LOGINAs soon as Detective Alvarez received the message from Eilleen, he immediately started putting his team together. They took turns hiding around the port, keeping a close eye on the boat.This was a very big opportunity for him, and he was taking it very seriously.José Santiago was a big criminal in New York who somehow had no criminal record at all. For the last sixteen years, Alvarez had been after José Santiago, and every time he felt like he finally had him, something would happen and the evidence would never be enough.But this time was different.For the first time, he had something strong.Something strong enough to bring José Santiago in custodyThis case was personal to him. It was a case he had poured in sweat and blood into, and he wasn't ready to give up now. Not at all.This was a golden opportunity, and he wasn't going to let it slip through his fingers.He also couldn't let down the person who was risking his or her life to provide him with this information.For five d
Back in Canada, Steve and Kate had moved on with their lives—or at least, they pretended they had.Even though they tried not to talk about Mia, Kate still checked her messages, emails, and social media almost every day, hoping she might have received something from her. Sometimes, she would go to Mia's Instagram page and scroll through her pictures for several minutes. She couldn't deny how much she missed her.As for Steve, everything in the house still reminded him of Mia.The sofas. The bed. The kitchen. The living room. Even the little things he had never paid attention to before somehow reminded him of her.Sometimes, he would stop in the middle of the house because he could swear the air still carried her scent, as if she were standing right there with him.Even Henry reminded him of Mia.His eyes looked like hers, and sometimes, when he laughed, Steve could hear Mia's laugh in his.Steve had made excuses every time Kate mentioned clearing out Mia's closet. He wanted to pack he
The hours passed, and Eilleen hadn't heard from Mrs. Maya.She had sent her several messages, but she hadn't received any reply. She didn't want to risk calling her because she didn't know what kind of situation Mrs. Maya was in. Her heart began to beat faster as she imagined all the things that could have gone wrong.Unable to sleep, Eilleen went downstairs to get some water. She sat in the kitchen, staring at her phone as if looking at it long enough would somehow make a message from Mrs. Maya appear.A few minutes later, Mike walked into the kitchen.He had an orange in one hand.Eilleen cursed under her breath. As if she didn't already have enough to worry about, Mike had decided to add to her frustration and anger.Mike picked up the kitchen knife that was lying on the table in the middle of the kitchen and began peeling the orange.Eilleen sat quietly, praying that he would finish and leave the kitchen—or better yet, leave this universe and this earth for good.Mike sat opposite
At the hospital, Mrs. Maya was already done and was waiting for Eilleen in the waiting room.“Sorry, Mrs. Maya,” Eilleen said as she walked up to her. “Sorry I kept you waiting.”“You don't need to apologize,” Mrs. Maya replied.They walked to the car and drove off.“Did you find out what you were looking for?” Mrs. Maya asked as they drove.“I tried, Mrs. Maya, but the security was tight, and I bumped into José.”“What?” Mrs. Maya asked in surprise.“I bumped into Mike and Tommy too. I'm just grateful I made it out without being recognized. I got some recordings from José's conversation in the car, but it's in Spanish. I just wish I could get some information from it after translating it.” ______Eilleen had tried everything she could think of to translate the recording, but it wouldn't work. The audio was too low, and there was too much background noise. She uploaded it to several translation apps, but none of them could make out the conversation.The next morn
“Can’t you just text the detective to go check it out? Since you can’t go check it out yourself,” Mrs. Maya said after Eilleen told her all her plans.“No, I don’t want to send him on a goose chase. And any careless move could make José realize that we are onto him.”“That’s true,” Mrs. Maya replied, nodding her head.“I just need an excuse to leave this house. José is already paranoid about everyone, so I need to be careful.”That evening, José called all the maids in the mansion. He questioned them one after another, asking if they knew anything about the safe house. He threatened them to speak up immediately because if he found out that any of them knew about it and kept silent, he would make them pay for it.The night was quiet.Eilleen had just taken her bath and was ready to retire to bed. She had been watching the game with Josh. It had just been the two of them, so she quietly sat beside him and watched until the game was over. Afterward, she packed her hair into a ponytail an
The next morning was Saturday. Eilleen woke up and saw José sleeping beside her. She wondered when he had come home because she hadn't noticed him returning. He looked exhausted and was still wearing his work clothes, which made her realize that he had probably spent the entire night moving his illegal goods to another location.Eilleen stared at him for a moment. She knew José had moved his goods because he suspected that someone was leaking information about his safehouses. That meant the secret names she had been trying to crack might no longer be useful since they were potentially safehouses. But then again, if José had moved everything in a hurry, there was a possibility that those names could still lead her to something important.She quietly got out of bed and went downstairs.Mrs. Maya was in the kitchen making breakfast. She had been off the previous day, so Eilleen hadn't had the chance to tell her everything that had happened with Mike and the school.As soon as Eilleen fin
Chapter EightSteve had become a shadow of himself — from a bright, funny dad to someone who just stayed home and drank. Kate had been by his side, caring for him and Henry. It broke her heart to see Steve this broken. But she knew why, Love could hurt sometimes.He had waited an entire month for a
Chapter Seven Eileen stood in front of the mirror, brushing her hair. Lately, she’d been thinking a lot about Henry and Steve. She wished she could just pick up the phone and call, but that would be a dangerous risk to take.The door creaked open—José walked into the room. It had been five days si
Chapter Six Eileen walked in on Josh in the kitchen. He stood in front of the open fridge, looking for food.“Good morning, Josh,” she said softly.Josh didn’t respond.“I can see you’re hungry. I made some spaghetti with prawns. I wanted to bring some for you, but you were still asleep. Just give
Chapter Five Josh slammed the door behind him, and the sound echoed through the hallway like a final verdict. Hot tears blurred his vision as he stared down at the shredded drawing on the floor. His breath hitched. His chest tightened. He knelt beside the torn pieces—trembling hands reaching ou







