"According to our intel, Lorenzo was spotted in Chicago yesterday. He supposedly had some business he needed to take care of. We can only assume from the information we have that it was about an arms deal. All this information came from our men who had successfully infiltrated their main base a few months ago–"

"Just like Angelo did. Look how well that fucking turned out," Xavier cut Erik off with a scowl before leaning back in his chair. I stayed quiet in my chair and let Xavier vent. He tugged at his hair in frustration. "God damn it, what the hell did Angelo find?"

"We're still trying to figure that out, boss. Angelo was a precise and calculated man. Whatever he found out had been big enough to kill him over." Erik insisted.

"But we don't even know where Angelo was killed." Xavier said in a low tone.

Erik sighed in exhaustion.

I took a good look at Erik. The man looked like shit, his hair a mangled mess and dark bags underneath his eyes. His clothes were wrinkled and I thought I saw a few stains on them. I knew he was working day and night to solve Angelo's murder and I had faith that he would. But he wouldn't do us any good if he was deteriorating before our eyes.

"Are you doing okay, Erik? I know Angelo's death has been hard on you." I asked, concerned for my friend.

Erik sighed. "Although we rarely saw each other since he was always on a mission, Angelo was a good friend. I'll feel better when we bring him peace wherever he may be. I already started to grieve the first couple of weeks when Angelo never reported. But to know that he really is...it's hard to grasp."

"He was one of the best." Xavier added and Erik snorted.

"You know just as much as I do that he could be a real asshole, but he was loyal to a fault. It's hard knowing that he won't share the latest CD or puzzle he ordered online. He deserved better, and I'm going to help whenever I can."

I looked at Xavier and he gave me a subtle nod, silently agreeing with my thoughts.

"I think you need to rest, Erik. Go to bed and be back by tonight," I glanced at my watch and saw that it was barely noon. "Be back around eight," I ordered.

Erik opened his mouth to protest.

"But I also need to tell you about some footage I gave John–"

The look Xavier and I gave him told Erik that this wasn't a suggestion. Muttering under his breath, he started putting his things into his bag.

"Real quick, the footage I found showed–"

"John is here. If it's that important, we will find him. And you better not be working on anything until you come back." Xavier called out as Erik left the office.

Erik only sighed in agitation before the door closed.

"Diva." Xavier muttered but let out a small smirk.

"Like you're any better," I retorted before the door slammed open again. I mentally groaned, thinking Erik couldn't take a hint until I saw it was John. He rushed towards the camera feed that filled one side of the room.

Multiple TVs were mounted on the wall, showing different angles of the LA shooting. The problem with the footage was that there were so many people. Some faces were concealed and we weren't able to identify them all, even with our government files.

Another issue was that there weren't enough cameras to cover the entire event and some of the public cameras were either broken or too cheap to create a clear image. Not even all the advanced programs Erik had were getting us anywhere. Luckily for us, we live in the age of cell phones, where everyone videotapes and posts on social media– but even that could only take us so far.

"What are you up to?" Xavier questioned John as he leaned forward with interest.

"I got something big," John said urgently as he fast-forwarded the footage.

"It better be good. I don't need anything else pissing me off today," Xavier said as we both stood up and walked to where John was frantically looking at the scene.

"I've studied every inch of this footage for the last couple of weeks, anything that I could possibly grasp, I've seen it. Even though our system doesn't include audio or can identify everyone who was at the shooting, we can look at other details as to who they were. A couple hours ago, Erik found evidence of footage in a street camera that wasn't reported to the FBI–"

"That's what Erik was about to mention when I kicked him out. What do you have?" Xavier demanded.

"I think I cracked a part of the puzzle after meeting your girl a few minutes ago, Damon." John said.

My body automatically turned rigid at the mention of Rosaline. A strange churning began in my chest that caused my vision to turn red. I took a step towards John, unsure what I was about to do when Xavier grabbed my shoulder. I tried to shrug him off, but his grip tightened.

"Calm down, Damon," Xavier said in my ear.

He faced John. "What is it?" Xavier said as he kept a firm hold on my shoulder. I was taking deep breaths to control the turbulent emotions coursing through my body.

"Wait, I haven't even seen her file yet, let alone knew what she looked like until now. May I?"

Xavier moved away to look through the files on the table before giving John the correct one. John opened it and scanned the information, before snapping his fingers.

"It all makes sense now. Rosaline is the key," John dropped the file and started fiddling with the footage. I started tapping my foot impatiently when John gestured to the screen.

"Watch. This was minutes before the shots were fired."

I looked at the screen. This security footage showed Main Street where the camera was resting above a lamppost. There was a small farmer's market, vendors everywhere. The crowd was slowly making their way through the street.

