The drive to safehouse was a straight line of cracked asphalt and winter air biting through the vents. Asher kept one hand on the wheel, the other resting against his knee, fingers tapping a slow, irregular beat. He didn't like being kept waiting — not for board meetings, not for answers, and especially not for traitors.
He parked two blocks away from the safehouse and walked the rest of the way, boots crunching over broken glass and frost. The building itself looked like something the city had forgotten — a boarded-up pawn shop with a crooked "Closed" sign in the window.
Ryan was waiting at the back door, his broad frame blocking most of the doorway. His jaw was tight, and he didn't say a word until Asher stepped inside.
"They're in the basement," Ryan said, voice low.
"How many?"
"Two. Both ours. Or… they were."
The basement smelled faintly of rust and something sharper — fear, maybe. Two men sat tied to chairs under the harsh glare of a single hanging bulb. Asher knew their faces well. One had been with him for eight years, the other for three. Loyal. Or so he thought.
The one on the left — Marlow — had a split lip and the stubborn look of a man clinging to dignity. The other, Theo, wouldn't meet his eyes at all.
Asher stepped forward slowly, letting the silence work on them before he spoke.
"I'll give you one chance," he said, his tone calm, almost conversational. "Tell me who you've been speaking to… and why."
No answer.
He tilted his head, studying them like pieces of a puzzle.
"See, the problem is… betrayal is rarely just about money. It's personal. And personal means messy. And I hate messy."
Theo shifted in his chair, his shoulders tightening. Marlow glanced at him — just for a fraction of a second — but it was enough for Asher to see it. The connection.
"You're protecting someone," Asher said. "Who?"
Silence again.
He turned to Ryan. "Leave us."
When the door closed, Asher crouched down in front of Theo, close enough that the man had no choice but to look at him.
"People like you… you think you can balance it. Keep your secret, keep your life. But balance is a myth. Eventually, one side tips."
Theo's jaw clenched. "They would've killed her."
Bingo.
Asher's voice softened, almost curious. "Who's 'they'?"
No answer — but his eyes flickered. Not toward Marlow this time, but toward the ground, as if the truth was somewhere in the cracks of the cement.
Asher straightened. "If I find out you've been feeding my enemies because of some misguided heroics…" He didn't finish the sentence. He didn't have to.
He left them for Ryan to handle and stepped outside into the pale light.
The air was sharper now, the sky heavy with clouds. He pulled his phone from his coat pocket, thumb hovering over Amelia's contact.
He didn't call. Not yet.
Instead, he scrolled back to the message from Ryan and stared at it again.
I have found them.
If there was a "them" inside his circle… there could be a "them" inside his home.
Asher got into his car, the gnawing feeling in his chest sharper now.
And as he drove away from the safehouse, one thought lodged itself in his mind and refused to leave.