Page 70 of Torgash

This is how it has to be. I keep the case alive, keep her safe, and lose every damn thing that matters to me in the process.

Hammer's quiet for a long moment. Then: "You think she's coming back?"

Something cold spreads through my ribs. "She's done with this place. Done with me. But at least she'll still have a badge when this is over."

"What do you need from me?"

"Someone with federal connections. A lawyer whose reputation is spotless."

"I might know someone. Former Atlanta DA's office. Clean record, iron spine. One of the few humans who helped those few years after the camps closed."

My shoulders drop an inch. "Perfect. They take point, build the case independently. Separate from anything Nova or I touched."

"I'll cover your ass on this," Hammer says after a moment, "but I need you to tell me why she's so important. This isn't just about Shadow Ridge anymore, is it?"

My throat tightens. On that laptop sits a recording of Nova negotiating for justice she's been denied for years. A sister buried while her killer walked free. A wound that's never healed.

"She deserves to have the system work in her favor for once," I say, the words scraping out. "She's spent her whole damn life fighting other people's battles. It's time someone fought for her."

Hammer goes quiet for a moment. When he speaks again, there's something different in his voice. "You sure about this? Once we start down this path, there's no going back. No case for you, no Nova."

I stare at Nova's badge on the table. The beast in me wants to hunt her down, drag her back, make her stay. But that's exactly the kind of monster she was running from.

"I'm sure."

"Why?"

I don't hesitate. Don't calculate legal angles or weigh strategic advantages. Just answer.

"Because keeping her alive matters more than keeping her."

"She's in Atlanta right now. Probably sitting somewhere, hating herself for what she thinks she had to do." My throat closes. "Maybe she'll figure out what I gave up. Maybe she won't. Doesn't change anything."

"And if she doesn't come back?"

"Then at least she'll still have options."

The line goes quiet for a long moment. Then Hammer's voice, rougher than usual: "Send me what you have. I'll have someone in Atlanta within six hours."

After I hang up, I sit alone in the war room surrounded by years of work I'm about to hand over to strangers. My hand hovers over the thumb drive—Nova's voice captured in digital hell, the evidence she thought would save everyone but herself.

I pocket it, then wipe the file from the laptop. One last act of protection.

I could be in Atlanta by midnight. Could hunt her down, demand answers. My beast claws for that confrontation, that closure.

Instead, I reach for the nearest file box and start organizing evidence for Hammer's lawyer.

Can't chase someone who doesn't want to be found. Can't undo a sacrifice that's already made.

Her badge sits in the evidence box Santos brought. Not mine to keep. Belongs to the woman who torched her life to save a town that never trusted her.

But I hold onto the thumb drive. That part of her story isn't finished yet.

I'll make sure the families get their justice. And then I'll do what she couldn't—I'll find Derek Sullivan.

She gave up everything for people she barely knew. Least I can do is finish what she started. For the sister who never got justice. For the woman who walked away from everything that mattered to her.

Not because I'm some fucking hero. Because she ripped my guts out showing me what real strength looks like.

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