Morning came like it owed me an apology. The quiet from last night had turned into armor by morning.
The phone wouldn’t stop.
First buzz,I ignored it.
Second, I stared at the graph on the screen until the lines blurred.
Third... I checked the caller ID.
Silas.
Another day pretending the world hadn’t shifted overnight. It hadn’t worked.
I rose from the conference table without a word. The door clicked behind me. The corridor swallowed the murmur of voices.
“What.”
“Hale again,” Silas said. “Outside the studio. Kept his distance this time. Long enough to be seen.”
Cold slid under my skin. Then heat.
“Did Amber see him?”
“No. I moved him on.”
“Next time,” I said, voice flat, “you don’t move him. You end it.”
Silence. Then, “Copy.”
The line died. I stared at my reflection in the
