was Danie

al footprint had been scrubbed so clean it was like he'd never been born. But Carol

leaves beh

ed with t

tary, government registries. But a small tattoo half-hidden by t

ks and whispered under neon signs. Back then, they called themselves Ash

them, this wasn't j

was

n her in years, but the moment she walked in, the old

wed

photo acros

en

You really wanna

eady ins

s. Got paid in silence. Last I heard, Rourke dropped out-vanished after a job upstate went

idn't flin

hills. Old logging t

e. Isolated. Eas

ft tha

as more bon

s where curtains twitched when her boots hit gravel. No cell towe

n. Run-down. Slumped like a dying animal. But the wind

waited un

shed. Broken lock. Inside: blueprints. Burned edges. A map of Montclair's ind

t

ware

g ta

was never m

th frozen in her throa

uldn't b

e. Dry. Co

eard shot with grey, but the eyes were

el R

idn'

the truth catching fire

swear to you. We were given coordinates. Targe

lit the

empty. But someone changed the files. Someone fed u

s a blade. "My fath

" Quiet.

d have com

" His voice cracked. "They tied off every loose

wa

the shots that night. His codename was Monarch. I traced money throu

lled out a folder. Nam

ouse in

lcony, laughing. Expensi

e recognize

who'd bought th

ok the

not sa

een safe sin

door. "You kille

kno

done wi

t expect y

nd dust. Behind her, the house faded

en

ehind the

er father's death li

idn't beli

a way of find

coming wit