Scout’s posture didn’t change—but his eyes sharpened.
“She gives a statement. Sheriff opens a file.”
Tessa tapped the page.
“And then—nothing.”
Burke’s voice dropped.
“Nothing, how?”
“No escalation. No outside tasking. No follow-through that I can find.”
Grant frowned.
“And she disappears.”
“Yes.”
Silence.
Burke’s eyes stayed on the file.
“You think she ran.”
Tessa gave a slight shrug.
“Walkaway is what the report says.”
Scout spoke for the first time.
“People don’t walk away from everything.”
Every eye in the room shifted to him.
He didn’t move under it.
Tessa nodded once.
“No. They don’t.”
Burke looked up.
“So what are we looking at?”
Tessa met his eyes.
“Best case? She got scared. Took money. Left.”
Grant didn’t buy it.
“And worst case?”
Tessa didn’t soften it.
“She saw something valuable enough to get her killed.”
The room went still.
