It was raining as Lamar drove me and Gage to meet Armita at a restaurant in Miami. It never snowed in December, but instead rained. At least not in Florida. I always wished that the holidays would make some sort of difference in the weather, but it never did. Still, there was something soothing about the rain as we made our way towards the restaurant. It calmed my raging thoughts that seemed to never slow down these days. I worried more than usual. About Gage, about my parents, about everything. But watching the miniature rivers slide along the window eased my mind a bit. I imagined for a moment what it would be like to be boundless like a droplet when I heard Lamar ask, "Did you seriously make forty coconut ladoos for one person?"

It took me a moment to realize he was talking to me. I looked up to see him eyeing the box sitting in my lap warily through the rearview mirror as he pulled up to a red light. I almost forgot about them.

"You said that these are Armita's favorite," I gestured to the pink box. "I wanted to give her something nice for helping us."

"And that is nice, but forty?"

I frowned down at the box that was admittedly filled to capacity with the little ball-shaped sweets. "Maybe she can save some for later."

"Maybe," he agreed, before pressing the gas when the light turned green.

I sighed and looked back at my box when I noticed Gage checking his phone for something. Usually he's not on his phone unless Violet was texting him, but I know she's in class right now. For some reason today he's been checking it non-stop and hardly looks at me when I try to talk to him. I figured it was just nerves, but I would be lying if I said it didn't bother me.

"Is Jason not going to meet us at the restaurant?" I offered.

Gage shook his head as he typed away on his phone. "No, he uh . . . has some other stuff to do today."

"Oh, okay," I watched as he locked his phone and slid it back in his pants. "I'm actually kind of surprised you were able to get any information from him."

I was confused when his body stiffened at that but then slowly relaxed as he said, "It . . . wasn't easy at all."

"Oh, goodness. Did you two fight again?"

"Not exactly, no."

I eyed him up and down noting the way he seemed standoffish about the topic, so I decided not to pry anymore. I don't know what happened, but clearly, it wasn't something he was willing to address. Maybe that was why he was so closed off today. Plus, I'm not sure he really wanted to talk about it right now with Lamar in hearing range. Not that we don't trust him. It's just that as much as we loved him, some things needed to remain private.

My attention went back to the rain that pitter-pattered against Lamar's car before we suddenly came to a stop. I was so focused on the rain I didn't notice where we were.

"We're here," Lamar announced as he turned off the car.

My heart skipped a beat at that. I had fought for this meeting and now we were here. No turning back now.

The rain had eased up enough to where I could make out a small, quaint looking restaurant. Sort of like something you would see lodged in the backroads, which is exactly where it was now. The brick building was a little bigger than my bakery although it included what looked like a recently added room attached to the side of the building. It appeared promising, until I read the name of the restaurant hanging above its door: 'The Boiling Lobster.' Gage and I looked at each other at the same time and silently agreed that he couldn't eat here. Not unless he wanted to blow up like a balloon.

Right when Gage and I reached for our door handles Lamar said, "Wait, wait, wait. I should probably warn you two about something before we go in."

Confused, I was the first to ask, "About what?"

"About Armita. She is a very professional woman, and very kind, but she can be . . . intense sometimes. Especially when you first meet her."

"Intense, how?" Gage asked.

Lamar scratched his chin. "You'll see. Just know that she takes her job very seriously. Even when she's off duty like now."

"Okay," I nodded.

"And just remember she is here to help. So don't hold anything back," that was directed at Gage, but I could hear the underlying message in it. This meeting wasn't just about Gage and his debt, but Grayson as well. He had a big responsibility today.

"Understood," Gage nodded.

"Alright then," Lamar opened his door. "Let's go see Armita."

After he gave us the green light we all made a beeline for the restaurant before the rain increased. As I expected, the inside had a few decorations here or there, but nothing too overwhelming. The smell of seafood, however, was. Gage looked uncomfortable and I silently hoped that this was the type of restaurant that doesn't shun burgers and chicken. The hostess somehow immediately recognized us, took three menus, and escorted us to the back. Along the way we passed a few customers bent over their plate of food. It wasn't too busy, but it was enough to keep business going.

The hostess took us down a long hallway to the area that I had previously assumed was added. I thought it was built to add more room for guests, but instead there was only one large table. And occupying it, was a woman dressed in a black business suit that outlined her curvy figure in a manner I could never fulfill. Her back was to us so all I could see was her long, rich dark hair that spilled down below her shoulders in soft waves. I could tell she was beautiful, but as soon as she turned around when Lamar called out her name, I realized I was wrong.

Armita was stunning.

At the sight of Lamar, her tanned complexion brightened up a bit. It seems he has this effect on everyone. Instantly she got up from her seat to walk towards him.

"Lamar!" she threw her arms around him to pull him into a tight hug. His expression reflected his surprise as she held on for a moment before releasing him to place her hands together and slightly bow as she said, "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has," he greeted in return with the same praying pose. "Too long."

"How is Rhonda? The girls?"

"The girls are the same as ever, and Rhonda is well. She is ready to come home, though."

Armita nodded. "Being far away from family is never easy."

