The morning sun spilled across the front porch in warm, golden streaks, dappling the concrete and brushing over Ryan’s face as he stepped outside. The door shut softly behind him, a controlled click, gentle enough not to disturb Eve inside.
He barely had time to inhale the cool morning air before his phone vibrated violently in his hand again.
He didn’t need to look at the screen.
He knew.
He pressed the phone to his ear.
A breath hadn’t even formed in his lungs when a high-pitched, furious voice tore into him.
“RYAN ASHBROOK, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!”
Leah Ashbrook didn’t greet.
Didn’t breathe.
Didn’t pause.
She launched straight into the attack, her voice shattering the peace of the quiet neighbourhood like a glass thrown against stone.
“We just got off the phone with the Chief of
