118

118
The tension in Carolina’s apartment was palpable, simmering like a storm beneath the surface.
It was early afternoon, and sunlight poured in through the thin curtains, casting diagonal streaks of light across the hardwood floor. Carolina sat cross-legged on the couch, ankle bracelet glinting beneath the hem of her joggers as she clicked through more files on the laptop. Katherine stood by the window, arms folded, eyes scanning the street below every few seconds. Julius paced slowly near the coffee table, scribbling in his notepad, brows furrowed with focus.

A knock came, sharp and deliberate.

Everyone stilled.

Carolina looked up. “That must be the backup I told Devon to send.”

Julius moved toward the door. “Let’s see who we’re dealing with.”

He opened it cautiously, then paused, blinking in surprise.

Katherine turned just in time to see Devon step into the apartment, dressed in fitted cargo pants and a dark utility jacket. His presence filled the space immediately, solid and commanding. But it was who came in behind him that widened Katherine’s eyes.

Two men, both exuding a kind of quiet, lethal competence. The first was tall and hawk-eyed, his expression unreadable as he scanned the apartment like he was profiling every object. The second was broader, his shoulders thick with muscle, his jaw square, his dark skin contrasting against the gray T-shirt stretched across his chest. Both looked like they’d stepped out of a tactical field briefing.

“Whoa,” Carolina said, blinking as she rose slowly. “Devon, you didn’t say you were coming too.”

“We only asked for backup,” Katherine added, her voice soft but tinged with surprise.

Devon’s mouth twitched with a faint, grim smile. “You got backup. And me.”

Katherine frowned. “But you have a job. A whole career. And your daughter—”

He held up a hand. “Kingsley is my friend. My brother in everything but blood. If this were the other way around, do you honestly think he’d let Carolina go in alone?” He turned to Carolina. “Would you want him to sit back while you risked your life?”

Carolina’s eyes softened. “No.”

“Exactly,” Devon said. “I’ve made arrangements. I told work I needed emergency personal leave. And my daughter’s safe with her grandmother and mother. I’m not missing this.”

Katherine swallowed hard, her chest swelling with gratitude. “Thank you.”

Devon turned toward the men behind him. “This is Ryan Marks,” he gestured to the tall one. “Ex-FBI. Specializes in tactical breach and high-risk extractions.”

Ryan gave a curt nod. “Pleasure.”

“And this is Malik Bryant,” Devon said, motioning to the broader man. “Also ex-FBI, bomb disposal, and hand-to-hand combat specialist.”

Malik gave them all a friendly smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “We’re here to get your man out. Nothing more. Nothing less.”

Carolina crossed her arms. “This just got very real.”

“Good,” Julius said, closing his notebook and sitting forward. “Because now it’s time to lay out our plan.”

Devon nodded and took a seat at the dining table. The two agents flanked him, while Julius spread out printouts of GPS coordinates, the biotech institute layout the hacker had obtained, and security shift logs.

“This,” Julius said, pointing to the blueprints, “is the Staten Island biotech facility. It poses as a research center for sleep disorders and memory loss reversal. But it’s privately funded, closed to the public, and sits on its own fenced perimeter, guarded twenty-four-seven.”

“They have cameras on the inside too,” Carolina added. “But I’ve already sent a message to our hacker contact. He’s working on disabling the internal surveillance. He’ll give us a thirty-minute window where the cameras loop a static feed.”

Devon leaned in. “We’ll need to move fast. We breach, locate Kingsley, and extract before they notice the system’s been tampered with.”

“How do we get in?” Katherine asked.

Ryan tapped a spot on the map. “There’s a blind corner at the north fence. Guards change every ninety minutes, and there’s a twenty-second gap. Long enough for us to scale the fence and cut through.”

Malik added, “There’s a freight entrance just past that point. We can access the interior through the loading bay quietly. I’ve got sedatives and non-lethal suppression gear in the car, just in case.”

Katherine, heart racing, nodded. “And once we’re in?”

“Julius and Carolina will stay back and monitor comms,” Devon said. “They’ll guide us through using the internal layout and GPS. Carolina will coordinate with the hacker and alert us the moment we’re nearing our window.”

“I wish I could come,” Carolina muttered, looking down at her ankle bracelet.

Katherine touched her shoulder. “You’ve already risked everything.”

Carolina gave her a half-smile. “Still feels weird sitting this one out.”

Devon shook his head. “You’re doing more than enough. And you’re our eyes in the dark.”

Silence hovered for a beat. Everyone knew what was at stake. If they were caught, it wouldn’t just be arrest—it could be silenced, framed, or worse. Beth had money, power, and now, a lab where science bent to her will.

