Chapter 27: What We’re Dealing With
326 Words
The station didn’t settle after that.
If anything—
It got quieter.
The kind of quiet that meant everyone felt it.
Even if they didn’t understand it yet.
Cole didn’t wait this time.
He walked straight into the bullpen.
“It’s confirmed.”
That got everyone’s attention.
Aaron Evans leaned back slightly.
“Confirmed what?”
Cole didn’t soften it.
“There were two.”
Silence hit hard.
Eric Tate’s expression darkened.
“You’re sure?”
Cole nodded.
“Kali felt him,” he said. “Not past tense—present.”
Rylan crossed his arms.
“So he’s alive.”
“Yes.”
Julien finally spoke.
Quiet.
Measured.
“And she can still feel him?”
Cole met his eyes.
“Yeah.”
Something shifted in Julien’s expression.
Not surprise.
Recognition.
Aaron Evans stood now, thinking it through.
“Okay… let’s slow this down,” he said. “We’ve dealt with time anomalies before—Bermuda cases, people showing up out of place…”
He looked around the room.
“But this is different.”
Cole nodded.
“He didn’t just disappear,” he said. “He followed a time jump.”
Eric Tate muttered:
“…Zella.”
Julien confirmed it with a small nod.
Rylan exhaled slowly.
“So we’ve got a missing baby… tied to a repeating time jumper…”
A beat.
“And Syndicate just stepped into our world.”
No one argued.
Cole looked between them.
“Then we stop them,” he said.
Julien added quietly:
“Before they reach her.”
Silence.
Then Perry Walker spoke.
Calm.
Grounded.
“Then we treat this like every other case we’ve handled,” he said.
A beat.
“Except we don’t underestimate it.”
That landed.
Because they all knew—
This wasn’t like the others.
Final Beat
The lights flickered again.
No one moved this time.
Because now—
They understood.
This wasn’t just a case anymore.
It was a race.
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