Two men I’ve known for a matter of hours, ready to walk into something that could end careers, end freedom, end lives.
Mine included.
“I suppose we could count on at least one death tonight,” I murmur. The words come out drier than I intend. “However.” I hesitate. This is the part I’ve been turning over since Marisa’s name first left my mouth. “There is one problem.”
“What?” Cassian asks.
“If anything suspicious occurs in that clinic in the coming weeks,” I say carefully, “Marisa might put the pieces together.”
“Is this the doctor that clocked the malpractice and didn’t report it?” Talon asks.
“Yes.” I meet his gaze. “But just so we’re clear, I will not harm her. No matter what we find in there.”
“What if she took part in it?” Cassian asks.
“She didn’t,” I reply.
All reason points toward the truth. Marisa did not participate in whatever is happening at that clinic. Her fear, her shame, her quiet retreat from a profession that could have paid three times what she earns now. These do not belong to a perpetrator. They belong to someone who saw something, understood its implications, and chose to leave rather than confront it.
A coward’s exit, perhaps. But not a criminal’s.
“Alright,” Cassian murmurs.
“When this is over,” I say, “when we know exactly what is happening and we address it, I can speak to Marisa myself. I can shape what she thinks occurred.”
Cassian winces. A small contraction of his features, barely there, but I catch it. “Cutting contact would be best.”
“Yeah,” Talon agrees. “I don’t know about you, but whatever happens, I’m skipping town afterwards.”
“Even if you get the sight?” Cassian asks him.
“Yeah.” Talon doesn’t hesitate. “Especially then.” He looks at Cassian like the answer is obvious, like the question itself is faintly absurd. “Not gonna hang around in the town I legally died and came back to life. Sounds like a bad omen or something.”
Cassian thinks about it for a moment.
Then he nods.
“Alright,” he says. “I’m gonna go with you then.”
“What?” Talon nearly chokes.
“Well, I didn’t convince you to do this so you skip town and I never see you again.”
“And you’ll do what?”
“Murderers are everywhere,” Cassian says.
And that seems to clip it. Talon raises a brow. After a while, he nods like Cassian’s got him there, like the logic is airtight even though it’s barely logic at all. I just watch the two of them, finding myself surprised at how easy all of this seems. Moving, changing towns, leaving things behind.
I’m not a sentimental man. But I am a victim to routine, to order, to the particular comfort of knowing exactly where every instrument sits on the tray.
That alone sets me back.
But I suppose there’s no real progress without real risk.
“Fine, then we’ll leave together,” I add, before I can change my mind. “If anybody will have a reason to leave, it will be me.”
I push the takeout container away, interlace my fingers, and rest them lightly against the table.
