The rain had been falling steadily since morning, creating a soft gray curtain outside the tall windows that wrapped around Beck’s office. It should have been calming, but instead, it only sharpened the tension already sitting heavy in the room.

Beck was hunched over his workstation, his fingers dancing across the keys with a frantic energy that usually meant he was pulling threads that weren't meant to be found.

Jared stood behind him, arms crossed, his gaze fixed on the scrolling lines of ...