“Time of breach?” Malik asked.

“Tomorrow night,” Julius said. “1:30 a.m. That’s when the internal staff is thinnest. Only two medical researchers and three guards rotate the graveyard shift.”

“I’ll confirm the camera loop is ready before then,” Carolina added. “If anything looks off, we abort. Period.”

Devon looked across the table at Katherine. “You sure you’re ready for this?”

She met his eyes. Steady. Fierce.

“I’m not just ready,” she said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment since the day he vanished.”

Ryan stood. “Then we will get him back.”

A few hours later, the apartment had finally grown quiet.

Julius had gone out to make a secure phone call. Katherine was lying on the couch in the living room, eyes closed but clearly not sleeping. The two ex-FBI agents, Ryan and Malik, had stepped outside for a smoke and to check the perimeter routes again.

Carolina remained at the dining table, the laptop still open, but her focus had slipped. Her fingers hovered above the keys, unmoving, as the weight of everything crashed down over her like a slow, suffocating tide. She sat there, barely breathing, until she heard a soft voice behind her.

“You okay?”

She turned slightly. Devon stood in the hallway, leaning against the doorway. His broad shoulders were silhouetted by the dim lighting, his expression softer now, free of the tactical edge it had worn all evening.

Carolina gave a half-hearted smile. “Define okay.”

Devon stepped into the room, walking over. “You’ve been quiet since we finished the plan.”

“I’ve just been thinking.”

He pulled out the chair beside her and sat, his hands resting on the table, close but not quite touching hers.

“About tomorrow?” he asked.

Carolina nodded, swallowing. “Yeah. And everything. This whole situation… It’s like something out of a movie. Secret labs. Memory extractions. People being replaced.”

She looked at him, eyes filled with something deeper—fear, yes, but also helplessness. “Devon, we could lose him. And what if something happened to you? I won’t forgive myself for putting you through this.”

Devon’s brow furrowed. “We won’t lose him, and nothing will happen to me.”

“You don’t know that,” she whispered, voice cracking. “They could have already started the process. He might not even remember Katherine’s name. Or yours. Or mine.”

Devon was silent for a long moment, then finally said, “That’s why we’re going in. That’s why I came.”

Carolina dropped her gaze. “I never should’ve let her convince me to come to Manhattan in the first place. I thought I was helping, thought I was protecting Katherine, protecting Kingsley. Now it feels like all I did was uncover something I can’t stop.”

Devon reached for her hand gently, his large fingers wrapping around hers.

“You didn’t create this mess,” he said softly. “Beth did. With her money, her obsession, and her lack of humanity. You just pulled back the curtain and gave us a fighting chance.”

Carolina exhaled, long and shaky. She stared at his hand wrapped around hers, then finally looked up at him.

“I don’t like being on the sidelines,” she admitted. “I hate it. This ankle monitor makes me feel like a prisoner while everyone else gets to fight.”

“You are fighting,” Devon said. “You’re the reason we even know where he is. You cracked the system. You found the lab. You’re coordinating our entry. You’re part of this team, monitor or not.”

Carolina gave him a long look.

“I’m scared,” she said quietly.

Devon nodded. “Me too.”

That admission made her chest tighten. Devon never admitted fear, not like this.

“But,” he continued, “there’s one thing I’m more sure of than anything else. I’m not leaving without Kingsley. And I won’t let him go down without a fight. Just trust me, my love. I will come back with him intact. Nothing will happen to him, to me, or to your friend. I promise you, my love.”

Carolina looked at him, something soft and unguarded shining in her eyes. She squeezed his hand. “You are so brave, babe. I trust you, and I know Kingsley would do the same for you.”

“I know,” Devon said. Then, after a beat: “And I’d do the same for you.”

Carolina blinked, caught off guard.

Devon smiled, just a little. “You matter to me. This isn’t just about Kingsley.”

Her throat thickened. “Devon…”

He reached out and brushed a loose curl behind her ear. “I don’t want to lose you either.”

For a moment, the war outside the apartment, the plans, the danger—all of it faded. There was just this quiet space between them, filled with unspoken history and shared trust.

Carolina leaned forward, her forehead resting gently against his. “Come back safe, okay?”

“I will,” he whispered. “I love you, my Carolina.”

Carolina blushed. “I love you too, babe.”

They stayed like that for a long moment, just breathing, letting the silence be a balm.

Then footsteps approached—the agents returning. Devon stood slowly, his hand brushing against hers one last time. “Get some rest, okay?”

“You too,” she said.

And as he walked away, Carolina stared after him, her heart caught somewhere between hope and fear.