LOGINJulianFor a few moments, I couldn’t move. It felt like I’d been backed into a corner and things were just getting more and more conflicted. I stood there frozen in place, staring at him for a long time, trying to steady the pulse that had started to pound against my throat. There was something about his calmness, his quiet, and unhurried certainty. It was the kind that made people dangerous. The kind that didn’t need to shout to sound like a threat. I could tell because I’d seen it before. But then, finally, I found my voice. “What exactly do you want from me? I bet it’s not just information about the Fords.” I said.He didn’t answer right away. He just stood there, shoulders square, and his eyes tracing the apartment like he was memorizing it. Then his gaze came back to me, steady and cold. “What I want,” he said, his tone flat, “depends on what you’re willing to give.”I felt an anger rise when he said that. It felt like I was being toyed with, and yet I could not do anything abou
JulianSince that day I saw Savannah with that man, I couldn’t stop thinking about him. For days, the image of his face kept showing up in my mind. I couldn’t tell Savannah what I’d seen without feeling like I was spying on her, and that made my chest tighten.So I started looking. Not in the way I would usually dig for leverage, but in the slow, foolish way of someone who keeps pulling at a loose thread until the whole sweater threatens to come apart. I called old contacts, searched news archives, and read through the faded pages of business magazines. It was stupid and obsessive, and I did it anyway.The breakthrough came when I was scrolling through a stack of scanned documents from a decade ago. I almost missed the photo tucked into an FBI briefing, with its edges yellowed, and the caption half-cut off. He was in the photo, standing at the back of a crowded room, indistinct except for that face. Seeing him there felt like being slapped by memory. My father had always introduced th
SavannahThe coffee shops on Maple always felt quieter in the mornings. It is why I often liked this place. The lighting and atmosphere here felt relieving, like I could shed all my burdens away if only for a moment. The people here were calm. They moved like they had purpose but not urgency. I liked how calming everything was here. It let me think without the city crowding in.I had my laptop open and a notebook beside my cup. But I wasn’t really working. I was pretending to. My fingers tapped the table while my mind ran through names and dates, and maps. Colleen’s files were still in my jacket from the warehouse. I kept looking at them like they were a fable I hadn’t decided to take seriously yet.But then the doorbells chimed, and he walked in. As much as I hated his guts, he did always know how to make an entrance. He was never loud, nor flashy. He just moved through the room with that easy confidence, and when he spotted me, he smiled, and before I could stand up, he was sliding
JulianSavannah, Colleen, and I had agreed to meet at the old warehouse for discreet reasons. That night felt heavier than usual. The air inside was thick with dust and silence, the kind that settled deep in your chest and made every breath feel heavy.Savannah sat across the table from me, with her head bent over a map we’d been studying for the past hour. At the same time, Colleen stood nearby, leaning casually against a pillar with a perpetual air of amusement he always carried, like everything we said was just part of some game he’d already won.But it wasn’t Colleen who had my attention tonight. It was Savannah. I could see she wasn’t her usual self. Her eyes darted to the door now and then, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of a folded note she’d tucked halfway beneath her notebook. I noticed it the moment we started, the way she kept her hand close to it, like it was something fragile she couldn’t risk losing.I tried not to stare, but I couldn’t help it. Something was off.“
SavannahOkay, check this out. Have you ever had one of those days when everything feels just a little off? Like you woke up fine, but the world around you had shifted half an inch, and nothing quite fit anymore?That’s what the morning felt like. After that night in the warehouse, I couldn’t shake the unease that had settled in my chest. Colleen’s smug grin still played in my head, and his half-truths circled like ghosts I couldn’t name. And Julian…well, he’d gone quiet again. He was there, but not really there, and I could see he was lost somewhere behind those calm eyes that never quite gave anything away.I needed air. I needed space to think. That much was clear, so I slipped out that afternoon and went to a café near the edge of downtown. It was one of those cozy spots that always smelled like cinnamon and rain-soaked pavement, and it was quickly becoming my favorite spot. The chatter was soft, the clinking of cups rhythmic, and for a moment, it felt almost normal. Almost.I sat
SavannahHave you ever gotten that feeling that something’s wrong before it even starts? Like the air in the room changes, and you can’t quite tell why. That’s what it felt like that night.We were supposed to meet in this old warehouse on the edge of town, a place that looked like it hadn’t seen daylight in years. I remember the crunch of gravel under my boots, and that little knot in my stomach that wouldn’t go away.Julian was already there when I walked in. He looked… off. Tired and tense and his gaze fixed on the floor until he heard me step closer.“You made it,” he said quietly, though his voice lacked its usual calm.“Barely,” I replied, trying to smile. “This place gives me bad vibes.”Before he could respond, Colleen stepped out from behind a metal pillar. He looked freshly pressed and had his shirt unbuttoned just enough to look careless but expensive, and his hair neatly styled.“Bad vibes usually mean you’re getting close to something real,” he said, smirking.“Or somethi







