The rain hadn’t stopped all night. It hammered the streets like a warning, like the city itself wanted to remind them that nothing good could come from the meeting they were walking into.

Leo felt the weight in his chest as he pushed open the café door and Ben followed behind. 

Inside, the café smelled of burnt coffee and damp coats. A radio hummed low in the background, almost drowned out by the patter of rain on the windows. At the corner table, under the dim light of a flickering ...