Masuk
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°°She stared at the bodies a moment longer, then sagged against him in relief. In the darkness, blood looked like shadow and she didn’t know the difference and was too exhausted to question it.Antonio scooped her up carefully —one arm under her knees, the other cradling her back. She weighed nothing.“Hold on to me,” he whispered.She did, arms looping around his neck, face tucked into the curve of his throat.Behind them, Slime’s shallow breathing gurgled, and Breanna's net closed in faster.He carried her south through the pines, careful of the bruise blooming across her ribs where his elbow had caught her in the dark. Though guilt sat heavy in his chest, he buried it deep. There would be time for apologies later— when he figured out how to get them out safely.The abandoned hunting cabin finally faced them five minutes later, a squat silhouette against the treeline. He shifted her weight to one arm, thumbed the biometric lock, and shouldered the door
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°°Antonio’s boots pounded the earth of the north woods, his breath fogging in sharp bursts under the moonlit sky.The mansion was miles behind him now, yet he utilized every second to push farther.His phone vibrated in his pocket—insistent, frantic. He yanked it out mid-stride, thumb smearing blood from a cut across the screen.One new text from Grinch.He ducked behind a fallen pine, chest heaving, and hit callback on Nevena’s number instead of opening the message thread.“Come on, come on…” he muttered with each ring as the call went straight to voicemail.He stared at the screen until it dimmed, then he killed the backlight.There's no point in calling again. Her abductors had surely triangulated her phone by now.He glanced at his compass watch and hastily broke from the treeline, scanning the dark for headlights— police or otherwise. Only a thinning forest lay ahead.“I need to get to Nevena.”He veered left, following a faint path until the silhoue
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°°Grinch didn’t deny it. He grabbed Sophia by the collar and pulled her flush against him, crushing his mouth onto hers in a bruising kiss— sealing her vision and stealing the angle she needed to see Antonio’s shadow vanishing into the treeline.For a moment—too long— Sophia lost seconds, she forgot where she was, the war breathing down her neck and then reciprocated the savor.“Sophia!” Breanna’s voice cracked like a whip.She jerked back at the frantic tone, embarrassment flooding her face. “He—he initiated it.” “No” Breanna shrugged but didn't slow down or look back, “Seeing how comfortable you are, this isn’t the first time.”“Ma’am!” Sophia's cheeks burned.Breanna paused at the edge of the driveway, eyes sharp. “I’m starting to wonder what else you’ve been hiding.”She motioned the squad forward. “Continue the hunt. Full perimeter. Sophia Kendrick— stand down. Get ready for the interrogation you’ve got coming.”“I'm sorry —please not a query.” “I
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°°Grinch’s gaze flicked to him, then back to the phone. “What's wrong?”A muscle ticked in Antonio's jaw, but he couldn't disclose a thing. “Handle here— I need to be somewhere else.”“No,” Grinch objected, stepping closer, gun fastened behind his back. “At this rate we can't afford to be separated. If it's more urgent, we handle it first.”“Just listen and do what I ask you to do” Antonio barked, unbuttoning his shirt.Grinch swivel his head in submission, “Reckon that” But then, the entrance door screamed open, and Antonio aimed squarely at the proximity.Sophia entered to their surprise and Grinch skeptically retreated from pulling his gun out. “POLICE—DROP THE WEAPON!”Antonio didn’t flinch.He gave a humorless breath, and lowered his gun low at his thigh, “Take care of her”Grinch stepped half a pace forward. “Easy—”“DOWN! BOTH OF YOU!” She interjected, lifting her rifle half an inch.“Sophie listen to me” Grinch coaxed, voice lowering to a surpr
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°°The night felt too close as Nevena stepped out of the bathroom, steam trailing her like ghosts. A silk bathrobe clung to her damp skin, hair twisted up in a towel turban.She checked her phone again and Antonio’s message glowed on the screen: a single line location. Nothing more.Heat flooded her cheeks. Heart hammering against her ribs, loud enough to echo in the hollow guesthouse.Not lingering, she crossed to the vanity, sat under the soft vanity lights, and reached for her dryer.To her dismay, light footsteps echoed outside, the exterior lights flickered once, twice, then steadied. She rose silently, moved to the extremity of the room, checking the windows. Right outside her porch two silhouettes crawled out, gliding toward the service fuse box.She backed away, snatched her phone from the marble table but her lights died immediately.Darkness swallowing the apartment whole“Jesus,” she breathed, the word barely audible.A sound followed— soft,
𝐌𝐚𝐟𝐢𝐚’𝐬 𝐍𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐬𝐢𝐬°°° Breanna pushed through the glass doors of precinct headquarterlike she owned the place.Sophia tagged cautiously beside her.“Where is Internal Crimes?” she snapped at a passing officer.“Third floor.”They didn’t wait for the elevator, they took the stairs two at a time, and within minutes they made it to the third floor.“INTERNAL CRIMES DIVISION” Sophia read the hanging placard aloud.“Get off my path” Breanna shouldered her aside without breaking stride.The corridor here was narrower, hushed than other hallways.Every office door bore a name on brass nameplates. Men and women who’d lasted decades in the department by knowing exactly whose cages not to rattle.She stopped at the first lobby desk. “Detective Breanna Stewart” She flicked her badge open and let it snap shut. “I need an arrest warrant drafted.”The desk officer glanced up, read the name on the folder Sophia slid forward, “…Antonio Hunt?”“Yes. That's the one.” she purred impatientl







