Chapter 32 Aspen
Aspen
The front door is cracked open and I can hear them talking from the porch.
The men inside don’t know I’m standing here.
Havoc’s voice is different when he thinks no one is watching.
Colder.
Sharper.
Commanding.
“We go in clean,” he says. “No noise unless we have to.”
Blaze responds, “And if we don’t?”
Havoc doesn’t hesitate.
“Then we end it.”
The words send a chill down my spine.
Not because they’re cruel.
Because they’re certain.
This is who he is.
Not just the quiet man who throws a ball for Buddy.
Not just the one who carries groceries for Dylan.
Not the one who carries grandpa when he’s lost in the woods.
He’s dangerous.
Capable.
The kind of man who walks into fire and doesn’t look back.
Joseph used to sound like that.
The realization hits me hard.
Too hard.
Because for the first time…
I don’t just see the similarities.
I feel them.
I shouldn’t be listening.
I know that.
But I am.
My stomach twists.
Because I know that tone.
That certainty.
That willingness to walk into danger.
Joseph had sounded just like that.
And I remember how that ended.
My arms wrap around myself.
Not because I’m cold.
Because I’m scared.
Not for me.
For Dylan.
If history repeats itself…
What happens to him?
And that terrifies me.
I step back before they notice me.
My heart is racing.
Not from fear.
From something else.
Something I don’t want to name.