Drake had the villa swept three times. When he returned, his face was as dark as stagnant water.
"No sign of a physical breach. This was an inside job, but I can't find the rat."
Dominic's response was a flat, hollow "Noted." Even after the door clicked shut and Drake vanished, he didn't move. He didn't speak.
The footsteps in the hallway faded layer by layer until the study fell into a heavy silence, broken only by two uneven breaths. Dominic remained at the desk, his palm pressed so hard against the experimental consent form that his knuckles were bone-white.
Avery watched the tension radiating from his shoulders. His breathing was dangerously ragged-shallow, fast, fractured. A tremor had begun to seize his frame.
It wasn't anger. She knew this state too well.
*Pre-episode physiolo
