Chapter 15
Chapter 15 — Dead Drops and Other Forms of Honesty
Elara and Kael relocate to the Gowanus apartment with DuVall, establishing a temporary base while planning simultaneous operations: Elara will recover or destroy Cross's stolen evidence from three locations, and Kael will manage the two trackers. Kael departs to intercept Fennick and his partner. Elara infiltrates the first evidence location—a Cross-owned storage unit in Bayonne—and retrieves a drive containing her studio surveillance footage. She returns to find Kael waiting, having successfully deterred the trackers through intimidation. They share an intimate moment that deepens their emotional bond before being interrupted by a message from the journalist confirming publication is imminent—but also that Cross has begun leaking fragments of stolen footage online, accelerating their timeline.
The Gowanus apartment smelled like someone else's life—coffee grounds that had gone stale, a bookshelf full of novels nobody would admit to reading, and the particular mustiness of a space that had been closed up too long. Kael's friend, whoever they were, had taste that ran toward functional anonymity. Beige walls. Minimal furniture. The kind of place where you couldn't leave a mark even if you tried.
Fitting, given we were trying not to exist.
DuVall claimed the bedroom without argument. She needed sleep more than she needed diplomacy, and the door clicked shut behind her with the quiet finality of someone who'd learned to barricade herself in wherever she went. Couldn't blame her. The last forty-eight hours had included being bound to a chair as bait, witnessing her employer's meltdown, and signing a federal statement against a sitting state senator. That kind of week deserved a locked door and clean sheets.
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