XAVIER’S POV

The seconds between 7:59 and 8:00 had felt like entire decades. I had never been that restless in my entire life, not even before championship finals. When I finally pressed the call button, my hands were trembling. Davis picked up almost instantly, his voice clipped and professional, like someone who had nothing but facts stored behind his tongue.

“Hello, this is Davis, your private investigator and tech guy.”

It grounded me a little, but my chest still felt ...