Page 119 of Collateral Love

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Silence followed.

That choice mattered.

Because refusal was louder than denial.

Xavier looked at me. “That escalates.”

“Yes,” I replied. “But on our terms.”

Joel cleared his throat. “Sir… public sentiment is shifting. Some are calling for accountability. Others are framing this as targeted persecution.”

“Let them argue,” I said. “Confusion buys time.”

“And Charles?” Joel asked carefully.

I didn’t answer right away.

I thought about the old version of me. The one who would’ve already been standing over Charles’s body, gun still warm, consequence be damned. Thought about how easy that would feel. How clean.

Too clean.

“Killing him now helps Cameron,” I said finally. “It turns this into a spectacle.”

Xavier nodded slowly. “Martyrs move faster than defendants.”

“Exactly,” I said. “I want him alive long enough to testify against his own sister.”

Every instinct in me wanted blood and finality. I wanted silence in the way only death delivered it.

But Kenya didn’t build this world so I could burn it down the moment it tested me.

She built it so we could survive pressure without becoming sloppy.

My phone buzzed.

Unknown number.

I didn’t answer.

Let it ring.

Let it ring again.

Unknown:

You’re choosing delay. That’s new.

I stared at the screen.

Didn’t respond.

Instead, I handed the phone to Xavier.

“Trace it,” I said.

He was already typing. “She’s close. Not physically. Strategically.”

Channy exhaled. “She wants you to know she’s watching.”

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