Chapter 25: Clockwork
The red countdown timer on Garrett Cole’s phone screen blinked with cold, digital precision. 11:57 AM. The silence on the wood-plank porch was absolute, broken only by the dry, rhythmic rattle of a cicada in the nearby oak tree. Garrett stood there, the certified state injunction trembling slightly in his grip, a manic, desperate smirk twisting his features. He was betting everything on that red state seal. In Texas, threatening a landman with a third-degree felony and the loss of their license was usually the nuclear option. Theo stepped forward, his entire massive frame turning rigid. The clean gray t-shirt stretched tight across his back as his chest heaved, a dark, volatile fury radiating off him so intensely that the Houston corporate lawyer instinctively stepped back into the scre
- Writer
