Page 264 of Kentrell

For him.

For everything this city tried to swallow.

The rhythm of work felt familiar again.

Emails back and forth with Tasha. PDF attachments from her team. Digitized copies of old court documents, transcripts, officer statements. I’d opened a dozen tabs and color-coded half the notes before I even realized I hadn’t touched the tea I made earlier.

This was how I moved when I was locked in. No distractions. No hesitations. Just focus.

And purpose.

The deeper I dug, the more I saw it—the system hadn’t just failed Shaniece. It steamrolled her. She wasn’t the first, but I damn sure was going to try to make her thelast.

I was highlighting a timeline discrepancy when my phone rang.

Mom

I paused, eyes still on the screen. Our relationship wasn’t exactly easy these days, but we weren’t at war anymore. I could answer without feeling the heaviness of her guilt or the urge to cry. So I did.

“Hey,” I said, tone gentle.

“Hey, baby.” Zora’s voice was calm, but I could hear the usual thread of worry underneath. “You busy?”

“Kinda, but I can take a break.” I minimized my windows and leaned back in the chair. “Everything okay?”

She hesitated. “I just wanted to let you know... Darius is planning to resign. From Anderson & Hartman.”

I blinked. “What?”

“He said if it makes you feel more comfortable going back to work, then he’ll step down.”

I frowned. “He doesn’t have to do that. That’s... extreme.”

“I told him the same thing. But he’s serious about it. He said if it means you’ll stop running from your future, he’ll remove himself from the picture.” She paused, then added, “But I’m glad you don’t want him to. Are you really going back next week?”

“I am,” I said softly. “It’s time.”

There was a small breath of relief on the other end.

Zora’s voice turned a little more reflective. “I know we already talked about this, Zoe… but I need to add a little more context,” she said.

I pulled my knees up to my chest, already feeling that familiar bubbling in the pit of my stomach.

“Darius didn’t agree with the plan to keep it from you,” she continued. “He’s more upset with me for lying… for letting you believe he was dead.”

She exhaled, like the weight of it was still sitting on her chest.

“When I told him what I wanted to do, he flew into a rage. Because… he always wanted you, Zoe.”

I sat there, nibbling my bottom lip, still trying to process it all.

“Oh God… if you could’ve seen the look on his face when I showed him the pregnancy test,” she said, laughing softly at the memory. “He bought diapers and bottles that same night.”

I couldn’t help but smirk, even as my heart twisted.

“And we had planned to tell you… but you were right.”

“About what?” I dropped one leg and used it to spin myself side to side in the office chair.

---