Page 117 of Brutal
Devotion.
Need.
I brush my thumb over the ring once and then ease out of bed.
The room is cold without her heat. I drag on my pants and then stand for a second beside the mattress, looking down at her.
She doesn’t wake.
Her body remains angled toward the place I just left, as if even in sleep some part of her notices my absence and reaches anyway.
I turn away before the thought can sink its teeth in.
Focus.
I move through the apartment, checking the front door first. I turn the deadbolt and open the door. The lock plate catches my eye immediately.
Scratches.
Fine ones. Recent ones. New ones. New since the first break-in.
I crouch, dragging two fingers over the metal. I close the door, locking it once more, and head toward the window. I lift the blind a fraction.
It’s still dark on the street. Parked cars are illuminated by the orange lamps. A man sits on a stoop, smoking.
I let the blind fall and turn to the desk.
Delaney’s notes are spread there. Receipts. Names. Times. A sketch in the corner of one page. Measurements. Arrows. The marina. Access points. Service entries. Lock positions.
The marina records room. The sublevel restricted area. Has she figured out that it was restricted? Who it belonged to?
And the lock replacement.
I stare at the page, and something in me tightens.
She isn’t chasing a man anymore.
She’s chasing a door.
The thought hits like a fist, and in a flash I’m twenty-three again…
Rain slams down so hard it turns the marina black.
Water is slick under my boots. The old wood dock shines wet under the lights. My coat is heavy across my shoulders. I’m already flexing because this is what I was sent for. This is what I do. I step into messes and make them simple.
Nate is a few feet away, my backup. And Cain… Cain is farther away, always watching with that unreadable expression on his face.
He shouldn’t be here. He’s only sixteen.
But he insisted, and our father agreed. It was time. I could have fought harder, but I was way deeper into all of this shit when I was Cain’s age, so fuck it.
Then I see him.
Halstead.
He’s the problem. That is all that matters.
I move toward him.