"Definitely not," Lamar agreed with a tight grin. "But she should be returning for the holidays. Probably next week."

"Really? That's great!"

"It is. Will you be visiting us?"

"Possibly. Depends on how busy I am with work. People get crazy around the holiday season."

He chuckled at that. "Yeah, I bet."

"Speaking of which," she turned to finally recognize Gage and I standing awkwardly in the corner. Her dark eyes scanned us up and down before a small smile appeared on her lips. "You're Lamar's friends who will help me today. Nice to finally meet you two in person. I am Armita Kumar."

I perked up after she addressed us. "Oh! Yes. Sorry, I didn't want to jump in while you two were catching up and everything. I know how rude that can be. And I'm not rude. I mean sometimes I can be, but that's on certain occasions. Oh, I'm being rude now! I should probably introduce myself. My name is—"

"Katy Thomas. Although, eight years ago you were known as Alexandria Devenue. Your birthday is February 4th. Age, twenty-six. You have no siblings and no known allergies. You own a bakery called Katy Cakes. Your natural hair is dark brown. Your eye color is blue. You originate from Jacksonville although you are now in Doral. You are approximately five-foot-one and your shoe size is six." Armita placed her hands behind her back with a smug smile while I tried to pick up my jaw from the floor.

Right when Gage was about to say something Armita turned to him and showed no mercy.

"And you are Gage Michael Rivers, also known as Steel Gage when in the ring. I have seen your fights before. You favor uppercuts and submission holds. You have two siblings: Violet and Paxton. Your birthday is April 25th. Twenty-eight years old. You are allergic to shellfish, my apologies. Dark brown hair and blue eyes like Katy. You are from Panama but now live in Doral. The list goes on and on but, I digress," after she finally finished, the room went into stunned silence.

Lamar was right, she was intense.

She let out a small sigh as she made her way back to her seat. "Muhjey maaf kardo, my apologies. I'm not big on formalities. And as an agent, I have to do background checks before every meeting. For obvious reasons."

I laughed nervously. "I see that."

"Don't worry, though. You are both as clean as virgins. So, please," she gestured to the other chairs, "take a seat. We have a lot of work to do, but first, we must eat. Every good meeting must begin with a good meal."

It took me a moment to find my seat but not because I was still reeling from what happened, but because her mannerism reminded me of someone and I couldn't figure out who. I was so trapped in trying to figure it out as I mechanically made my way to a chair between Gage and Lamar I almost forgot about the box still in my hands.

"Oh. Here, Armita," I handed her the small pink box after taking my seat across from her. "I made these for you. Lamar said you liked coconut ladoos."

She raised an eyebrow at the box. "You made these for me?"

"I did. It's the least I could do since you are helping us with all this."

Armita looked at me for a moment before opening the box up. Almost immediately her eyes glowed. "These look amazing. Thank you. They will make a great little snack."

Little snack?

I figured she was just joking about that comment until we ordered our food. Another thing I learned about the Indian woman was that she had a large appetite, much bigger than mine. She ordered three entrees for herself whereas I debated on just going for the kid's menu. Even Gage seemed to look amazed at her hefty order when it arrived, and even more amazed when she polished off all three plates while he still worked on his steak. I had no idea how she could down all that greasy food and keep her amazing figure. It really wasn't fair. And I secretly debated on asking her how she does it, but if I'm being honest, she kind of scares me.

After we were all finished and Armita ordered a bourbon (apparently knowing the owner had its perks), she reached over to pick up a briefcase next to her and placed it on her lap.

"Now then," she unlocked it with a resounding click that filled the room. "Let's get started."

The atmosphere quickly changed the second those words left her mouth. Everyone straightened up in their chair a bit more. We all knew this was it.

"So here is what I have planned," she began. "All my notes and information on this organization are in this case. I will show you what I have and then you two can tell me what you know."

I frowned. "Actually, Gage is the one with all the information. I may not be that much of help."

Armita waved me off. "We'll see, we'll see. Anyway, does this plan sound good to you all?"

Gage crossed his arms in front of his chest and shrugged. "Yeah, sounds good. But quick question."

"Sure."

"Are you positive we are safe in this room?"

"Absolutely," Armita replied, confidently. "I always take my informal business here. I know the owner very well so if anything goes wrong, he will tell me."

Gage eyed her for a moment. "And you are sure?"

"You have my word." When Gage didn't say anything else to that she added, "Are there any other questions?"

Thousands, but I'll wait.

She nodded, taking the silence in the room as confirmation.

"Excellent. Let's begin," she then pulled out a bunch of manila folders from her case and displayed them on the table. I counted around six, thick folders all labeled 'Bird Shit.' "This is what I have on The Flock so far. I don't know how much Lamar has told you, but I have been on this case for a while now."

"They know," Lamar confirmed.

