Page 129 of In the Dark of the Past

“I think,” I said carefully, “that a woman who filed a complaint specifically to protect you, who circled your name twice in her files, who sat with you and asked if you were okay in the real way, understood something about people being trapped in things larger than themselves.” I paused. “I can’t tell you what was in her mind, but I can tell you that finishing what she started is the best answer to that question you’ll ever get.”

He exhaled, long and slow. It was the release of someone setting down something they’d been carrying for fourteen years.

“Okay,” he said.

I heard breaking glass, then a shout, then a crash. I whirled around in a flash, and the cabin door flew open behind us.

Atlas barreled through.

His face told me before he said a word.

I closed my eyes for one second.

I put my hand on Evan’s shoulder. “Evan,” I said quietly. “Stay here.”

When I got inside, I saw that Myra had done what she could. She was still kneeling on the floor with her bag open and her bloody hands still in her lap. Atlas stayed by the door, watching both Evan outside and us inside. Finn was against the far wall with the expression of a man absorbing something that would take a long time to fade.

I went to him.

He didn’t say anything. Neither did I. We took in the sight together, the fire still going, the lamp still lit, the water glass now broken, half on the table and half on the floor, the biggest piece still near Mark’s cuffed hands.

After a while, Finn said, very quietly, “I should have⁠—”

“No,” I stressed.

He looked at me.

“He made his decision before he even walked into that alley,” I said. “Maybe before tonight. You sat with him. You didn’t leave him alone. You did what you could do.” I held his gaze. “Some decisions belong to the person making them.”

He heard me. I could see him hear it, but I could also see it didn’t fully help. It likely wouldn’t for a while.

“He confirmed Grant,” Finn said. There was the investigator in him, moving forward because forward was the only direction that did anything useful. “It was a direct order. Given in person. Three days before.”

“And Evan’s account corroborates it from the outside,” I said. “Two independent witnesses placing Grant’s direct order in evidence. We have the recording from tonight, and we still have Evan. That confirms the chain all the way to the top.”

“Solis,” Finn said, mentioning the Attorney General.

“First thing in the morning,” I said. “Before Grant figures out that Vale didn’t complete his assignment.”

He nodded. Then looked at me. “Sean sent the warning.” He said it like he was still deciding what to do with the information.

“Yes.”

“He knew Evan was still around. Found a way to track him down and reached out. He told him to get to you.” Finn looked at the ceiling for a moment. “He said he was sorry.”

“He did. And that’s not nothing,” I said. “It’s not enough, but it’s not nothing.”

Finn absorbed that. Filed it away the way he did with things that needed time.

“Cole,” he said. “Grant’s mole at the station. Evan named him tonight, too. Once we get Solis to listen and have Evan’s statement on record, Cole gets picked up. Clean, and outside the department. I don’t want this tainting my people more.”

“And Jordyn?” I said.

His expression shifted. “I’ll tell her.”

“No,” I said. “I will. Vale asked me to share his message. I’ll do it. She might need a psychologist.”

Something moved through Finn’s expression. It wasn’t relief exactly, but it was the recognition of someone understanding that the person beside them would handle the thing that needed handling without being asked twice.