DOM POVS
I swing between fury and frustration in a matter of seconds. Why can't she just send me a message to let me know she's okay? My mind spirals, torn between the fear that something's happened to her and the nagging thought that she's just ignoring me. If this had anything to do with Diego, I'd know. Letty wouldn't just vanish without a word. She always has a plan, always leaves a trail. This silence—it feels wrong.
It's been over 24 hours since she left, and I've got nothing. I've spent the last five hours driving all over the city, retracing every step I can think of: the beach, the guys' places, the cemetery, her old house, even the children's home she used to volunteer at. I've run out of places to look.
My phone rings, and I snatch it up instantly, hoping it's her. But it's Leon.
"Did you find anything?" I ask, desperation dripping from my voice.
"Nothing, man. It's like they vanished into thin air. No one's seen a thing," he says, his frustration mirroring my own.
I slam my fist against the steering wheel. "Thanks, Leon. Meet me back at the house." I hang up, already trying to figure out my next move.
Then it hits me: Alex's bar. That's the last place Letty was seen. Maybe I missed something. Without a second thought, I make a sharp U-turn and speed off in that direction. The anxiety gnaws at my chest, the seconds stretching into hours as the unknown looms over me.
When I get there, the place is dark and lifeless. The door's locked, of course, but that doesn't stop me. After a few hard kicks, it finally gives way, and I step inside. The place is pitch black, so I pull out my phone, switching on the flashlight. I don't even know what I'm looking for, but I can't afford to overlook anything.
After wandering through the bar, I make my way to the back and find Alex's office. Inside, I start rifling through every corner—filing cabinets, drawers, the desk. Most of it is just bar stuff—employee records, bills, schedules. But in the last drawer, I find a folder that stands out. It's labeled "CR - YP7 - 666."
I open it and find a list of codes, each paired with coordinates. My gut tells me it's important, even if I can't make sense of it yet. I tuck the folder into my bag and keep searching.
There's a laptop on the desk, but it's locked. I glance at the folder, trying to connect the dots, but nothing clicks.
Then I hear it—a noise outside, faint but distinct. My heart pounds as I freeze, straining to hear. Every instinct I have screams get out now.
Grabbing the laptop, I shove it into my bag and make my way out, quick but cautious. The bar feels suffocating, every shadow a potential threat.
As I reach my car, I hear the sound again—closer this time. I spin around, scanning the area, and that's when I see it: a shattered window, glass glittering on the ground. Someone's been here—or worse, someone's still here.
I don't stick around to find out. I jump into the car, slam the door, and take off without looking back.
By the time I get home, the weight of it all is crushing me. But the moment I step inside, something feels off. There's a stranger sitting on the couch, his posture calm but defiant. The rest of the team is there too, watching him like he's a bomb about to go off.
I scan their faces, searching for answers, but it's the stranger who speaks first, his smile cold and calculated.
"I'm here on behalf of Travis," he says smoothly, "who sent me on behalf of Letty."
His tone makes it sound like a joke, but I'm not laughing.
"My name is Stefan, and yes, I know you've got questions," he says, his tone calm but edged with unease. "Unfortunately, I don't have many answers. Truth is, I don't fully understand what's going on myself. But Travis asked me to deliver these."
He pulls out two pieces of paper from his pocket. "You need to be there. Everyone's safety depends on it."
I take the papers, already on edge. The first is an invitation, dark gray with a metallic silver border. The word "Nemesis" is embossed in elegant, golden letters. Below, the location and time are printed, along with a cryptic line: "Where shadows meet, the powerful reveal themselves." The design oozes both luxury and danger.
"What the hell is 'Nemesis'?" I ask, my unease growing.
"Like I said, I'm just the messenger," he replies, his tone almost bored. Then, he hands me the second paper. "These are the coordinates for a parts factory. Go there and ask for an HCV-VTEC 2000A. It'll look like a regular purchase for the garage. I'll meet you there. Don't talk to anyone. Keep it simple."
He stands, heading for the door, but Vince steps in his way.
"Why should we trust you?" Vince growls, his suspicion clear.
The stranger smirks. "You shouldn't. But let's be real—after all this chaos, I'm the only one giving you even a shred of clarity." He looks directly at me. "The password for the laptop is the title of the folder. See you in a few hours."
And just like that, he's gone. As soon as the door shuts, the tension explodes.
"What the hell was that?" Mia demands, her voice sharp.
I don't answer. Instead, I pull the laptop from my bag and enter the password the stranger gave me. "Jesse, I need your help," I say, handing him the folder. "This has to lead to Letty. Start decoding these coordinates."
"Vince," I add, turning to him, "find out everything you can about 'Nemesis.' This is connected to Letty—I can feel it."
"Why are you trusting him, Dom?" Leon asks, his tone softer but still wary.
"I'm not," I admit, running a hand over my face. "But what choice do we have? I can't sit here spinning my wheels while Letty's out there. If this guy has even a sliver of truth, I'm taking it."
Mia steps forward, holding something out. "Before you got back, someone left this at the bar."
It's another invitation, identical but with a different location. A chill runs through the room.
