I found her. My life. – Elias
Elias
“You look like shit, Wolfe.”
I didn’t glance up. “Thanks, Brooks. You’re not my type.”
My hands moved fast over the keyboard, eyes locked on the grainy stills pulled from a street cam two miles west of the abandoned warehouse. One blurry frame. One angle. One goddamn shadow of a van. But it was enough.
Brooks set a coffee down next to me. “You got a match?”
I zoomed in, fingers flying. “Partial plate. Make. Model. Got one registered to a junkyard in El Monte. Owner’s got a record. Petty theft. Assault. Worked for a guy who used to cook meth.”
“He’s your guy?”
“He’s one of them.”
Brooks straightened. “Want backup?”
I shook my head. “Just give me ten minutes alone before you call the cavalry.”
He didn’t argue.
The gear felt heavy in my hands. My vest. My sidearm. My backup blade. Every part of me buzzed with adrenaline.
But under it—under the anger, the focus, the noise—was a raw, screaming thing.
She pressed that necklace.
She reached for me.
And I came too late.
Not again.
This time, I was going to rip the fucking world open before I let it happen again.
I slammed the car door shut and gunned the engine.
El Monte wasn’t that far.
But if anything happened to her while I was still breathing—
No. I won’t allow it.
Liana
I didn’t know how long it had been but I stopped counting.
Everything blurred together.
Now, time felt like a suggestion.
My throat was raw from dryness. I hadn’t eaten.
My wrists bled every time I tried to break free.
The room smelled like mold and old sweat. The walls were closer than they were before.
I wasn’t sure if I was awake or dreaming anymore.
I stopped counting the minutes.
Stopped whispering his name.
Stopped trying to believe he was coming.
Maybe I wasn’t supposed to be saved. Not twice. Not even the first time.
Maybe I was a problem meant to be left behind.
I curled into the corner as far as the cuffs would let me.
And when the tears came again, they were silent.
Because even the crying felt like a waste.
Because sometimes, you don’t run out of hope.
It just walks away.
And never looks back.
