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He scoffs. “This is ridiculous. Mum is going to kill you.”

“We can worry about that later,” I mutter. My eyes fall on Alex, and I reach out my hand. A faint smile dances on his lips, and he walks over to take it. We stand shoulder to shoulder, and I hope my brothers get the message. I’m not letting him go again.

“Oh, I get it.” Xander smiles, but there’s nothing friendly about it. “You know, for someone who said they are not fucking him, he looks pretty well-fucked to me, don’t you think Hayden?”

“Ignore him,” Hayden says, his voice even and polite, though his jaw ticks. He’s still unhappy, but he’ll get over it. They both will. “So, Detective Kimura, how can you help us?”

Alex clears his throat, gripping my hand tightly. “Does the name Professor J. Hawthorne mean anything to either of you?” He sounds exactly like what I imagine he would sound like when he’s questioning a suspect.

“Should it?” Hayden asks.

“She was the one who developed Haze or as she called it, ‘Modafryline,’” Alex begins. “Marketed it as a mood-enhancing supplement. About a month ago, she died in a car accident—brake failure. It was ruled an accident, but it’s suspiciously convenient given she was sitting on a multi-million-dollar formula.”

“Someone in The Snake,” Hayden ventures. “One of The Keepers?”

“Or someone working with The Snake,” Alex says. “It would take someone powerful enough to erase any trace of her research and control the supply.”

I can see Xander and Hayden’s minds working through the new information.

“There is also someone else—someone who wants to find out who it is, just like we do. I think they are the reason why Summit got raided,” Alex continues.

Hayden frowns. “You think someone in the police is involved?”

“Likely in Homicide,” Alex says. “Maybe they want the drug for themselves, or they want to make a high-profile arrest. I’m not sure.”

I lean back, piecing it together aloud. “So, we’ve got two players: the one making Haze and the one hunting them just like we are.”

Hayden nods. “Someone has been messaging Key’s burner for days. They’ve agreed to the Friday meet-up.”

“Where?”

“Greenwood Docks,” Hayden says. “Ten P.M.”

“It won’t be our guy, but they might point us in the right direction,” I say. “Alex, you’ll meet with him, but we’ll have people watching you. All you have to do is pretend to be Key’s friend. Tell him Key couldn’t make it.”

“What if he runs?”

“We catch him,” I say simply.

Three sets of eyes fall on me before Hayden nods. I know this is a risk and I don’t know what will happen after we find out who it is. The only thing I do know is that we can’t afford to have Haze in the streets, especially with the bodies piling up.

Hayden nods after a beat, his agreement unspoken. Xander, however, isn’t done. His gaze turns icy as it fixes on Alex.

“This better not be a trap,” he warns, his voice low and razor-sharp. “Or I’ll flay you alive.”

“Xan,” I say carefully, but he doesn’t look at me. He keeps his eyes trained on Alex.

To his credit, Alex doesn’t flinch under Xander’s gaze. He lifts his chin slightly and shrugs. “It’s not,” he says. “But I’ll keep that in mind.”

“Thank you, Xander,” I say pointedly, and my brother glares at Alex for a second longer before he beams at me. The switch would be terrifying if I wasn’t used to it.

“Great, see you both tomorrow then,” he says.

And it’s settled. Tomorrow we’ll know more. Tomorrow, we’ll end this.

Once Hayden and Xander leave, it’s just Alex and me again. He leans against the counter, a steaming mug of black coffee in hand. His dark eyes are trained on me, his mind visibly turning.

For a moment this morning, it was almost like we were a normal couple, existing in the afterglow of sex, but the reality of last night is slowly seeping in. Surprisingly, I don’t feel any apprehension about it. I feel like a kid who has finally gotten the toy he wanted all along for Christmas. Not that Alex is a toy, but I sure love to play with him.