By the time Pierce reached the apartment building, the town had fully woken up. A delivery truck idled outside the corner store across the street, and somewhere down the block a dog barked as someone jogged past with headphones on.
Pierce climbed the stairs two at a time out of habit.
Halfway up, his chest tightened.
Not with pain exactly, just pressure, like his lungs couldn’t quite keep up with what the rest of his body expected them to do. He slowed for the last few steps, breathing carefully through his nose.
By the time he reached the door, he had it under control again.
He pushed inside.
Cade was in the kitchen, leaning against the counter with a mug of coffee in one hand and his phone in the other. His hair stuck out in three different directions like he’d run his hands throug
