Lily's POV
I'm still staring at Ethan's photograph when my phone rings.
Maya's face flashes on the screen. I let it go to voicemail. Then she calls again. And again.
On the fourth call, I answer.
"Don't take the case," Maya says before I can even say hello.
"How did you—"
"Dante Cross's car is parked outside. Half the street saw him walk into your building." Her voice is tight with worry. "Lily, please tell me you said no."
I look at Ethan's smiling face in the photo. Six years old. Kidnapped by a man who burns people alive.
"He didn't give me a choice."
Maya curses in Spanish. "I'm coming over."
"No. I need to be alone right now."
"Lily—"
I hang up and turn off my phone.
The office feels too small suddenly. The walls press in on me. I need air, space, anything to stop the panic clawing up my throat.
But when I close my eyes, I don't see Ethan's face.
I see Sarah Martinez.
Three years ago.
The man who walked into my office looked normal. Clean suit. Friendly smile. Spoke politely, didn't make me uncomfortable.
"My name is Robert Chen," he said. "I need help finding someone who stole from me."
No metallic taste. No ice down my spine. Every word rang true.
I was so proud of myself back then. Twenty-five years old with my own detective agency. Ready to make a difference. Ready to use my truth-sensing gift to help people.
"Tell me about the person who stole from you," I said.
"Her name is Sarah Martinez. She worked as my assistant for two years. Last month, she stole fifty thousand dollars from my business account and disappeared."
True. All of it true.
"I just want to find her and get my money back," he said. "I won't press charges if she returns it. I just need to talk to her."
Also true.
I took the case. It paid well, and I needed the money. Mom had just died, leaving me with medical bills I'd be paying off for years.
Finding Sarah took three days. She was staying at a cheap motel in Galveston, using a fake name. I called Robert Chen and gave him the address.
"Thank you, Miss Chase," he said warmly. "You've been very helpful."
True.
Two days later, Sarah Martinez was found dead in that motel room. Stabbed seventeen times. The news said it was a robbery gone wrong.
But when the police investigated, they found something else. Sarah hadn't stolen money from Robert Chen. She'd witnessed him murder his business partner six months earlier. She'd been hiding, trying to stay alive long enough to testify.
Robert Chen hadn't lied to me about anything he said.
He just didn't tell me the whole truth.
And I'd been too stupid, too eager, too trusting to ask the right questions.
I open my eyes and find my hands are shaking.
Sarah's sister sent me a letter after the trial. It said: You killed her just as much as he did.
She was right.
I've spent three years taking safe cases. Cheating spouses. Insurance fraud. Background checks. Nothing that could get anyone hurt. Nothing that required me to trust a client's word.
Nothing that mattered.
And now Dante Cross walks into my office and forces me to choose: help him find a kidnapped child, or lose everything I've built.
What if I'm wrong again? What if I help him and another innocent person dies?
What if I don't help him and Ethan dies?
My office phone rings, making me jump. I almost don't answer, but then I see the caller ID.
Detective Sterling.
I pick up. "Hello?"
"Lily, did Dante Cross contact you?" Sterling's voice is urgent.
"Yes. He just left."
Sterling curses. "Listen to me carefully. Do not work with that man."
"He didn't give me a choice—"
"He's dangerous, Lily. You think Marcus Hale is bad? Dante Cross has killed more people than Hale could dream of. During the war, they called him The Reaper. He leveled entire city blocks. Killed civilians without blinking."
My stomach twists. "He says he wants to save his nephew."
"I'm sure he does. But his methods?" Sterling's voice drops. "Three months ago, someone stole from the Cross family. Dante found them. When the police arrived, there wasn't enough left to identify the body. He'd crushed every bone with his telekinesis."
I think I might be sick again.
"The police can protect you if you refuse—" Sterling starts.
"He said he'd destroy my business."
"Better than being dead."
Sterling's right. I know he's right. But I keep staring at Ethan's photograph. Keep thinking about Sarah Martinez. About the guilt that's haunted me for three years.
"What if I can save him?" I whisper. "What if this is my chance to make up for what I did?"
"Lily, no—"
"I have to try."
I hang up before Sterling can argue more.
For a long time, I just sit there, holding Ethan's photo. A six-year-old boy who's probably terrified right now. Who's probably crying for his uncle. Who might already be dead.
My phone buzzes with a text from an unknown number.
Unknown: Five a.m. tomorrow. Be ready. –Cross
My hands won't stop shaking.
I'm typing a response when I hear it—footsteps in the hallway outside my office. Slow. Deliberate. Getting closer.
It's almost midnight. The restaurant downstairs closed hours ago. I'm the only person who should be in this building.
The footsteps stop right outside my door.
Then someone slides an envelope underneath it.
My heart hammers against my ribs. I stare at the envelope like it might explode.
"Hello?" I call out.
No answer. Just footsteps walking away.
I grab the letter opener from my desk and approach the door slowly. Unlock it. Peek into the hallway.
Empty.
I grab the envelope and tear it open with trembling fingers.
Inside is a single photograph.
It's Sarah Martinez. From three years ago. Alive and smiling.
Someone has drawn a red X over her face.
And written on the back in block letters:
YOU HELPED KILL HER. NOW YOU'LL HELP KILL THE BOY TOO.
The photograph slips from my fingers.
Someone knows. Someone's been watching me. And they know I'm about to help Dante Cross.
My office phone rings again, shrill in the silence.
I pick it up with shaking hands.
Heavy breathing on the other end. Then a voice, distorted
and mechanical:
"Tick tock, Miss Chase. The fire's already started."
The line goes dead.