Page 193

Another.

“Old routes. Storage units. Service roads. Anywhere he’d go to stay off the grid.”

Piece by piece, the net tightens.

When I lower the phone, the room feels sharper. Smaller. Focused.

Zane looks up. “I’ll have a direction in ten.”

“Make it five.”

He nods once.

Finn has stopped pacing.

That’s worse.

He’s standing still now, eyes locked on me, a hardness settling behind them.

“You’re not waiting,” he says.

“No.”

“Good.”

I look down at the necklace one last time—the broken clasp, the slight bend where it snapped.

He made sure she felt it.

He made sure I would too.

That’s his mistake.

I set it on the bar.

“She’s alive,” I say.

Zane nods. Finn doesn’t look away.

They both understand.

I reach for my jacket, pulling it on, the weight settling into place.

For weeks, I told myself I was building something better here. A life that wasn’t related to the man I used to be.

That man never went anywhere; he just stopped being necessary.

Until now.

I look at them.

“My way didn’t keep her safe,” I say quietly.

No one argues.

I step toward the door.

Pause.