I don’t belong down there tonight.
I need answers.
I pull my phone out and scroll to a number I don’t use often. Silas answers on the second ring.
“You calling means someone’s about to ruin my sleep,” he jokes lightly.
“I need a background,” I reply.
“Name?”
“Rowan Hale.”
A pause. Subtle. Intentional.
“She’s a law student,” I tell him. “St. Augustine’s. Clean record at a glance. But I don’t want the glance,” I say. “I want what doesn’t show up.”
“How deep?”
Deep enough that I already know why he’s asking. My resources are better than his. If I’m calling him, it’s because I want something I can’t get to.
“Family. Financials. Any gaps. Anything she’s erased or insulated.”
Silence stretches.
“You don’t usually ask me to dig into civilians,” Silas comments, treading carefully.
“She’s not a civilian,” I reply, certain in a way I can’t yet justify. “I just don’t know what she is.”
Another breath. Slower this time.
“All the way down?” he asks.
“All the way,” I confirm. “Quiet. No ripples.”
“And if she notices?”
“She won’t,” I say. Then, after a beat, “That’s why I’m hiring the best person for the job.”
Silas hums. “Nothing else?”
“I have a picture. It’s grainy, but it’s all I’ve got. I’ll send it to you.”
“I’ll start tonight,” he promises. “But if she’s as careful as you think, this won’t be fast.”
“Put as many men as you need on it,” I tell him. “I need to know who she is as soon as possible.”
I hang up and lean back in my chair, letting the night press in. Rowan at the bar. Rowan scanning the room, then choosing retreat over confrontation.
And then there’s the bunny.
Those ridiculous ears he wore weren’t a joke. They were a misdirection—meant to blur expectation, to invite assumptions. To make us thinkfemale, or harmless, or anything other than what he actually was. Maybe hewasa woman. Maybe that was the point.
In this city, costumes are camouflage. They’re how people beg to be underestimated. And I’m a man who underestimates no-one.
My phone buzzes again. Miguel.
“She’s home,” he informs me. “Lights are on. No indication she knows she’s being watched.”
