Rowan Marino

Finding Scarlett's friends won't be easy. Marco Rodriguez is smart, careful and brutal. He's hidden them somewhere he thinks we'll never find. But everyone leaves a trail, no matter how careful they are.

The first step is to think like him. He knows we'll be watching his usual strongholds. His warehouses, safe houses, and the places where he runs his business. That's too obvious, too exposed. He'll want to hide them somewhere out of sight. Somewhere out the radar.

We start by going after the logistics. Marco's operations depend on a network of supply routes, contacts, and safe locations scattered throughout the city. We're not talking about the main warehouses or known businesses. I'm talking about the smaller hubs, the hidden, abounded places he uses to move drugs, weapons, and most importantly, people.

Lucas is already pulling every bit of intel we have on Marco's supply chain. We need to track the movements of his trucks, shipments, and deliveries. Every bit of data we can get our hands on.

He may think he's hissed Scarlett's friends well, but moving captives requires resources. Guards, food, supplies. The more isolated they are, the more effort he needs to sustain them.
If we can track unusual supply runs, especially those heading to abandoned properties, we can narrow down the search.

That's where Lucas comes in. He's got people on every street corner, eyes and ears all over town.
If Marco does anything suspect, we'll know.

Once we've identified the potential hideouts, we apply pressure. Marco's men are loyal, but they are also scared. Scared men makes mistakes.

I want to put Marco Rodriguez entire network under siege. Apply enough pressure and someone will slip. Theodore will coordinate small, targeted hits on lower-level guards.
With one message: Talk or die.

We don't need them all to break. Just one. And when someone cracks, they'll give us the location we need.

Once we find Scarlett's friends, it's not over. We'll still have to get them out safely.

When that's done, nothing can stop me from destroying Marco Rodriguez once and for all.
He may think he's untouchable. He may think he's won.
But he's never met someone like me before. I'll show him just how crazy I can be. What real power looks like.

***

I'm deep in explaining the plan to my men when my phone vibrates on the desk. The screen lights up with a familiar name.
Dr. Wren Cartwright.
My therapist.
I immediately silence the phone and return my focus to the map spread across the table. Lucas and Theodore are still talking, running through possible locations, supply routes, things that actually matter right now.

The phone vibrates again.

I grit my teeth and flip it over. Refusing anything to break my concentration. I don't have time for this.

"Rowan. You with us?" Theodore asks as I force a nod.

"I'm fine. Let's keep moving."

But I'm not so fine.
The phone buzzes again. What the fuck.

I've only met her once. I didn't expect her to follow up. She seemed like the kind of therapist who'd see me for who I was, broken, dangerous, and decide I wasn't worth the effort.

But clearly, she isn't backing down.

I exhale sharply and snatch the phone off the desk. "Give me a minute." I say to my men, stepping away from the table.
I walk toward the far side of the room, pressing the phone to my ear. "This isn't a good time Dr. Cartwright."

Her voice comes through the line, calmly. "Rowan. I know you're busy. But you missed your last session, and we agreed you'd make time to work on this." She says.

I clench my jaw. "I'm handling something important right now." I answer.

"This is important too." She says. There's a pause, then her voice softens. "Rowan, I'm not going to sugarcoat it. I know whatever you're doing feels urgent, and maybe it is. But this is about your mental health, your emotions, these things won't disappear. You wanted to try this, so let me help you." She says.

I'm silent for a long moment. She's right as always. I don't like admitting it, but she is right.

I exhale through my nose. "Fine, I'll come in." I say.

It'll be only for an hour. Then we'll start the planning. "Good. See you in a bit."

I hang up and turn back to Lucas and Theodore. It's not like me to walk away in the middle of a plan.
"I have to take care of something. Keep working on the routes, I'll be back soon." I tell them.

See you in the next therapy session...