"This isn't the important area, the important part is this..." John zoomed in on a store called Abbie's Books. The entrance door slammed open before a figure rushed out.

Though the image was blurry, it was clearly a woman. The figure rushed into the crowd, blending in instantly. If we weren't paying close attention to the figure, we wouldn't have batted an eye over it.

"This was taken approximately three minutes before the shooting. An unidentifiable woman frantically left the bookstore. Moments later there were two more men that chased after her," John said slowly.

A memory floated in my head at the mention of the store.

"Rosaline worked at that bookstore," I murmured to myself, a sense of dread filling me as the three of us silently followed the figure on the TV.

"How the hell did we miss that?" Xavier snapped. I didn't move a muscle as this new revelation came to me.

Something was slowly beginning to click in my head, though every part of me was trying to deny the facts and evidence coming our way. Rosaline's mysterious past was starting to come to light.

"We were focusing too much on the alley where most of Lorenzo's men came out. You wouldn't suspect someone coming out of a bookstore. Even then, we thought we were looking for a man due to Boris' claims...but what if Lorenzo is looking for a woman?" John said as he fast-forwarded a bit. The figure turned slightly just as Lorenzo's men came out and began to pull the hood over her head. Then the shots began to fire. John quickly reminded then paused at a certain part before carefully zooming on the person's wrist.

"Does this look familiar to you Damon?" John pointed at the person's wrist.

It was a small bracelet with rose charms. I recognized it anywhere. It seemed Xavier also recognized the piece of jewelry.

"No fucking way," Xavier growled. "Rosaline couldn't have been involved."

The thought felt like a punch to the stomach. I almost curled my body at the sensation. I tightened my fists at the thought of Rosaline being anything but innocent in this situation.

"I've already talked to her, Xavier. She doesn't seem capable of killing anyone. I'm only making theories based on the evidence we have. We need more information before we can come up with any more conclusions." John said calmly as he eyed me cautiously like he was waiting for me to strike.

"You're damn right, but you aren't going to be anywhere near her," I snapped at the thought of John going anywhere near my Flower.

"We need to talk to her, Damon, now," Xavier said urgently. "We can't help her unless we get some more answers."

Xavier's reasoning slowly got into my head before I nodded. He was right, if I wanted to protect Rosaline, I needed the truth.

"Let's go."

"Wait, there's one more thing!" John said as we moved out of the office to Xavier's private wing of the mansion. "Erik said someone tried to tamper with the camera, messing with the settings and timestamps to make it seem like no footage would be useful. Whatever happened to the camera had to be done virtually."

"Another hacker. That way the Diablos wouldn't have to reveal Rosaline to the authorities. They want to keep her for themselves." I panted.

Fucking hell, what is going on?

We ran to Xavier's area, the sound of retching echoed in the hallway.

Xavier kicked his bedroom door open and rushed to the bathroom where Maria was puking her guts out. John and I looked away to give the couple privacy as Xavier cared for his wife. I paced back and forth, trying to get rid of the pent up energy. I looked around the wing and didn't spot Rosaline or the twins.

Xavier finally settled his wife on the bed. She weakly took a sip of water.

"Morning sickness is a bitch," Maria croaked as Xavier rubbed her belly soothingly, seeming to forget the reason as to why we came here in the first place. Getting impatient, I cleared my throat and started asking Maria about my girl.

"Where's Rosaline?" I asked bluntly and Maria's eyes widened before they were suddenly interested in her nails. My eyes narrowed at the action.

"Maria..." I trailed off warningly, ignoring the way Xavier was glaring at me.

Maria started to look at me sheepishly before seeing the expression on my face. She saw John's face and caught on quickly that something was amiss.

"Something's wrong. Is she in trouble?" Maria said worriedly. Xavier gripped her hand and squeezed into it reassuringly.

"A lot of trouble actually. She'll be safe once we bring her back to the mansion. Where did she go?" Xavier asked gently but urgently.

Maria turned to answer me, knowing I was eager for the answer.

"She wanted to get some things from her apartment. Josh and Julian are with her, but I don't know if they are going to make any other stops. Rosaline reassured me that it wouldn't be that long of a trip. I thought it wouldn't be bad, but seeing the expression on your faces, it really is bad." Maria rambled as she ran a hand through her hair.

Xavier and I looked at each other and nodded. We needed to get their asses back here to safety and quickly. I wouldn't be able to shake this feeling of fear off until Flower was back in my arms where she belonged.

Because it was looking like Rosaline was in more danger than she realized. If Lorenzo was targeting her, she wouldn't be safe outside of these walls.

"John, call the twins now. If they don't answer in the next five minutes, I'm going after them," I barked before I marched out of the bedroom to get my gun.

It's about time to get some real answers about that day, but I feared that Rosaline was the key to it all.

Oh God, please let it not be true.