"Good. Then we can skip over some minor details," she took a sip from her glass before pulling out papers from the first folder. "This is a detailed account of what I know about the organization itself so far. The only thing I don't know is when it all began. But that is not what is important right now," she flipped through some pages before pulling out what looked like a chart of people and placed it in front of us. "This is the outline of the different rankings in the organization that I gathered during my research. And correct me if I'm wrong, but we start at the very bottom where you are," she tapped the image of a bunch of tiny figures near the end of the page. "They are called 'worms.' I call them 'victims.' Regardless, they hold one purpose, to keep The Flock going. They either provide money or other . . . things," Gage's lips went into a straight line. "I noticed a lot are made to be fighters, but others have different skills and purposes. Drugs, dog fighting, prostitution, all of it. Originally I thought these victims were in Florida, but it turns out they have branched out to other surrounding states as well. That lets me know they do not have one focus group, they will take any victim. That is both good and bad information for me."

I looked up to see Gage's dark expression as he eyed the chart. I knew this wasn't going to be easy. It wasn't for anybody who was hearing this. Regardless, I reached out to hold his hand under the table to let him know I was there. It was the least I could do.

"Now, the next ranking, as you probably have guessed, is made up of people working for The Flock. These are not people picked up off the streets. These are greedy, selfish bastards who enjoy what they do. They are predators that lure in their prey, play with them, then slowly kill them off after they get what they want for their master. I noticed that they are marked with a tattoo on their hand of their designated bird name," she snorted. "Sorry, that just sounds ridiculous. Anyway, their name is typically not one of power. For example, Sparrow," I shuddered at the name. "A sparrow is nothing powerful. It's a small bird. So this lets me know that whoever is controlling him is a very power hungry person and likes to show it. He or she likes to have a dominant role, which can be a number of people, but bear with me," she paused to take another drink.

"My main goal in all of this is to find the leader. The Kingpin. As part of my research," she slid a folder towards Gage, "I went undercover to all the different matches. Including yours, Gage. I understood the roles between predators and prey, but I wanted to know who was controlling all of this. I figured someone on the inside would tell me something, however, no matter what methods I took, I couldn't get anything. This person has their identity locked up tight for a reason, which tells me all sorts of things about them. They are clearly an important figure to society. If nobody in their inner-circle knows who they are, they are hiding for a good reason. This led me to believe that they were either a celebrity, some sort of politician, or popular business person."

"A celebrity?" I don't know why that surprised me.

"You wouldn't believe how many corrupt celebrities there are out there. When money isn't an issue, it creates an issue. But I digress," she finished off her drink. "One night I did find some information that led me to a place that possibly belonged to the kingpin. I scouted it out for days and had my team try to infiltrate it, but every time I got close, they pulled out. We looked at three different houses," she slid another file for us to look at, "and all three were purchased under different accounts. Random accounts. Probably paid for by their victims. But these were not simple places, they were big and flashy. I felt like they were toying with me at this point. Every time I found a new location, I was too late. They were always one step ahead of me. This, again, confirmed my suspicion that they are someone with a lot of money. I thought for a while this was all the information I was going to get, until I went to one match in Dayton. There I was able to pick up a new detail: the name."

"Of the leader?" Lamar asked as he looked through the files Gage wasn't digging in.

Armita nodded. "But not their real name. Just their organization name. It was floating around when I did my investigation but I wasn't sure. Not until a member confirmed it for me on accident. The leader is called Vulture."

Gage visibly stiffened next to me. I thought I was the only one who noticed but Armita zeroed in on his reaction asking, "Have you heard this name before?"

There was a long pause before Gage said, "Yes."

"And do you know anything about them?"

It grew quiet again, only this time Gage's eyes went to mine for a moment before turning back to Armita. "I think so."

Something flashed across Armita's eyes before she leaned up in her seat. "Tell me everything you know."

"It's sort of a long story."

"We have time," she informed before flagging down a waiter to bring more bourbon.

All eyes went to Gage as he began his story, my hand never let go of his as he talked.

"I am really hoping that I'm wrong, but . . . oh well. Do you know who Jason is?" he asked Armita.

She nodded. "Jason Reynolds. Your manager."

"Basically, yeah," Gage ran his fingers through his hair with his free hand. "Well, he knows more about the organization than I do and last night he told me all about it. When I asked him if he knew who this Vulture guy was he says nobody does, except for one guy," he looked down at our intertwined hands. "He told me about this time after a match he went to drop off the money at a place Sparrow was staying at. This rarely ever happens, but Sparrow insisted the money be hand delivered. Jason arrived earlier than he was supposed to and apparently overheard him arguing with someone. At first, he thought it was someone higher up than him, but the guy said, 'I will not have my son make me look like a fool in front of Vulture. He is very displeased with you,' which suggests the guy has talked to him before. The more Jason listened, the more it was clear Sparrow's father not only knows who the Vulture is, but is very close to him."

"And the name of Sparrow's father?" Armita asked as she poured herself a drink.

Gage looked conflicted before he took in a deep breath and looked up at me. He gave my hand a tight squeeze before he replied, "Finch."

This was the part where I was supposed to be surprised. This is where I was supposed to slowly connect the dots and pretend like I didn't understand what he was saying. But for some reason, I knew almost instantly. And if I was being honest, I think I knew before as well. Because this wasn't a coincidence. Finch is close to the Vulture, who lives in Florida, who has a lot of money, and does a lot of cruel things because he is power hungry. I should have seen it before, but I guess I never could.