone and ruin their whole life, that's more than just vengeance. That's you-killed-my-whole-family, mafia-level stuff."

  "You think it has to do with more than money?"

  She shrugged. "If I had to bet, I’d say so. The only thing I know that makes you go crazier than money or a family vendetta is love."

  I frowned. "You think this is over a woman?"

  She gave me a bemused smile like I was an idiot. "Okay, so if someone hurt Nyla, or took her, or anything like that, what would you do?"

  My answer was quick, and I didn't even hesitate. "I'd annihilate them quickly and efficiently. Ruin their whole life."

  She nodded. "Yes, obviously. All of the above. This feels like that. So, if you can find out about the women in their lives, someone they worked with, someone they dealt with, you'll have an answer."

  Then suddenly it struck me, and I pushed to my feet. "Oh shit."

  The lads all looked at me like I had lost it, and Drew said, "What? Sweetheart needs you?"

  "I have to go talk to her. We have the answer to this. Theroux gave Nyla something to investigate on her father with some cryptic note that her father wasn't who she thought he was. When Nyla started looking, she found a confidential informant that had been part of Theroux’s crew. She was an associate of Theroux and Warlow. If there was a woman involved, it's probably her."

  Ben nodded. "Good. Then let's get Nyla and Amelia on finding out who this mystery woman is. It's time to put the puzzle pieces together."

  Chapter Twelve

  East

  As I gave notes to Belinda, she scribbled furiously, flipping the papers over. "Yup, got it. Oh, and don't forget that you need to look at the final design plans for the Dubai property. You just need to sign off on them, and then they will move forward and send them off to the project managers. Then for Tahiti, the boutique property with Jax, the build has started on it, so you have a check-in on your calendar for next month for you to do a site visit. Should I also book a ticket for Miss Kincade?”

  My lips curved up into a smile thinking of this morning. "Yes. I’d like to surprise her. I see you have things well in hand."

  "Well, that's my job, right?"

  She lifted her eyes and shoved her glasses up her nose. Today, her face was clear of bruises, but she still looked tired.

  "Is Jack bothering you again?"

  She shook her head. "No. Sometimes I think I see him, but I remind myself that it's not real. It's a figment of my imagination. I know you sorted it with the police. They were great. They took my statement, and I filed a restraining order. I have you to thank for that."

  "I didn't do anything."

  She bit her lip as she smiled. "Right, of course you didn't do anything. Just know that if you had done something, I would be eternally grateful, but I have zero way to pay you back."

  "I don't need you to pay me back. I care about my people. And you are one of my people, so if he gives you any more trouble, just let me know." I was just glad she was safe.

  She nodded and pushed to her feet. "Yes, sir, Mr. Hale."

  I was gearing up for my next call when the ping came through.

  I had set up a facial recognition scan for Garreth Jameson to coincide with any members of the Wilson Crew. So far, nothing had come up. But I’d just gotten an alert. I’d set up an algorithm search for Hazel Frost after seeing her with Jameson. So far nothing had popped. Until now.

  As I was about to pull up my system, my phone rang. I glanced down when I saw it was Telly. As soon as I connected, she said, "Hey, I got an alert.”

  “Me too. I’m checking now.”

  It was a race to see who could get there first. My ego just wouldn’t let her have one. But still she beat me to it. “This is odd. The hit is on Krista Wilson, not Hazel Frost.”

  “Put your glasses on love, Krista and Hazel are one in the same.” For a long moment I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. There was no way.

  “Okay, I just put on my glasses. No way, East. This has to be wrong. I’ve been drinking with this woman.”

  “The data doesn’t lie. But what the fuck does this mean?”

  I could practically see her brow furrow. “Another problem. This claims that Krista Wilson is twenty-nine years old. That can’t be right.”

  Dread started to gnaw at my gut. I’d dismissed Hazel that first night at dinner. Should I have taken a closer look?

  Yeah, you git. Krista Wilson was part of the Wilson Crew. She’d fooled us all into thinking she was just an art student. But that was part of the disguise, wasn’t it? To blend. To mix. To make people believe you. Trust you.

  “Shit, East, do you have a location on her?”

  Oh, fuck me. A few quick keystrokes told me I was in trouble. “I'll call you back." Telly didn't say anything as I hung up.

  I called Nyla, but her phone kept telling me that she was out of range or had stopped working.

  Fuck, Nyla. It was only as I tried redialing that I saw her text.

  Fuck me.

  All of the fucking pieces were falling into line together. Jesus Christ, I needed to find her. When it came to her safety, I had no qualms about activating Bird's Eye. I had it on her phone, which was apparently off, but I could at least still track the GPS location.

  It paid to be a paranoid son of a bitch. While I got the system running, I accessed the CCTV cameras. I was going fast and sloppy. I didn't care about being caught. I needed to get to Nyla, and I needed to get to her now.

  Nyla

  My eyes were burning. I'd been going over the case files for Ryder’s murder all morning, and I still had no leads, nowhere to go. I'd already looked at all known associates, and they all had alibis that were verifiable. So who the hell had wanted him dead?

