The conference room smelled like burnt coffee and disinfectant.
Too clean for what it was holding.
Rhea stood at the front, hair tied back, voice steady, eyes tired in a way that meant she hadn't slept either.
"Victim: female, seventeen. Found at 10:43 PM in a public laundromat on Mercer Street," she said, clicking to the first slide. "No signs of forced entry. No theft. Same post-mortem staging as the previous cases, but the timing is off by almost twenty hours."
Noah sat two chairs away from the end of the table. He hadn't moved since he walked in. His hands were folded. Too tightly.
Rhea continued. Locations. Witness gaps. Camera blind spots.
Noah heard none of it.
All he could see was Evan's face in his mind.
Tell me I was wrong.
He swallowed.
Kai stood when it was his turn. He didn't look at Noah at first.
He had this Professional, Neutral and Surgeon-calm.
"Cause of death was hemorrhagic shock following a deep incised wound to the femoral artery," Kai said. "The cut was precise. Not rushed. The victim lost consciousness in under ninety seconds."
Someone cursed under their breath for the brutality.
"The rest of the injuries were post-mortem," Kai continued. "Staging. Symbolic."
He changed the slide.
Noah finally blinked.
Blood bloomed across the screen like a dark flower.
He looked away as his stomach rolled.
He pressed his thumb into the side of his index finger until it hurt. Maybe pain was easier than guilt.
Kai's voice softened, just slightly. "Whoever did this, they knew what they were doing and they didn't hesitate."
Noah thought of himself hesitating.
Of closing his laptop.
Of walking out of the station.
Of believing.
The meeting dissolved into voices again...strategy, patrol routes, political pressure...but Noah stayed hollow.
A room full of sound and a head full of silence.
Evan waited outside the building.
He knew he had no right to be there.
But the guilt wouldn't let him sit still.
When Noah finally walked out, shoulders heavy like they were carrying invisible weight, Evan stood up so fast he almost stumbled.
"Noah."
Noah stopped.
He couldn't look at him.
"You shouldn't be here."
"I know."
A pause.
"I know, I know, I know," Evan said, voice cracking. "But please."
Noah turned his gaze... his eyes were darker than usual, Tired in a way sleep couldn't fix.
"You were wrong," Noah said quietly.
Evan nodded.
"I was."
Silence between them. Loud. Public. Ugly.
"I don't want you to stop trusting me," Evan said. "I don't think I can survive that."
Noah laughed once.
A dead sound.
"You think I can survive what happened last night?"
Evan stepped closer.
Too close.
Noah didn't move away.
"I didn't mean to hurt anyone," Evan whispered. "I swear. I would carve the pattern out of my own head if I could." His hands trembled.
He lifted them slowly, like he was asking permission from gravity itself, and wrapped them around Noah's.
Held them. Tight. Like he was afraid Noah might vanish.
"I was wrong," Evan said again, breath breaking. "But I'm not lying. I can still help. I need to help. Please… don't shut me out."
Noah looked down at their hands.
At Evan's fingers.
Cold.
Desperate.
Real.
He didn't pull away.
That was the most dangerous part.
Across the parking lot, Kai was watching them.
Then he walked over.
Noah noticed him only when Kai spoke.
"It wasn't your fault."
Noah flinched.
Kai's voice was calm and certain.
"You made a call based on the information you had," Kai said. "That doesn't make you responsible for what someone else chose to do."
Noah shook his head. "I moved units."
"But you didn't hold the knife."
The words landed heavy.
Necessary.
Cruel in their honesty.
Evan tightened his grip without realizing it.
Kai looked at Evan then. Not accusing. Not soft either. Just… measuring.
"Patterns fail," Kai said. "Even good ones."
Evan nodded slowly, eyes glassy.
"I know."
Kai turned back to Noah. "Don't destroy yourself over this. It won't bring her back."
Noah closed his eyes.
For one second.
Two.
Then he opened them.
He didn't pull his hands from Evan's.
But he didn't hold back either.
"I...I cannot forgive you," Noah said quietly.
Evan nodded. "I know."
"I cannot trust you the way I did."
Another nod. "I know."
"But I'm not walking away." Noah assured.
Evan exhaled like he'd been drowning.
That was enough.
For now.
Above them, the station lights flickered.
Inside, another strategy meeting would begin.
Another plan.
Another attempt to be smarter than the monster.
But here, in the cracked space between guilt and need, two people stood holding hands like it was the only language left that didn't lie.