Grant swallowed. “So I pulled what you requested. The stuff he’s been sitting on.”
Madden stilled.
My pulse ticked up.
Grant held the folder out like it weighed fifty pounds. “Non-redacted. Copies.”
Madden stared at it like it was a bomb. “You’re serious.”
His voice softened. “Yeah.”
Madden’s hand lifted halfway, then stopped. “Are you sure about this? You’re breaking all kinds of rules giving this to me.”
“Yeah. If anyone finds out I did this, I’m done. But I don’t like what he’s doing. And I don’t like what happened to you. If this will help you get what you need without putting you in more crosshairs, it’s worth the risk.”
Madden’s hand finally moved. She took the file with careful fingers, as if too much force would tear it.
Grant’s eyes flicked down to her hands. To the soot that still lived under her nails despite the shower. To the faint tremor she controlled.
Then his gaze slid to me. The look wasn’t jealousy or suspicion. It was a simple, brutal question between men.
You’ll protect her?
“Yeah.” With my life.
Grant nodded once, like he’d expected that answer and needed it anyway. He shifted his weight, glancing toward the door. “I should go.”
Madden’s voice caught. “Thank you.”
He hesitated. His expression softened again. “Don’t make me regret it.”
“I won’t,” she promised.
He gave one last glance toward me, then turned and left. The door closed behind him with a quiet click that felt too loud.
The house went still again.
Madden stared down at the envelope in her hands like she was holding a key and a knife at the same time. Her breathing had changed—shallower, faster. Her mind was already racing down corridors of paper and dates and names.
I stepped in close and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.
She didn’t stiffen this time. She leaned into me like it was instinct now.
Her voice was quiet. “He risked his job.”
“Yeah,” I said.
Madden’s fingers tightened on the envelope. “He’s scared.”
“He should be.”
She swallowed. Her eyes lifted to mine. “So are we.”
The words were plain. Honest. No bravado.
The weight of them settled over my shoulders, and I didn’t shrug it off. “Yeah,” I said again. “We are.”
Madden looked down at the envelope once more. Her thumb traced the edge like she couldn’t stop touching the proof that the system could bend.
