Page 24 of Love’s Decree

Sim: Outside

Me: Be right there.

I grabbed my bag then headed downstairs to meet him. As I exited the building, I noticed his and Curry’s cars parked on the corner. Dobbs handed Aasim my overnight bag from this morning. Aasim smiled when he saw me walking toward them. He was posted up in front of his car, looking handsome.

“I missed you,” I said as I reached him.

He pulled me in for a hug and kissed my cheek. “I missed you more, sweetheart.”

“Danny should come out of the building any minute now.”

“Then let’s make sure we don’t miss him,” Aasim said then winked at me. He opened the passenger side door for me to get in. Once I was in the truck, he closed the door behind me and walked over to the driver’s seat.

“Are Dobbs and Curry coming too?” I asked.

“They’re going to trail him with us to make sure we don’t lose him. Once we get to wherever he’s going, it’s just you and me.”

Aasim’s tone was calm and reassuring, while my heartbeat palpitated in my chest. I looked out the rearview mirror, keeping a look out for the window of my office. Music from the radio filled the quietness between us. We weren’t there long before I spotted Danny coming out of the building.

“There he is. He just hopped into the black BMW coupe that was parked right in front of the building,” I said.

Aasim picked up his phone and sent a text; I assumed to Dobbs and Curry.

We didn’t move until Danny’s car came into view, and then we pulled out. The traffic caused us to almost lose him, but we found him again. Danny drove like a crazy person, but Aasim kept up. Eventually, he pulled up to the strip bar Lush City. We parked across the street from the bar but still kept a view of the door.

“Now, we sit and wait to see what he does next,” Aasim said.

“I’m sorry about all of this. I know this isn’t what you had in mind when you told me to pack a bag.”

Aasim turned to look at me. “Do you think anything is more important to me than keeping you safe? We’ll have plenty of time to have relaxing evenings once all of this is behind us.”

I reached for his hand as he took mine into his and kissed the back of it. The simple gesture made me melt under his touch. We sat in the car for a couple of hours before Danny walked back out. I looked on in disbelief while I noticed who he walked out with.

I covered my mouth in shock at what I saw. “I can’t believe him. That’s Devin, the former client he was asking me about. What the hell is he doing here with him?”

“In my world, he’s known as Dez. If he’s here with Danny, that dude is up to no good,” Asim said.

“Wait. How do you know Devin?” I asked.

“From around. A friend of mine had a run-in with him a few weeks ago. I couldn’t believe he was out of jail. We all thought that the judge threw the book at him. The charges he was facing… I didn’t expect to see him again.”

“Yeah. Me either. Danny’s getting in his car. We’ve gotta follow him.”

Aasim waited until Danny pulled out of the parking lot before we trailed him.

We stopped when he pulled onto a block with a row of townhomes. Danny parked his car then walked into what I assumed was his home.

“Before we go in there, I just want to be clear. You gotta let me handle this the way I handle things,” Aasim said.

I didn’t know exactly what that meant, but my gut was telling me Danny had something to do with the flowers. Regardless of what happened here tonight, I had to trust Aasim.

“Alright,” I said in a low tone.

Aasim opened his car door, and I did the same. We walked side by side to Danny’s front door. After ringing Danny’s doorbell, I waited impatiently for him to answer. I’d come too far to leave without the answers I needed. When Danny opened the door, his eyes bulged as we locked eyes.

“What are you doing here?” he stuttered.

I didn’t bother to answer him as Aasim pushed him inside so we could step inside his place.