"I tried calling Travis after I found it," Mia says, her voice tight. "But he's gone dark. No sign of him anywhere. Dom… this isn't about Diego anymore."
Her words hung heavy in the air. I rubbed a hand over my face, trying to piece together the puzzle that seemed to get more fractured by the second. Finally, I spoke, my voice steady but firm.
"I need us to talk about my time in Lompoc. Everything you think could be even remotely connected to what's happening now—I need to hear it."
The room grew quieter, the silence pressing down as everyone glanced around uneasily.
Mia nodded faintly. "Things changed overnight, Dom. One day everything was normal, and then Letty started acting different—like she was carrying something she couldn't share."
Leon shifted uncomfortably, then let out a long sigh. "Letty was into something. Something big." His voice was low, guilt dripping from every word. "One day, I couldn't take it anymore—her evasive answers, her lies—so I followed her."
He paused, the weight of his confession heavy as we all waited. The tension felt thick enough to choke.
"She was moving drugs, Dom. Transporting them out of the country for a guy named Cyrus," he finally admitted. "I followed her to an old factory. There was a car waiting for her—loaded to the roof with all kinds of drugs. And it wasn't just her. Alex and Lola were there too, each of them getting into identical cars. One by one, they took off in different directions. I tried to follow, but I lost her."
Leon looked up at me, his face lined with regret.
"I came home and waited to confront her. She showed up hours later, like nothing happened. I promised her I wouldn't say a word, and she swore she wasn't in any danger. Said we needed the money—and she wasn't wrong. So, I let it go. As long as she was coming home safe, I didn't think I had the right to stop her."
Leon's voice cracked slightly. He lowered his head before continuing.
"But then Mia told us Letty had an accident, and I knew it wasn't true. Letty finally came clean after I pressed her. There'd been a problem—something between the cartels. She got caught in the middle and had to pay the price."
Leon met my eyes, his voice heavier now.
"I begged her to walk away, but she wouldn't. She said you don't just leave those kinds of jobs—you finish what you started, or you don't leave at all. She promised me it was almost over. Just a few more jobs, and she'd be done."
He paused, his guilt bleeding through every word.
"After that, I stayed up every time she went out, waiting for her to come back safe. I thought I was doing enough. I should've done more, Dom. I should've stopped her. I'm sorry."
Leon's voice broke on the last word as he dropped his gaze to the floor.
The room sat in heavy silence, the weight of his confession pulling all of us under. I clenched my fists, every muscle in my body coiled tight. Whatever Letty had gotten herself into—it wasn't just dangerous. It was deadly.
"Why the hell didn't you tell us any of this, León?" Vince shouted, his voice exploding with fury. "How the hell could you let her get involved with a damn cartel?"
León stayed calm, unshaken by Vince's anger.
"We almost lost the house," he said evenly, though his voice carried a sharp edge. "None of us knew, Vince. We didn't have a clue how bad things really were. Letty carried all of that on her own. She kept us off the streets. The least I could do was respect her secret."
He turned to look Vince straight in the eye, his gaze unwavering.
"And don't you dare blame me. We all knew something was wrong. You all watched her disappear for days, always saying she was out making deals for the garage. And what did any of you do? Nothing. We all knew that was a lie. I was the only one who had the balls to confront her." León paused, his voice catching slightly. "Did I not do enough? Maybe. But I did what I could."
The silence that followed was suffocating, heavy like a weight pressing on their shoulders. Vince clenched his fists, swallowing back the words he clearly wanted to yell. León didn't look at him again; instead, he leaned back against the wall, as though the weight of what he'd just admitted had finally settled on him.
I stood there, rooted to the spot as León's words hit me like a freight train. Letty—my Letty—had been out there alone, carrying all that weight while I was locked up in Lompoc, blind to it all. I clenched my jaw, fighting the ache in my chest. She didn't just disappear—she was out there risking everything to keep us afloat, to keep me afloat, and I wasn't there to stop her, to protect her. I wasn't even close.
I thought I'd carried my own load in prison, but nothing compares to what she carried for all of us. And for what? To keep us from losing the house? To make sure we had enough to survive while I sat behind bars, useless? The guilt hit me harder than any blow I'd ever taken—relentless, heavy, and unforgiving. I was supposed to have her back, supposed to be the one who pulled her out of the fire when she got too close. But I couldn't do a damn thing from that cell.
I ran a hand over my face, breathing hard, trying to keep my head straight. She was out there fighting battles I never even knew existed. And León? He knew something—he'd seen it. Maybe he thought he was doing the right thing by keeping it quiet, but all I could hear was silence. Letty needed me, and I wasn't there.
The worst part is, I can't even blame anyone but myself. I should've seen this coming—should've known that if things got bad enough, Letty would take the world on her shoulders to keep us standing. That's who she is. Who she's always been.
And now? Now she's gone, and we're scrambling to put together pieces of a puzzle none of us saw coming.
I felt the anger building inside me, but underneath it was something rawer—something I could barely face. I failed her. And I don't know how, but I'm going to make it right. I have to.
"We're getting her back," I said, my voice low but hard, like a promise carved into stone. "No matter what it takes."
Because she was there for me, even when I didn't know it. Now, it's my turn.