  The obvious answer was one of his former partners. Two of them were in jail. A third had been incapacitated by a stroke, which only left one. The one no one had been able to find for going on three years now.

  A plastic bag rustled and dropped on my desk. My head snapped up. I'd been so caught up in what I was doing, I hadn't seen Hazel come in. "Oh, hey, Hazel. I don't know where Denning is."

  "No, I'm not here for him. I'm here for you. I just finished an appointment and was in the neighborhood. We're going shopping."

  "What?"

  "Come on. When's the last time you skived off of work? Come with me."

  "No. Hazel, I know it may seem like I don't do much, maybe that's what Denning even says, but I can't just up and go shopping."

  "Yes, you can. Besides, I don't want to go by myself. I need to get a gift for Denning's mother."

  I frowned and looked at the calendar. Yup, the old battle ax’s birthday was coming up. "I envy you, but I still can't come."

  "Please? You work all the time. You just got back. You don't have to solve every case today. Get your ass off your chair. Live a little. Besides, I'll just tell Denning I asked you to come with me."

  I glanced at the clock and saw it was eleven thirty. I realized that she was trying hard, and well, I needed more friends. "Okay fine, I'll take an early lunch. But I can't stay out all afternoon. I need to figure this out because I'm missing a vital clue here."

  She glanced down. "What are you working on?"

  I closed the folder and gathered the photos. "You know I can't tell you that."

  She sighed. "Okay, but you can come shopping with me. Come on, get your purse."

  "You know I ac
tually don't like to shop, right?"

  She turned and stared at me. "Fine, then you can watch me shop. Let's go."

  I sighed and grabbed my purse, wondering how the hell I'd become friends with my ex's fiancée. She was very insistent.

  I texted Amelia quickly that Hazel had kidnapped me for lunch and shopping, and that I'd be back, hopefully, around one.

  She sent me back an emoji. The gasp face. And then a laughing out loud emoji followed quickly by a crying emoji.

  Nyla: Thanks a lot.

  Amelia: Have fun with your new bestie.

  Nyla: Hey, that spot is already taken. See you later.

  And with that, I became Hazel's prisoner.

  We set foot outside of the building into the London sunshine, odd for the time of year. I gasped. "I didn't even know it was sunny outside."

  "I know, right? Come on."

  "All right, hold your horses. I promise you the shops aren't going anywhere."

  "Yes, they are. And I'm so glad we're getting to do this. You know, just the two of us. Usually, everyone else is around."

  I gave her a tight smile. "Yeah, you know, I'm not used to a lot of people."

  "Well, I'm glad we're getting closer. It's important to me."

  I couldn't help but ask. "Why is it important to you exactly? I know what you said, but we could just be cordial. You're really trying hard to be my friend, and I'm curious as to why."

  "Honestly, I think you're pretty amazing. And I know, even though Denning won't say it, he respects you a lot. At least your abilities. I hear a lot about ‘Nyla did this, and then Nyla did that.’ He's usually mad about it, but you can tell that he's a little envious because he didn't think to do whatever it was that you did. Even when you got shot, all I heard for days was, ‘fucking Nyla got herself shot chasing down an intruder.’ You could tell that he wished he was the one who got to chase down Theroux."

  I laughed. "Right, good old professional envy thing."

  She sighed. "A little, but he does respect you. And since he respects you so much, I figured you're a good person to know."

  I shrugged. "Nah, I have my good days and my bad days. But don't we all?"

  My phone pinged and I scowled down at it. "Geez, even when I leave the office, I can't leave the office.”

  I sent texts to the people calling me that I'd get back to them.

  "Your phone is going crazy."

  "Yeah, it is. I'm sorry. I might have to get back."

  Even Amelia texted me.

  Amelia: Hey, finally got the fingerprints for the murder scene. And we got a match to a Krista Wilson. Her brother ran the Wilson crew and is currently serving six years for robbery. Looking for a last known address now."

  Hazel glanced at my phone. "Sorry, I couldn't help but see some of that. Was that Amelia?"

  I nodded. "Oh God, sorry Hazel, but I think I have to go back. We finally got a break in our case."

  She sighed. "Oh, come on, the store is right there. Five minutes, then I'll let you go right back to work, okay?"

  "Okay, but I really need to get back."

  She nodded then took my hand. Her hands were cold and a little bit clammy. I had to resist the urge to yank my hand back. This was Hazel. She was harmless. Maybe a little different for a friend, but I had to learn to let my walls down. I couldn't be alone my whole life. She said, "Okay fine. But you know, since you're going back to the office right away, please just turn off your phone. If you keep hearing it, you will just be stressed out."

  "I never turn off my phone."

  "Yeah, how good can that be for you?"

  I sighed. She had a point. Even my father turned off his phone. He always said it was good to sit with his thoughts every now and again. I rolled my eyes as I turned my phone off. "Happy?"

  Her smile was sweet. "Yeah, I'm happy. Come on."

