Page 144

Bane leans forward. “You knew her?”

“Everyone involved in those programs knew her.” Patricia smiles as she looks at the picture. “She turned up with whatever people needed and somehow made it seem ordinary.”

That matches every story we’ve heard.

I slide the photograph of the auburn-haired woman across the desk. “Do you remember Nora Bell?”

Patricia studies it carefully. After several seconds, she nods. “That’s Nora.”

I glance at Bane.

His attention stays fixed on Patricia. “You’re certain?”

“Fairly certain. She moved through several programs, but Celeste continued checking on her afterward.”

“Do you know where Nora went?” I ask.

Patricia shakes her head. “Records became complicated when organizations merged, and women often moved between housing, legal support, employment programs. You may have to follow the referrals.”

“That’s what we’ve been doing,” Bane says.

Patricia looks at him more carefully this time. Her brow furrows. “Have we met?”

Bane shifts slightly in his chair. “I don’t believe so.”

She studies him another few seconds before recognition spreads across her face. “You worked security.”

His posture changes. “Ages ago.”

“You were a bodyguard.”

“Yes.”

Patricia sits back. “I knew I recognized you.”

I turn toward him. He looks as confused as I feel.

“You probably won’t remember me,” she continues. “We crossed paths at different shelters after Celeste died.”

Bane’s attention narrows. “Which shelters?”

“Haven House, Brightway, New Horizons. You moved through several programs for months.” Patricia gestures toward him. “You helped with cameras, locks, alarms, anything the staff couldn’t afford to replace properly.”

Bane stops moving.

Patricia seems unaware of what she has just changed for me.

“You rarely charged anyone,” she says. “People kept trying to pay you, but you always said you were keeping a promise.”

His jaw tightens.

“Celeste,” Patricia adds. “You talked about her a lot.”

I look at him, several pieces of his past suddenly connecting in a way I’ve never considered.

I knew Bane left Spencer and disappeared from that world before emerging at the head of Wolf Shield, and I’d always understood that grief and his promise to Celeste shaped whatever happened between those two versions of his life.

Patricia has just filled in part of the missing years by placing him inside the same network we’ve spent weeks following.