“Yeah, we’ve got it,” Winter added.
“Okay, let me know the minute you spot Rook,” Law ordered.
“Will do. Don’t worry.” Black nodded.
“Thanks.” Law turned toward the bedroom door, already moving, throwing things into his go-bag, phone caught between his chin and shoulder. “Did Boston say what happened?”
He moved faster now, urgent, no wasted motion.
Viper exhaled once.
“The woman was someone named Jade,” Viper said.
“Do we know who killed her?”
“No. Boston said she’s Ashley’s roommate.”
“Who’s Ashley?” Law frowned.
“I don’t know,” Viper said. “But apparently she matters to Sage.”
Law ended the call.
The door shut behind Law and the house went quiet too fast.
Not the kind of quiet that settled—this one pressed in, wrong, like something had been cut out of the middle of it.
The absence lingered, sharp enough to notice.
Black didn’t move at first.
Then his weight shifted, jaw tightening as his gaze tracked toward the door like he could still see through it.
“He’ll be fine,” Memphis said from the kitchen, voice easy, like this was just another run, another mess to clean up.
Black didn’t look at him. “He’s not the one I’m worried about.”
The words landed flat.
Winter’s attention flicked over, sharp for a second, catching the edge of it.
A beat passed.
“Micah can handle himself,” Memphis added.
“Yeah.” Black pushed off the wall, already moving, not waiting it out, not settling back into the space like the rest of them. Keys scraped off the counter as he grabbed them on the way past, the quiet breaking again—this time on purpose.
Los Ángeles…
By the time Law hit the city, some seventy minutes later, the city was still wide awake. Lights stretched in every direction—neon, headlights, streetlamps bleeding together until the whole place felt too bright.
The thrum of it carried even here—distant traffic, rotor wash fading, the city never fully settling.
Viper’s chopper had cut the travel time, dropping him at an LAPD landing pad.
A cruiser was already waiting. Engine running. Lights off.
Law stepped out and headed straight for it.
