five
Talia McKinnon sat in the metal folding chair listening to the speech taking place at the head of the room with half an ear. The bulk of her attention was fixed on the phone in her hand. More specifically, the text Tucker sent her that morning. It was a simple “hi,” but to her, it screamed pain and misery.
She knew that because she felt it too.
Leaving Tucker had been the single hardest decision she’d ever made, and she’d made some hard ones in her lifetime. Being in a relationship was hard enough without adding outside problems, and the Spartan Riders had a host of them.
The war between the Spartans and the criminal organization run by their former rival’s sister, Luciana Cruiz, had hit its pinnacle, and Tucker had gotten so absorbed in the fight, their personal life ended up paying the price for it.
Talia simply couldn’t live like that any longer.
At least, that’s what she’d told him.
It hadn’t all been a lie though. She was sick and tired of the drama and of being caught in the middle. The war had put a strain on their relationship, and watching the man she loved get sucked farther and farther down into its steel trap shredded her heart…which was why she couldn’t stand idle anymore.
When the new director of the FBI took over the case she’d been working before she left the bureau—the one that’d brought her and Tucker together—he’d viewed her as an asset they couldn’t afford to lose. Getting that phone call had been shocking and totally life changing. They’d wanted her back on the case, not as a lead but a partner, providing valuable insight and detective skills. With just how far south things had gotten with the Spartans and all the blood that had been shed, she’d decided the sacrifice was worth the payoff.
Making the world a better place required a certain amount of selflessness, and that was exactly why Talia had gone into this line of work to begin with. She wanted to make an impact, to change lives. She just hadn’t realized it might mean not having one of her own.
As much as she’d wanted to tell Tucker everything, so he would know not everything was his fault, she couldn’t. Tucker might have been supportive of her and her decisions, but this was one she knew she couldn’t involve him in. Not only because he would have thrown a huge fit, but also because she was told expressly to keep it under wraps.
The only way to pull that off was to walk away.
And Talia had. The cover story was already in her lap, and she knew it wouldn’t be questioned. Even though it sounded twisted even to her own ears, she was doing this for them. For all of them. For people she didn’t even know.
Once it was done and over, and the bad guys were behind bars, the world truly would be a safer place. She was counting on Tucker being able to understand that.
He was a reasonable man…most days.
“Good thing I took notes,” Marley King, her new partner and lead on the case said as everyone rose from their chairs.
“Sorry, I spaced,” Talia apologized with a half-hearted smile and turned off her phone without sending a reply.
As they filed out with the rest of the FBI task force, Marley nodded at Talia’s phone, her silky brown, blunt-cut bangs falling over one equally brown eye. “He still hanging on?”
“Tight as ever. I hope,” she amended with a frown. They were so close to closing this case. All she needed was a little more time and then she could go home and try to repair the damage her leaving had undoubtedly caused.
As the assembly broke out into the hall, Marley and Talia turned left and made their way toward their private office.
“I know it sucks having to lie to him,” Marley commiserated, “but you’ll be able to go home soon and put this all behind you.”
“I really hope you’re right. Right now, he’s miserable, and he thinks it’s all his fault that I left. When he finds out the truth, he might never forgive me.”
Unlocking the office door, Marley stepped in first and flipped on the overhead lights. The two desks that pressed back to back were covered in so many files and paperwork, the tan metal was barely visible, and the trashcan beside them was beyond overflowing with various takeout containers and empty coffee cups. All evidence of their late nights and hard work. But what really stood out was the giant whiteboard covered in a combination of both women’s handwriting, with arrows and lines crisscrossing paths around photos of perps and persons of interest, all forming a network that pointed directly at the Cruiz Cartel, recently overtaken by one Manuel Contreras. Foul play was assumed, as those kinds of exchanges rarely happened peaceably, but no body had yet to be recovered. Luciana might as well have been abducted by aliens because it was as if she’d simply vanished.
“I don’t think you have to worry about that,” Marley said as she seated herself behind her desk and tried to make sense of the pile of papers in front of her. “He’s still texting and calling every day and night. That’s a good sign.”
“Again, I hope you’re right.” Talia sighed and sat down opposite her partner. As much as she wanted to wallow in her self-imposed misery, there was work to do, and the only way to go home again was to get it done. The sooner, the better. “Where did we leave off?”
Marley cut her a cunning smile. “I believe it was something to do with undercover operations and hitting Contreras when and where he least expects it.”
Ah, right. There. Talia flipped her shoulder-length blonde hair back over one shoulder and picked up her trusted black sharpie. “Let’s get started, shall we?”