WHEN VOICES RISE

4: Old

e stood at the window, staring out over the quiet streets. The wind had picked up again, but it was no longer the usual co

half-expecting it to be a message from Eliot or Amara, but it

falling-out. He had been a close friend-more than a friend, if she was being honest-but the bitterness between them had festered over time. The arguments, t

the phone, low and strained. "I ne

rried weight these days, but she couldn't shake the f

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Me

e they had spent their youth, running through the streets, making plans for their futures, convinced they could take o

e dock, looking out over the water. The once-pristine coastline was now lined with ru

k coat and a look of weariness that seemed to have aged him beyond his years. He had cha

her. His eyes flicked over her face, as though tr

n't do that, David. Don't p

know. I've messed things up.

sharp. "After five years, why show up now? Is

of the past seemed to hang between them, thick and suffocating. "No. I

urrowed. "Help

behind all this. The people you're trying to fight. And I

ief. "You're telling me you've been sitting on this for

s just the beginning. They're planning something bigger, something that'll lea

pers about the corporation's broader agenda, but hearing it fr

her voice trembling despite her best efforts to stay s

don't understand what I was up against. But now I do. And

a's thoughts raced. She wanted to walk away, to tell him he had no right to waltz back into her life

We do this together, no more secrets. And if you think for one second

he stakes. No more games, Clara. I wan

ave the luxury of turning him away. She needed answ

," Clara said, her voice resolute. "We'r

'll give you everything I have. But be read

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Afte

she hadn't trusted in years-someone who had walked away when she needed him most. But now, it was about the bigger picture.

dn't shake the feeling that David was hiding something from h

have to

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ing

d said. The town was on the brink of something far darker than just a resort. She could feel it in her bones. An

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