Nicholas Vance had never been afraid of silence.
He had spent twenty-five years surrounded by it — the silence of the basement, the silence of his empty penthouse, the silence of a life lived behind glass walls. Silence was familiar. Silence was safe.
But tonight, the silence was unbearable.
---
The car dropped him at his building at 6:30 PM.
Nick stood on the sidewalk for a long moment, watching the traffic, the people, the city moving on without him. Emma's building was twelve blocks away. He could walk there in fifteen minutes. He could be at her door. He could knock.
He didn't.
He went inside.
---
The penthouse was dark and cold.
Nick didn't turn on the lights. He walked to his bedroom, sat on the edge of his bed, and stared at the photograph on his nightstand. The boy with t
