Page 199 of Blackwood

He stands up and starts to pace. “For years. I had two of my best men on it. One of them was named Malik Carter—brilliant man, genius with computers. He traced every lead, every record, every file he could get his hands on.”

The name hits me like a gunshot to the chest. I swallow hard. “Malik. Carter?”

“Yes,” Roman nods, leaning back on his desk. “He finally found something after a few years of searching. He and his wife, Kathryn, were on their way back to New York to show me when their plane went down somewhere over Pennsylvania.”

My stomach drops. My lungs stop working.

“They left behind a son,” Roman continues, his brow creasing. “Ezekiel, I think. I met him once, at the funeral. Good kid. Proud. Strong. Stood tall even when his world was falling apart.”

The room blurs around me.

No. No, no, no.

Zeke.

Roman knew them. Knew Zeke’s parents.

My hands start to shake.

Roman exhales slowly. “After that… things got complicated. I still had people searching, but every lead went cold. Somewhere along the line, the trail eventually just died. Even my contacts inside the NYPD couldn’t pull anything up. It was like you vanished into smoke.”

“So, you just gave up?”

“I was grieving,” he says quietly. “I had lost Izzy. I lost you. And I lost the only version of myself that was ever good.”

I blink. Hard. Everything’s wrong. The floor. The lights. The way this office smells like smoke and legacy.

Cal notices. “Bells, are you ok?”

I can’t answer. I just shake my head, the pressure pushing behind my ribs. “No,” I whisper. “No, I’m not okay.”

Roman stands slowly and crouches in front of me like he’s seen this before. Like he’s helped someone come down from an emotional high that rips them to their core.

“Breathe, child,” he says softly. “You’re safe now.”

“NO!” I shout, leaping to my feet. The chair skids out and crashes to the floor. “Don’t. Don’t tell me to breathe. Don’t act like you know me. Don’t act like this is normal.”

I’m spiraling. Shaking. Heat in my chest, ice in my spine.

“I’m sorry,” I choke. “I can’t… I can’t do this right now. This was a mistake.” I look at Cal, desperate. “I need to get the hell out of here.”

I bolt.

The second the doors of NOX close behind me, I suck in a gasp of air like I’ve been drowning. Cold fall wind hits my face and I don’t even care that my makeup is probably ruined. My chest is rising too fast, my breath is shallow and uneven as I pace the sidewalk. My boots click against the concrete like they’re keeping time with my spiraling.

Cal wraps me up in his arms. “Bells…” he says gently, stroking my back. “C’mon. Just breathe, alright? You’re okay. You got out of there.”

“No, I didn’t,” I whisper. “I just learned that my entire life is built on fucking ghosts.”

My phone dings in my coat pocket.

LAING: 2 kids. 81st and Columbus. Looks like an abusive dad. It’ll be in and out. You coming?

I look up at Cal. “I need you to take me somewhere real quick.”

Chapter 56

LEX