Page 107 of Make Them Bleed

She gives me a look and leans in. “Bagels and truth,” she murmurs, and the mic eats it clean—no squeak, no room noise, just her voice coming through my headphones warm as a furnace.

“Perfect,” I say, meaning the gear and not pretending otherwise.

She peels the headphones off and drops them on the desk, hair escaping her clip in a way that makes my hand itch to touch it.

“Stonehouse didn’t send receipts,” she says, because we don’t get to do gear without doing grief. “Gage pulled the POS logs; Bob’s card didn’t hit. Club Greed holds it till morning like Devereaux said.”

“Sloppy men,” I say. “They like cash and tabs.”

She makes a face. “I hate that he’s sloppy.”

She’s about to say more when my phone chirps with Gage’s moth emoji—his way of saying he found something.

Gage: HOLO-BURST Q4 media invoice log.

Gage: Two payees, week before Arby went blonde: Arby’s shell “ARKATE STUDIO LLC” (voided), and “PikeShift Media LLC” (paid).

Gage: The wire for PikeShift didn’t originate from HOLO-BURST. It came from Nereus Brand Partners LLC → pass-through → HOLO-BURST’s agency.

Gage: Nereus. Again.

Nereus. It’s been drifting through everything for weeks—pinging the marina network, living on a member’s slip, hiding in the name of a device that shouldn’t have a name. It keeps showing up like a watermark until you tilt the page just right.

“Devin,” Juno says, low. She’s on my shoulder before I realize I moved to make room for her. “PikeShift. That’s his channel.”

I scroll. Gage isn’t done.

Gage: DM scrape (public to public) from months ago. Arby to Devin under a clip about “brand wars”: “If they’re making you bid against me, walk. They don’t play fair.”

Gage: Devin reply (deleted, cached by a fan account): “Welcome to the grown-up table. Snooze you lose.”

Gage: Two days later: Arby posts a vague “we’re making choices for our health” video. Three weeks later: she’s blonde.

The room tightens, and time does that accordion again. My scalp prickles as my hands go cold.

“Why would Nereus pay the media buy?” Juno asks. “They’re a pass-through. Ferrying money across water. Ferrying…it all.”

She reaches past me and drags a legal pad across the desk, her pen already running.Nereus → HOLO-BURSTand under itNereus → Marina Slip D4and below thatNereus? AirPods name at Atlas. She draws a triangle and mouthswhylike she’s tasting it.

Gage chimes in without the moth emoji, because he’s too precise for decoration.

Gage: Devin’s channel “PikeShift” posted a teaser for tonight, 9 p.m.: “Rise & Grind: Brand Wars.”

Gage: Thumbnail shows a cooler and a blurred energy drink can. Caption is “some of us win because we want it more ;).”

Gage: If this is a victory lap, he’s about to trip on his own shoelaces.

Ozzy, from wherever he keeps his sarcasm sharp:

Ozzy: Pike’s “want it more” face makes me want to eat glass.

Ozzy: On the BLE side, I’ve seen “NEREUS-STAFF-XXX” at the marina, the club, and once at Atlas. I have not seen “PikePods” but his devices randomize names; he’s an iPhone child.

Knight: I can be parked by his building in ten. Address?

Render: Devin Pike lives at 301 Franklin Ave, Unit 4C. Loft conversion, keypad entry, elevator camera blind spot at the corner near the service door.

Render: Title is in PikeShift Media LLC, mortgage held by Gracewood Coastal (hi, Gray).