Page 71 of Brutal

---

The year matches.

I lean back in my chair, staring at the screen as the pieces start to slide into place.

Halstead died at the marina.

That’s not new.

What is new is that these companies don’t just build things. They show up where things need to be managed.

And they were there.

At the marina.

The same year Halstead was.

I press my fingers to my temple.

Halstead wasn’t a random man in the wrong place. He was an investigator. He followed problems.

Which means…

My stomach churns.

He didn’t just end up there. He was looking at something. Something tied to this. Something tied to them.

I stare back at the screen.

If he was close enough to land inside their system, close enough to show up where they operate…

Then this wasn’t a fight that went too far.

It was a man who got too close.

And someone made sure he didn’t walk away.

I go back to the spreadsheet and widen the scope. Legal filings. Permits. Insurance. Who handled liability. Who cleaned it up.

That’s where mistakes happen. In the aftermath.

I lose track of time.

The sky outside my window shifts from black to gray to the pale blue of early morning, and I’m still at the table, still clicking, still pulling threads that lead somewhere I can’t quite see yet.

But I’m closer.

And then?—

I stop.

Not because I hit a wall but because something clicks into place.

The same registered agent tied to two of the shell companies shows up in a completely different context.

Legal representation.

I open the file and scan the names.

And there?—

---