  I had no choice but to follow her, even though I knew what waited at the office for me. Maybe that's where half of my life had gone wrong. My inability to unplug. I could unplug for a few minutes. It wouldn't kill me. Besides, Hazel had gone out of her way to try. I needed to put in some effort too. "All right, let's do this. Did you at least get any hints from Denning as to what his mother might want?"

  She rolled her eyes. "Oh my God, you know Denning better than that."

  I laughed, because for the first time in a long time, it didn't actually hurt or irritate me to talk about him.

  I tamped down all my internal warning sensors that were pinging. I was glad Hazel had been trying hard. She wasn't so bad. And I had to let new people in sooner or later.

  East

  I finally saw her along the shops about half a mile from work.

  I’d never moved so quickly in my life.

  As I left, I grabbed my jumper and called out, "Belinda, cancel all my appointments. There's something I need to do."

  I didn't even wait for her to answer. I was already running. I wondered when this feeling would pass. The one where I lived in terror of something happening to Nyla. The one where I worried all the time about her safety, her well-being. The one where I felt like I was going to die if she was in danger. I wanted that to stop. I wanted it to go away. But it was too late. I knew it was too late because, God, fucking hell, I loved her so much. And I’d never loved anyone else like this.

  I used a car service because I need someone who would know backroads. When I jumped in the car that was waiting for me at the curb, I leaned forward. "Max, as fast as you can, this address." I gave it to him and then sat back, texting the lads. Hazel… All those times Nyla thought she was being followed, all those times she was uncomfortable, had it been Hazel, stalking her?

  Ben's response was immediate.

  Ben: Hazel? Who the hell is Hazel?

  I gave him a brief rundown again.

  East: She has her right now.

  I gave up and just called. Turned out he was with Drew and Bridge, so it saved a lot of typing. "We're not going to text back and forth. I'm on my way to get her now. I found her on CCTV. Hazel is actually Krista Wilson, the one behind the case that Nyla has been working on. And if I'm right, she killed that bloke Ryder Stone. He'd been trying to go straight."

  "Jesus. Do you think she's the one who shot at us at Grimwald Square?"

  "Considering she killed a man in cold blood, has a connection to Sinclair, is always a step ahead of Interpol, and she made it a point to worm her way into Nyla's life, I'd say yeah. She's a threat to her right now."

  Bridge whistled low. "What do you need?"

  "Nothing yet, but I want all resources on finding whatever she has to hide. Everything we have. We might not be able to stop her right now."

  The lads hung up with me just as the car arrived at the shops.

  I told the driver to wait as I jumped out of the car, barely waiting for it to come to a full stop, nearly being run over by a lorry as I sprinted across the pavement.

  The little shopping area was a maze of boutiques and restaurants with little alleys and cobblestone walkways between them, allowing patrons to go in any formation they liked. I found them in the center of the courtyard, and Hazel saw me first. When her gaze turned to me, she narrowed her eyes imperceptibly, and then her brows lifted as if she was surprised that I'd been able to track her down.

  She said something to Nyla then turned to leave. Nyla looked around, and when she saw me, she gave me that winning smile. So pretty, telling me how happy she was to see my face.

  My gaze was trained on Hazel, trying to figure out what she'd do and if she'd try and use Nyla like a shield or something. A bell began to ring from one of the shops, and people started gathering in the courtyard to see what was going on.

  There were balloons coming down in the courtyard. Someone had won something. The crowd grew larger and larger, and as I fought through them, pushing aside whoever dared get in my way, Nyla's gaze shifted and she stared at me. The grim determination was probably apparent on my face because she glanced at Hazel, glanced back at me, and then st
arted to walk toward me. Hazel caught her arm, and Nyla winced, glowered at her, and then escaped the whole situation efficiently. Hazel grabbed at her again, but Nyla turned to her and shook her head. Nyla freed herself again, and then I watched in horror as Hazel eased into the crowd. I pointed at her. "Get her, focus on her."

  Nyla shook her head, and then Hazel was gone. In ten more steps, Nyla wrapped her arms around me. "Hey, what are you doing here? Hazel was trying to call me into the loo, but I told her I was going to say hi to you first. What's going on?"

  "Her name is not Hazel."

  Her brow furrowed. "What are you talking about, East? How did you find me?"

  "You have a GPS tracker on your phone. That's not Hazel. She's been stalking you, and I think she was the one shooting at us in Grimwald Square. Her real name is Krista Wilson. And I think she killed Ryder Stone."

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nyla

  Everything was a lie.

  I didn't even know how I felt.

  Cold. Numb.

  I'd been so desperate for community, for family, that I'd let that woman in my life. Jesus. I’d been looking for her the whole time. And she’d been, what? Laughing at me?

  You think you feel bad? Imagine what it’s like to be Denning.

  That was a good point. But I still felt used… and duped. I tried to climb up the slippery slope of my bewilderment, and East tried to tell me I wasn't going back to the office, but I overruled him.

  I needed to find a way to put this in a box that made sense. I turned on my phone, and he drove me back to work, clearly displeased about my choice. When we arrived, we didn’t head to my father’s office or Denning’s, but rather to Amelia’s.