Chapter 12 · The Hunter's Offer

The parking garage smelled like oil and something rotten.

I was three steps from my car when he stepped out from behind the concrete pillar. Tall. Leather jacket. Eyes that caught the fluorescent light wrong.

"Evelyn Rowe." He said it like he'd been practicing. "You don't know me yet, but I know your boss."

I stopped. My hand was already in my bag, fingers around my phone. "I don't have a boss."

"Right. You have a contract." He tilted his head. "Big difference."

The air shifted. Too cold for June. I could see my breath.

"Who are you?"

"Someone who knew Vivian Sul." He took a step closer. I took one back. "Someone who tried to warn her. She didn't listen either."

My pulse kicked. I'd spent two weeks digging through Lucien's files, through the contract clauses, through every mention of the girl before me. Vivian filed to leave. Lucien approved it. Then she vanished.

And now this guy knew her name.

"What do you want?"

"To show you something." He pulled a phone from his jacket. Older model. Cracked screen. He turned it toward me.

The video was dark, grainy. Security footage. I recognized the penthouse hallway.