“No footprints,” he muttered. “No markings. But someone definitely touched it. Look at this scratch.”
Trigger looked at the scratch. “This is so weird. How did he get past the alarm systems?”
Saint’s face darkened as he reviewed footage. “Whatever he did, he knew where the blind spot was. He stayed out of camera range.”
Of course he had.
That son of a bitch was learning the building. Mabe he’s been in here before we took over.
Nora slowly pulled away from me—not far, just enough to breathe—and whispered, “Maybe… maybe he left something.”
I turned sharply. “Nora, wait—”
She slipped past me into the hallway before I could grab her.
“Nora!” I lunged after her.
She paused only a few steps from the door, staring down at something on the floor near the end of the landing.
A tiny shape.
Barely visible in the dim hall light.
Her breath hitched. “Wolf… what is that?”
I reached her in seconds, putting my body between her and the object. “Don’t touch it.”
Saint and Havoc rushed over. Trigger hung back with the bat raised like he was expecting a ghost to leap out.
The object was small.
Round.
Dark.
Saint crouched with a penlight.
“What is it?” Nora whispered.
He angled the light.
My pulse slammed in my veins.
It was abutton.
A simple plastic button… but nothers.
It was covered in dirt.
Grime.
And—
Havoc leaned closer. “Is that… blood?”
A smear—tiny, but unmistakably dark like dried blood—streaked the rim.
Trigger gagged.
