Gray stared at his phone and made a face.Saturday morning meant no meetings, no calls, no reason to be awake this early. He should have been flat on his back doing nothing for the next three hours.Instead, he was sitting on the edge of his bed in his condo, typing and deleting words in his notes app like each one personally offended him."This is ridiculous," he muttered.He had told Alistair he would post something supportive. Now he had to actually do it.The words came slowly. He chose each one carefully, balancing neutral against warm, vague against specific. He wrote about knowing Alistair for a few months. About not believing everything online when there was no evidence attached. About trusting due process and hoping people would keep an open mind while things were still unclear.There was no commitment to it. Nothing that could be pulled apart later as a direct endorsement. But positive enough at first glance that Alistair's people would see it and be satisfied.He read it ba

After the toy store, they wandered.Gray carried three bags in one hand and a box of building blocks tucked under his arm. He had told the two of them early on that they were only buying what he could carry, and to his surprise, they had actually listened. Lily had only tried to push the limit once, and Eli had caught her doing it and shook his head at her before Gray even had to say anything.The mall was still enormous to Eli. Every few steps he slowed down, his head turning toward something new. A fountain in a central atrium, water arcing in thin streams under colored lights. A display window with shoes lined up on glass shelves in perfect rows. A store that sold nothing but candles, the smell drifting all the way into the corridor and mixing with the coffee from the shop next door.Lily moved ahead of them both, weaving through the crowd, circling back to point things out, then running ahead again. Eli watched her the way he watched most things. Carefully. One step behind.The es

Gray woke up lighter than he had the night before.The photo was sent. The account was deleted. The decision was out of his hands now, and the weight of holding it had gone with it. He lay still for a moment, staring at the ceiling, then swung his legs off the bed and stood.The condo was quiet. Lily and Eli were still asleep, worn out from the mall. He had maybe an hour, possibly two, before the noise started. He decided to use it.The kitchen was cool and dim. He opened the pantry and stopped. The shelves were nearly bare. A few packets of snacks. A half-empty box of cereal. The bread was down to two slices. He checked the fridge. The vegetable drawer held one carrot and half a bell pepper. The fruit bowl on the counter had a single banana turning brown at one end."Already," he said quietly.He had underestimated what feeding two growing kids actually looked like. Lily had always eaten well. Eli was catching up fast. Between the two of them, the groceries Gray bought lasted roughly

It was one and a half month left before the election and every candidate's office in the city was running hot.The staff had to work extra late, their phones ringing past midnight. Campaign materials moved through printers and inboxes in volumes that doubled each week. Every team scrambled to push their candidate further into the public eye, knowing the window was closing fast.For the current mayor's office, the pressure was worse. Alistair Reid didn't just need to win. He needed to win by enough that no one would question it. Every misstep carried weight. Every silence was measured. Every appearance had to be flawless.Inside the conference room, the television was on.A midterm preference poll had been released that morning. It was the kind that every campaign dreaded and every voter watched. The anchor read the numbers in a calm, professional voice while a graphic filled the screen behind her. Two columns. Two names with percentages shown in large. 54%. 40%.Nobody in the room sp

Gray closed the door and stood still.The office was empty. The lights were off. The television on the wall was dark. Alistair's desk sat at the center of the room, wide and clean, the surface polished to a shine that caught the thin light coming through the blinds.He had been in this room dozens of times. Sitting across from Alistair. Listening to campaign talk. Nodding at the right moments. Smiling through conversations that left a taste in his mouth he couldn't wash out.This was different. "Damn," he said under his breath. "Why am I nervous all of a sudden?"His pulse was going harder than it should have been. He could feel it in his throat, in his wrists, in the center of his chest. The room was silent except for the low hum of the air conditioning, and the silence made everything louder.He let out a breath and moved.The desk first.He sat in Alistair's chair and pulled it forward. The drawers ran along both sides, three on each, all of them deep. He had the keys Steven had g