The Things He Couldn't Fix
(Keifer's POV)
Nobody had slept.
Not really.
The Tiger Club office remained lit long after midnight.
Files covered the table.
Maps covered the walls.
Half-empty coffee cups sat forgotten between stacks of reports.
Everyone looked exhausted.
Everyone except me.
Because exhaustion required sleep.
And I hadn't slept in days.
The chair creaked beneath me as I leaned back.
My eyes burned.
My head hurt.
But every time I closed my eyes—
I saw her.
Jay.
Walking away.
Not looking back.
Leaving.
The memory felt like a knife every single time.
A knock interrupted the silence.
The office door opened.
Percy stepped inside holding another folder.
Another lead.
Another dead end.
He dropped it onto the table.
"Nothing."
The room fell silent again.
Aries cursed under his breath.
Angelo rubbed his face.
Nobody looked surprised anymore.
That was the worst part.
Failure had become normal.
I stared at the folder without opening it.
I already knew what was inside.
Nothing useful.
Nothing that brought me closer to finding her.
Nothing that answered the only question that mattered.
Is she okay?
My jaw tightened.
That question haunted me.
Because I knew Jay.
And if she was alone—
she wasn't taking care of herself.
She wasn't eating properly.
She wasn't resting.
She wasn't listening to anyone.
And with the condition she had been in when she left…
The thought alone made me sick.
I closed my eyes briefly.
Big mistake.
The memory came back immediately.
Jay struggling to stand.
Jay refusing help.
Jay pretending she was fine.
Jay leaving anyway.
A sharp pain settled in my chest.
I hated it.
The helplessness.
The waiting.
The not knowing.
I could solve business problems.
Financial problems.
Political problems.
I had people.
Resources.
Connections.
Money.
Influence.
Yet somehow—
I couldn't find one girl.
The only person who actually mattered.
The irony wasn't lost on me.
"You should rest."
Percy's voice broke through my thoughts.
I didn't even look at him.
"No."
"Keifer."
"No."
The answer came instantly.
The same answer I'd been giving for days.
Across the room Angelo sighed.
"You look terrible."
Normally I would've said something back.
Today—
I didn't have the energy.
Because he wasn't wrong.
The mirror earlier had confirmed that.
Dark circles.
Pale skin.
Tired eyes.
Even my clothes felt loose.
I hadn't exactly been taking care of myself either.
Funny.
Jay would have yelled at me for it.
The thought almost made me smile.
Almost.
A heavy silence settled over the office.
Nobody knew what to say anymore.
There were only so many times people could repeat:
"We'll find her."
Eventually the words lost meaning.
Because if it were that easy—
she would've been here already.
Aries finally stood.
Walking toward the window.
"You know she's probably worried too."
I looked up.
He shrugged.
"I'm just saying."
His gaze remained outside.
"Jay's stubborn."
A few people laughed weakly.
Because that was the biggest understatement of the century.
"She's probably driving everyone around her insane."
For the first time all day—
a small smile tugged at the corner of my lips.
I could picture it perfectly.
Jay arguing.
Jay refusing medicine.
Jay ignoring doctor's orders.
Jay pretending she knew better than everyone else.
The image hurt.
But somehow it helped too.
Because it made her feel closer.
More real.
Not just a memory.
Not just someone I'd lost.
A phone vibrated somewhere on the table.
Everyone looked up instantly.
Hope flashed across every face.
Then disappeared.
Wrong lead.
Again.
The atmosphere deflated immediately.
I pushed myself to my feet.
The movement made my head spin slightly.
I ignored it.
Walked toward the window.
Looked out over the city.
The lights blurred together below.
Thousands of people.
Thousands of buildings.
And somehow Jay wasn't anywhere I could reach.
My hand tightened against the glass.
"Where are you?"
The words slipped out before I could stop them.
Nobody answered.
Nobody could.
Because they wanted the answer too.
The office door opened again.
This time nobody reacted.
Until—
"Sir."
A man stepped inside.
Holding a file.
A thick one.
My heart stopped.
Everyone straightened immediately.
The room changed.
The air changed.
Hope returned so suddenly it almost hurt.
The man crossed the room.
Placing the folder directly onto the table.
Nobody touched it.
Not yet.
Not immediately.
Because after so many dead ends—
everyone was afraid.
Afraid to hope.
Afraid to believe.
The man finally spoke.
"We found something."
Silence.
Complete silence.
I stared at the folder.
My pulse beginning to race.
For the first time in days—
for the first time since Jay left—
it felt like the darkness had cracked open just a little.
Just enough for hope to get through.
And suddenly—
nobody in that room felt tired anymore.