“Not really. Rook was at Cain’s place. He either knows something about Cain’s death or he did it.”
“Good point. If he shows up here, we’ll nail him.”
Sage’s mouth tipped at the corner.
Buckshot shot to his feet, ears pricking. His tags gave a soft jingle.
A hard rap hit the door a moment later, the sound landing sharp in the quiet.
Sage jumped.
Buckshot barked, then growled, a low sound building in his chest before his tail suddenly started thumping.
“Apparently, we know them,” Law said with a chuckle. He pushed to his feet and moved for the back door. Sage stayed where he was, cup cradled between his hands.
Law opened the door.
Winter’s hand lowered, and he peeked past Law to Sage at the counter.
Black stood off to the side with Memphis just behind him. Boston and Micah hung back.
Boston swung one foot lightly where he stood, restless energy barely contained.
“Are we interrupting?” Black asked, eyes flicking past Law and Winter into the house.
“Shut it,” Law smirked.
He stepped back to let them all in, tracking the shift as they crossed the threshold—boots on tile, space filling, the quiet from a second ago gone just like that.
Boots hit tile heavier than before, bringing the outside in with them.
The air shifted with them, cooler, sharper.
Buckshot circled all of them once, getting the pets he deserved, then settled near Sage again, attention split but anchored.
Winter didn’t waste time.
“Sorry to break up this quiet, intimate little moment y’all got going, but we got another lead,” he said, already pulling his phone up, something on the screen catching the light as he turned it toward Law and Sage. “Traffic cams picked up Monica Halster driving a vehicle exiting the main highway.”
“Exact location?”
“Not yet, but she headed east. She probably lives not far from this neighborhood. I bet her kids go to a local school somewhere close.”
Winter was talking about the woman in the photos. They’d managed to get her name, but not much else. What they did know was she mattered to both Rook and Cain—there were too many photos of the three of them together for it to be anything else. As far as they could tell, she was an innocent, but she was also the only solid lead they had on finding Rook and figuring out what the fuck was going on.
Micah wandered over to the counter and helped himself to coffee while Boston jumped lightly up to sit on the edge of the island bar.
Law’s eyes moved over the details on Winter’s phone, the image showing the suspected vehicle leaving the highway.
The glow from the screen reflected faintly in the glass of the cabinets.
The light flickered slightly as it shifted in his hand.
“Why can’t we trace that vehicle?” Law frowned.
“Older model Mercedes,” Sage said. “No onboard tracking.”
“Plates?” he asked.
