:- Betwee

e and Sophie. That strange tension between her and Greg still gnawed at him. Larry's voice filled the room as he led the

d back to reality when

t any insights

but he couldn't let that show. "Uh, yeah," he said quickly, "We should

but nodded. "Good call. We'll have

adn't come back to the café after her shift, and her sudden request for time o

hed Larry, who was gathering his notes. Larry raised

th in business and outside of it-but he wasn't used to bringin

at... finding out things?" Etha

at first. "Finding o

than didn't want to give too much away. He wa

"Depends on what you're asking about, but

shot. "There's this girl at the café. Something's off.

. You're worried about a girl? Ethan, since when do you care about

ow easily Larry could read him. "This isn't

air. "Help her or help yourself? You know, the

ck, trying to keep a straig

er. "Alright, alright. I'll help you play dete

. He knew he could count on

-

back to what Larry might find and how much Sophie was really hiding. She hadn't shared much about her life outside

ked in. The usual chatter filled the café, but Ethan's attention was

zzed in his pocket. It

d around. We

ickened. He quic

t me after

y: D

-

y lit, with soft music playing in the background. Larry was already there, sitting at a cor

"It didn't take long to find something. Apparently, she's b

. "What kind

are of her, but there's more. She's also got some financial issues piling up. Debts. And th

ained a lot-why Sophie had been so tense, why she needed to work ext

but it sounds like Sophie's family wasn't much help

d. She had been dealing with all of this alone, and Gr

nt to do about

her own. But he also knew that he had to be careful. If Greg was involved in something shady

than said finally. "But

ul. You don't know what kind

hed. "Yea

led deeper into something far more complicated than he had anticipated. But one thing w