ZACK'S POV.
Greg had been "missing" for four hours and I've already lied to his father twice, kill three headlines, and stopped the board from sending a search party with helicopters but it didn't take long before the swung back into action.
Then my phone rings. Unknown location. Panther street.
Its him.
Two words: "I'm alive."
Immediately I got six SUVs rolling, some helicopters and a media blackout drafted. That's my job. Have been since we were five and he broke his arm falling from our treehouse and I told his dad I pushed him so he wouldn't get in trouble.
We've been lying for each other since before we knew what lying cost.
I find at a dead gas station by sunrise. He's standing by the car door like he's made of steel. No expression, no blood just few stains of dust. Gregory Hale, CEO. Mask on.
And ten feet behind him is a girl.
Ugly sack bag around her waists, handkerchief wrapped around her finger that was stained with a lot of blood. Dirt on her face and eyes like she's seen the end of the world and it told her to keep walking.
I've known Greg for a long time now. I've known every version of him. I've never seen the one that built fire and spends the night with a random looking lady.
But I see it now. In the way he doesn't look at her. In the way he's hand is in his pockets like he's physically holding himself back. In the way he gets in the car without a word and it's the loudest thing he's ever done.
I get in after him. "Amber alert's cancelled, press release-"
"Later," he says.
That's Greg for don't.
I wait four minutes. Then I turn on the tablet. Photos are already out. Her, his handkerchief with the initials G.R.H in blood.
He doesn't flinch. But he doesn't look away either.
"You gave her a card," he says. Not a question.
I DID. But it wasn't my idea, not entirely.
See, I saw his face when the camera wasn't on him. Half a second when he thought the door was shut and no one was watching. He looked at her like she was the first real thing he'd seen since his mom died.
So yeah, I gave her a card. Black, no name. my number.
"Standard protocol." I tell him. "We control the narrative."
He buys it. Because Greg trusts me. Always has. Even when he shouldn't.
What he doesn't know: I also put the house through. Blue one on marigold. Paid off, empty, safe. I also picked the phone. Latest one. Set the passcode to today's date -0408 –because I'm a sentimental bastard. I also wrote "personal staff" in the system before he could tell me not to.
Because I know him.
He won't call her. He won't check on her. He'll tell himself it's better if he doesn't. colder. That's what he does. Build the wall higher every time something gets close.
So I do it for him.
I tell the driver to hand her the phone, the key, the cash. I tell him to say "Mr. Hales' instruction" so she doesn't throw it back in his face. I tell him to leave before she can ask questions.
Greg stares out the window the whole ride to Hale Tower. So says two words: "Don't want to."
ABOUT HER. About him talking to her.
Lie.
I know it's a lie because I'm the one who taught him how to lie. And I'm the one who can still tell when he's doing it.
We get to the office. He disappears into meetings. Into Hale. Into the version of him that doesn't bleed.
I stay back. Pull up the tracker on the phone. She activated it. She's at the house. She googled him. Of course she did.
Good.
That's phase one.
Phase two is her realizing the "personal staff" job isn't real. Phase three is her showing up here, pissed, asking what game he's playing.
Phase four?
That's the one I'm banking on. The one where he has to look at her in daylight with no fire, no blood, no excuse. The one where he can't hide behind "Mr. Hale" because she already met Greg.
I've been his best friend since we were kids. I've seen him turned into a company. I've watched him forget how to be a person.
For ten hours, he remembered. Because of her.
So yeah, I planned it. The cars. The job. The phone. The house.
Call it protocol. Call it liability management. Call it whatever lets it sleep at night.
As long as the get closer.
JUST LIKE I PLANNED….