Tracy's pov
✨ Episode 6
The morning light didn't feel soft. It felt invasive.
April's room was quiet except for the faint hum of her ceiling fan. She was still asleep, curled into the blankets like nothing was wrong with the world.
But I was already up. Sitting by the window. Watching the wind push against the trees like it was trying to warn me.
I held my new phone in my hand. A temporary line April helped me set up. No one should have known the number yet.
Until it buzzed.
Unknown Number
My breath caught.
I opened the message.
ZANE: "Tracy. I don't know where you went, but I know why you left. Just give me a chance to explain. Please."
I stared at the screen, heart pounding. My thumb hovered over the delete button.
Another message came.
ZANE: "I'm not your enemy. Don't shut me out before you know the truth."
The truth?
The truth was a blur.
I turned off the phone and tossed it into my bag. The silence after that felt louder than his voice ever had.
---
Elsewhere, Zane was pacing. Shirtless, bruised, still bleeding from the night before. He held her old phone—the one he'd destroyed—like it might still answer him.
"She doesn't trust you," a voice said from behind him.
It was Wes—his former partner from the agency.
Zane didn't turn. "I don't blame her."
Wes leaned against the doorframe. "The higher-ups are watching. They want to know if you've flipped."
"Maybe I have."
Wes tilted his head. "Is she worth it?"
Zane looked out the window, jaw tight. "She's not what they think. She's not a threat. She's just…"
He didn't finish the sentence. Couldn't.
Because the answer was too real.
---
Back at April's, I helped make breakfast—if you could call coffee and toast breakfast.
April leaned on the counter. "So, are you going to tell me why you're pacing like a girl in a K-drama?"
I looked at her. "He messaged me."
April nearly choked on her coffee. "Zane? Already? What—does he have a GPS for your soul?"
I didn't laugh. "I turned off the phone."
She nodded. "Good. You need space. He could be dangerous."
I stared at the wall. "He is dangerous."
"But?"
"But part of me wants to hear what he has to say."
April groaned. "Oh my God, you've got it bad."
"I'm not in love with him."
She narrowed her eyes. "Didn't say you were."
I walked away before I said something stupid. Like how his voice had crawled into my thoughts. How his kiss hadn't faded.
---
That afternoon, we went out to breathe. I needed air. Movement. Normalcy.
We sat on a bench near the riverside, eating street pretzels, watching tourists and cyclists fly by.
My phone buzzed again.
I shouldn't have looked.
But I did.
ZANE: "One hour. Café Raven. You don't have to say anything. Just come. Just see me."
April saw my face change.
"You're not seriously considering it."
I bit my lip.
She narrowed her eyes. "Tracy. You kissed someone you barely knew. You ran from him in the middle of the night. You can't tell me this guy doesn't have you twisted."
"I don't know what I'm doing."
"Then don't do it alone," she said. "I'll come with you."
"No," I said. "If I go, I go alone."
---
Zane sat in the corner booth at Café Raven, a black hoodie covering his scars, eyes locked on the door.
He watched every person that walked in. Every face that wasn't hers.
And when the clock hit the one-hour mark and she still hadn't come, he let out a slow breath.
Then reached into his pocket and pulled out a small piece of paper. A list.
Seven names.
All crossed out.
Except the last one.
Tracy Lane.
---
I stood across the street.
Watching him through the window.
He looked tired. Bruised. Alone.
And somehow, that scared me more than anything.
Because something in me still wanted him.
I turned around and walked away.
But my heart didn't.