The silence after the gunman’s death didn’t last long.
It never does in situations like this.
Night air carried distant traffic noise again, as if the city itself was pretending nothing had happened. But the space around us had already changed. It felt heavier, like the world had quietly acknowledged that something irreversible had just taken place.
Elizabeth was the first to move.
“Justin…” she called softly, her voice trembling.
I didn’t turn immediately. My attention stayed on the street, scanning instinctively—rooftops, parked vehicles, blind corners. The kind of awareness you don’t switch off once you’ve lived long enough in dangerous places.
“I’m here,” I replied at last.
Vinie was still holding Elizabeth steady, though his eyes kept darting between me and the body on the grou
