Meanwhile, just blocks away, Noah stood in front of Pong's building, phone gripped so tight his knuckles ached.
"I need your help," he said the second Pong picked up.
There was silence for a second.
"I'm in," Pong replied.
"Scarlet's looking into security footage. I've got Ryn's old messages, her old usernames, locations she might've used. We're triangulating where she could've taken him. I just… I need eyes. And I need you to be honest with me—if she's harmed him—"
Pong interrupted him.
"Then we're done."
Noah breathed harshly. The wind rushed by, but he didn't notice.
"I'm coming for you, Kai," he whispered, as if vowing.
Noah stood in the warehouse, chest heaving, fists knotted. The lead he'd chased—Pong's underworld contact—had brought him here. Not Ryn. Not yet. But soon.
He looked at the smudge of blood on the ground. Still warm. Still wet.
"Kai was here."
Scarlet nodded next to him, her phone lit with pulled surveillance footage.
