Tara didn't sleep that night.
She lay still in her bed, staring at the cracked ceiling while shadows twisted across the walls. Outside, the wind howled against the glass, but inside, the real storm was in her head — images of Langston's frightened face, the board of names and faces, and the grainy photo of the man who had haunted their investigation from the very beginning.
She rose quietly, wrapping herself in her oversized hoodie and walking barefoot into the living room. The scent of cold coffee and paper hung in the air. Aaron was asleep on the couch, one arm draped across his chest, face relaxed for once. Jessie had gone home earlier that evening to rest and regroup, promising to dig deeper into the records they'd photographed.
Tara watched Aaron for a moment longer than she meant to. There was something in the way he rested — like he hadn't truly let himself breathe in years until now. Slowly, she turned back to the wall, her eyes scanning the photos, the maps, the notes pinned with tacks and string. Every piece mattered. Every face was real.
She moved a red pin toward the corner of the board and circled a name: Anders Vale.
Langston had identified him as the cleaner. The enforcer. The one sent when threats didn't work.
And now, she was sure, he was watching her too.
The lights in her apartment flickered once.
Tara didn't hesitate. She grabbed her phone and walked over to Aaron, kneeling by the couch and shaking his shoulder gently.
He opened his eyes instantly. "What's wrong?"
"We need to go," she said. "Now."
They left before the sun rose, driving through the city while it still slept under layers of fog and silence. Tara's hands were tight on the wheel.
"We've hit something big," she said. "Langston's not just a scared old man. He was the missing link. That photo of Vale ties everything together."
Aaron ran a hand through his hair. "Do you think the department knows?"
"They have to. But not all of them. Harris seems clean — so far."
Aaron leaned his head against the window. "We'll need evidence that can't be erased. Something they can't bury."
Tara glanced at him. "We go to the source."
"You mean the firm."
She nodded.
It was suicide. But it was also the only way forward.
They spent the day preparing. Jessie joined them at noon, wide-eyed but determined.
"You're serious?" she asked as Tara laid out the plan.
"No one else is going to do this," Tara said. "We either expose them or we let them bury more girls."
Jessie swallowed, then nodded. "I'll run cover from the outside. If something goes wrong, I'll go to Harris myself."
Aaron looked at her. "Only if we disappear."
"Don't say that," Tara cut in sharply.
But the weight of it hung in the air between them anyway.
The firm's central building was deceptively ordinary — a modest office front in an industrial block downtown, surrounded by repair shops and empty warehouses. But behind that blank facade was a maze of surveillance, security, and secrets.
Aaron and Tara waited across the street in an abandoned laundromat, watching the front door for hours. They weren't just looking for a way in — they were watching for Vale.
At 6:12 PM, he arrived. Black SUV. Alone. He moved like someone who didn't expect to be challenged — or like someone who'd dealt with challengers before.
Tara's pulse quickened. "That's him."
Aaron narrowed his eyes. "You still want to go through with this?"
"Yes."
"You're not scared?"
She looked at him, and for once, allowed the vulnerability to show.
"I am," she said. "But I'm not backing down."
He nodded, the smallest smile touching his lips. "Good. Because I'm not letting you do this alone."
They waited another hour. When the front office lights dimmed and the sidewalk emptied, they slipped through the alley, into the back entrance using a stolen access code Jessie had recovered from university servers.
The inside of the building was sterile and cold. Fluorescent lights buzzed faintly above their heads as they crept through narrow halls lined with blank doors.
Aaron found the server room. Tara picked the lock — her hands steady from years of practice — and they slipped inside.
Hard drives lined the walls, humming faintly.
Tara hooked up a USB device Jessie had given her. "We pull what we can, get out fast."
Aaron stood at the door, listening.
And then they heard it — footsteps.
Fast. Heavy.
Tara's heart dropped. "They know."
Aaron didn't hesitate. He grabbed her arm, yanked the USB free, and they ran.
They didn't get far.
Vale appeared at the end of the hallway like a figure from a nightmare, calm, confident, armed. Behind him, two more men — dressed in black, eyes cold.
"You should've stayed in your lane," Vale said, voice low.
Tara didn't speak. Her hands were at her sides, fists clenched, adrenaline burning.
Vale took a step forward. "You don't understand what you've stepped into. This isn't about one girl, or two. This is about the structure of power. People like you don't get to break it."
Aaron moved subtly in front of Tara.
"You'll have to shoot both of us," he said.
Vale raised the gun.
But then—
A blast of sound echoed from behind. The fire alarm.
Jessie.
Confusion shattered the standoff. Tara grabbed Aaron's hand and bolted in the chaos. Sirens blared. Lights flashed red. The guards shouted, but didn't shoot — not in the middle of a building on lockdown.
They barely made it out the side door.
Down the alley.
Over a chain fence.
Into the night.
They didn't stop running until their lungs burned and the sounds behind them had faded into the wind.
Tara collapsed to her knees on the sidewalk, hands shaking. Aaron dropped beside her, breathing hard. They were both scraped, bruised, alive.
She turned to him. "You okay?"
He laughed, breathless. "We should stop doing that."
She looked at him — his laugh, his bloodied sleeve, his smile — and then, without thinking, she leaned in and kissed him.
It wasn't soft. It was wild, fierce, the kind of kiss that said we could die tomorrow but right now, we're alive.
When they broke apart, he was speechless.
Jessie's voice came through Tara's phone.
"I triggered the alarm. Are you safe?"
Tara took a deep breath, her heart still racing. "We are. And we've got the drive."
On the other end, Jessie laughed. "Hell yes."