“Could still be unofficial,” Dom adds. “Someone trying to build something instead of enforce it.”
“Or someone using the investigation as cover,” Blaze mutters.
That lands.
Because it fits too easy.
Logan pushes off the table and starts pacing, slow and controlled. “Brynn getting calls means somebody thinks her brother is still a point worth pressing. I don’t like that. I don’t like it at all.”
“You think it’s feds?” Hammer asks.
Logan shakes his head once. “If it was official, it wouldn’t look like this. Not sloppy. Not through random calls.”
“So what?” Joker says. “Somebody trying to connect dots they don’t have yet?”
“Maybe,” Dom says. “Or somebody who knows just enough to start digging.”
Landon glances up. “We’ve also had two people asking questions around town. Nothing aggressive. Just…curious. Same angle. Dark-haired guy, mid-build, tied to Brynn’s family.”
Blaze’s lip curls. “That’s not curiosity. That’s targeting.”
“Exactly,” Landon says.
I listen. Sort. Strip it down. Calls to Brynn. Questions about her brother. Voices in the background. People asking around town. That’s not pressure after the fact.
That’s build.
Logan stops pacing and looks around the table. “Let’s be clear about something. We’ve worked too damn hard to get some distance from that case. I’m not interested in anyone in this room giving somebody a reason to dig deeper because they can’t keep their head on straight.”
Joker leans back in his chair. “Hard to ignore when they’re poking at family.”
“That’s why I said no one moves sloppy,” Logan shoots back.
“Could use it,” Dom says. “If Brynn gets another call, keep them talking, see if we can trace—”
“Burners,” Landon reminds him.
“Burners can still slip if the timing’s right.”
Logan shakes his head. “We’re not using Brynn as bait.”
“No one said bait.”
“You didn’t have to.”
The room tightens for a second.
Shadow cuts in before it shifts. “Question is whether they’re probing or confirming.”
“Feels like probing,” Blaze says. “If they had something solid, they wouldn’t be asking like this.”
“Unless they’re checking reactions,” Joker adds. “Seeing who flinches.” That part matters. More than the rest.
I stay quiet. Because most of this is noise around one point.
Logan drags a breath through his nose. “We lay low.”
Joker snorts softly. “Define low.”
