Alex:
The river stinks of diesel and rot, a black ribbon under a bruised sky. I cut the engine two blocks back and walk the rest of the way, boots sinking into damp gravel. Every step echoes like a dare.
Fog crawls low across the wharf, swallowing the sodium lights one by one. I keep my knife in my palm, thumb brushing the worn handle. My heart’s a war drum.
Then—voices.
Low. Male. Cruel.
I press against a stack of shipping crates and edge closer.
“…told you what happens when you run.”
Karl.
The name is enough to spike my blood. Kandi’s old dealer, now her ex-boyfriend. He's the muscle for one of the crews, Midnight Phantoms, the kind of man who mistakes brutality for power.
I slide around the corner.
There she is.
Kandi’s on her knees, arms pinned behind her by a guy built like
