“I won’t.”
“You keep holding air like that, you might.”
Joker says from the front, “I can hit him. Restart the system.”
Hammer doesn’t look away from the road. “Not helpful.”
“Could be.”
“I said no.”
Normally Blaze would fill silence. He isn’t in this cage.
Good.
If he joked right now, I might break his jaw and not stop there.
Dom’s voice cuts through. “I’m pulling store cameras.”
“Anything?” Logan asks from the other vehicle, patched into the call.
“Not yet. Feed’s shit. It’s lagging.”
“Get it.”
“I’m fucking getting it,” Dom snaps, then immediately reins it in. “Sorry.”
No one cares. We reach the market in nine minutes. Too long. Hammer barely puts the SUV in park before I’m out. The parking lot is too open. Too quiet. Too normal. Cars scattered. Storefront lights bright. A few people moving inside like the world didn’t end here less than twenty minutes ago. Then I see it.
The SUV Eli took. Doors open. Driver side. Rear passenger. Both hanging wide like whatever happened moved too fast for anyone to close them. My body stops for one fraction of a second. Then I’m moving. Fast. Across asphalt. Past a shopping cart tipped near the curb. Past a torn paper bag split open on the ground. Items scattered. A small box wrapped in dark paper.
Something for me.
My vision goes black at the edges. Not unconscious. Worse. Focused. I crouch beside the open door.No Olivia. No Eli. No blood inside at first glance. Then I see it.
A smear on the edge of the passenger seat. Not much. Enough. I lean in, breathe through my nose, take in what I can. Chemical. Faint. Sharp. Sedative. Zip tie end on the floorboard. A torn scrap of fabric caught near the seat track.
Her hoodie?
No. Not sure. Not enough.
Shadow checks the perimeter. Hammer scans the far side of the lot. Joker moves toward the cameras mounted above the storefront. Blaze comes up behind me and stops.
“Fuck,” he says quietly.
I look down at the bags. She came here because she found out it was my birthday. She wanted to give me something. They took that too. Not the gift. The choice. Her choice.
Mine.
Everything.
“Cobra,” Shadow says.
I turn.
He’s near a patch of pavement on the passenger side. Scuff marks. Dragging. One dark drop near the tire. Blood. Could be Eli. Could be hers. The sound that comes out of me isn’t human.
Blaze moves first. “Brother—”
