Page 186 of Rose
The deep, rasping voice came from behind him. He turned to see Cain limping forward on his cane. There was something different about him tonight—lighter somehow—but Savior didn’t care enough to figure out why. This wasn’t about catching up. This was about ending Lazarus, and maybe… maybe getting Ahzii to stop disappearing on him.
“Sorry I’m late. Traffic was hell,” Cain said, sliding onto the barstool beside Savior.
“Hi, Katherine,” Cain greeted, making it clear this wasn’t his first time here.
“The usual?” she asked with a knowing smile.
“Nah, not tonight. Mind giving us some privacy?” He winked, playful enough to make her chuckle before she drifted down the bar to another customer.
“What you got for me?” Savior asked, voice low and sharp.
“I spotted William again,” Cain said, watching the way Savior’s stare hardened. “Caught him leaving a grocery store. I followed him home. Drives a 2010 red Cadillac DTS. Got the address, too.”
Cain pulled out his phone, swiping to a picture of the car, license plate clear. Another swipe showed William on a porch, blunt in hand.
“I just sent you the address.”
Savior’s business phone buzzed in his pocket. He glanced at the screen, his tongue grazing his teeth as the thought of spilling blood sent a slow burn through him.
“I’ll handle it,” he said, standing now.
Cain exhaled like he’d been holding that breath for years. “Can’t thank you enough. Any of you Carters. I can finally sleep knowing the man who took everything from me is in the ground.”
They shook hands, sealing something darker than just business.
But Ahzii crept back into his head—Jane Doe, the mission, the scars, the baby—and his pulse spiked.
“Was he alone? Wife? Girlfriend? Anybody with him?” he asked, forcing the question to sound casual.
Cain shook his head. “Alone. Like I told you before, I don’t think he’s got a woman or family. A man like him don’t deserve life, let alone love.” There was a weight in his voice, but Savior let it pass.
Relief flickered, but only for a second.
“I’ll call you when it’s done,” Savior said before heading for the door, disappearing into the night like he’d never been there.
Savior pulled up to the address Cain had given him, engine rumbling low as his eyes swept the block. Middle-class neighborhood. Clean lawns. The kind of placewhere no one would guess a mass murderer was hiding in plain sight. The red Cadillac sat in the driveway exactly like Cain said it would—confirmation that William was home.
He told himself to lock in, to focus on business, but every few seconds Ahzii pushed her way back into his mind. The unread messages. The block. The silence. He’d promised her space, but she’d had enough of that. Once this was done, he was going straight to Bianca’s to see her. Whether she wanted him there or not.
He parked two houses down, fingers drumming against the steering wheel as he waited. Cain’s intel needed to be airtight—one wrong move, and this could spiral. Minutes crawled by until the front door cracked open. A man stepped out with a trash bag slung in one hand. Savior’s eyes locked on him.
William.
He watched him walk to the curb, toss the bag into the dumpster, and stroll back inside like he was nothing more than a regular neighbor. Like he hadn’t killed thousands. Like he didn’t have enough blood on his hands to drown in.
Savior’s jaw flexed as he screwed the silencer onto his gun. He hit Olivia’s number.
“Yeah? Move the fuck up!” she barked over the sound of honking.
“I’m outside his house. Cain was right,” Savior said, sliding on his gloves.
“Traffic’s still bad as fuck. Sin’s with me—we’re twenty minutes out. He already hacked into the street cameras, and William’s too. They’re down.”
“Where the fuck is that nigga? I’ve been calling him.”
“We’re together,” Olivia said, then snapped at another driver. “Be careful, Khaos. All Love.”
“All Love,” Savior returned, ending the call after Sin echoed the words.
