Page 59 of Brutal
The platform is less crowded here. White tile, old advertisements, fluorescent light that turns everyone a little paler than they are.
She looks anything but pale.
“What happened to Halstead?” she asks.
Finally.
She admits what she’s after. I already knew, but having her say it gives it a true finality.
The past is coming back to haunt my father. My brothers.
And me.
I hold her gaze. “You’re closer than you think,” I say.
“That’s not an answer.”
“It’s the only one you’re getting.”
“For now?” Her voice is quiet. Almost intimate.
I take one step toward her. “Forever,” I say.
Then I turn and walk toward the stairs before I do something wildly stupid like kiss her again. I make it halfway to the street before my phone is in my hand.
“Status,” I say when the line connects.
“We’re still working on the second vehicle from last night.”
“Find it.”
A pause. “We will.”
I end the call and keep moving.
Delaney Cross thinks she’s looking for answers about Victor Halstead.
She is.
What she doesn’t understand yet is that the answer she’s moving toward isn’t a fact.
It’s a door.
And if she gets it open?—
There’s no version of this where either of us walks away unchanged.
14
DELANEY
The sky hasn’t fully darkened when I reach my building. I head up to my apartment, slide my key into the lock, and?—
I gasp.
The door is unlocked.
I always lock it.
