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Chapter 749:
He got out of the car, and she followed, her body moving with an exhaustion that felt bone-deep. In the elevator, she leaned against the cool metal wall, the reality of her injured ankle making itself known now that the adrenaline had burned away. It throbbed with a dull, insistent rhythm.
He led her into his apartment—the same space that had been her sanctuary just days ago. He didn’t ask what she needed. He moved with quiet efficiency, disappearing into the kitchen and returning with a glass of water and two pills.
“Anti-inflammatories,” he said, pressing them into her palm. “For the ankle p>
She swallowed them without argument. He guided her to the couch, knelt, and began to unwrap the bandage she had put on that morning. The skin beneath was bruised and swollen.
I’m your weapon, he had told her. But now, as he carefully rewrapped her ankle with a fresh compression bandage, his touch gentle but firm, she thought he was more than that. A weapon was an object. This man was an anchor.
“What’s the plan?” she asked, her voice steadier now.
𝗗oո’t m𝘪𝘴𝗌 𝗻𝖾𝘸 𝘳e𝗹𝗲𝘢𝘴e𝘀 𝗈𝗇 ѕ.𝖼𝘰𝘮
Easton finished securing the bandage before sitting in the armchair opposite her. He leaned forward, elbows on his knees, all business. “The recording gives us probable cause. The USB drive gives us the case. The confession corroborates the financial trail, and the financial trail proves the confession wasn’t just drunken boasting. It’s an ironclad loop p>
“So we hand it to the DA,” June said.
“We hand it to the U.S. Attorney’s Office,” Easton corrected. “This involves wire fraud across state lines, conspiracy, and murder facilitated by interfering with an aircraft. This is federal. No local politics, no bought-off judges. We go straight to the top.” He met her eyes, and she saw the cold fire of the predator in them—the one he usually reserved for the courtroom. “I’ll make the call in the morning. We’ll present the evidence tomorrow afternoon. By this time tomorrow, Richard Beasley’s assets will be frozen, his passport will be flagged, and an arrest warrant will be issued. It will be fast, and it will be brutal p>
June nodded, the cold clarity of the plan settling over her like armor. It was a mechanism. Something she could understand. “I want to be there p>
“You will be,” he promised. “Every step of the way.” He stood and moved to the window, looking down at the rain-slicked city below. “Get some rest, June. Tomorrow, we take him down p>
She leaned her head back and closed her eyes, though she knew she wouldn’t sleep. The ghosts were too close tonight—not screaming in rage, but whispering in the quiet, waiting for the dawn.
The SUV cut through the rain-slicked streets of Manhattan, its tires hissing on the wet pavement. June watched the city blur past the window, the lights of other vehicles smearing into streaks of red and white.
Her ankle was worse.
She had tried to hide it, but Easton had noticed the way she favored her left side, the way she had gripped the door handle when they hit a pothole. When they pulled into the underground garage of his building, he was out of the car before she could reach for her door.
He came around to her side. Opened it.