How to Tame a Silver Fox – Episode 29
Evan’s image vanished, leaving Chris staring at a blank monitor. Relief, rage, and disbelief fought beneath his controlled expression. The dead man he had carried for eight years had spoken to him as if those years were a minor delay.
Mark tried to explain that Evan had been moved repeatedly under federal protection. Chris walked away before the justification could become another lie.
Harper found him alone beside the loading bay. Rain tapped against the metal roof, recalling the night he first appeared to save her.
“You don’t have to forgive my father tonight,” she said. “But you have to stay focused if we’re getting Cole back.”
“You sound like me.”
“That should terrify both of us.” Her answer drew a tired laugh from him, brief but real.
Chris looked at her as though she were the only steady thing in the room. “I spent years believing I chose Mark and condemned Evan. Now I don’t know which part of that night belonged to me.”
Harper touched the scar across his knuckles. “You ran into a burning building. The rest belongs to the people who lied.”
His hand closed around hers. This time there was no injury to examine and no excuse for the intimacy.
“Harper.” Her name sounded like a warning when he stepped closer.
“I’m not a kid,” she whispered.
“I know.” The admission removed the last protection between them. Chris lowered his head, but Mark’s phone rang before their mouths met.
Maria’s name appeared on the screen. Harper answered, expecting concern about the fire or campus rumors.
A man spoke instead. “Bring Evan’s statement to Collins’s nightclub. No police, no security team.”
The camera activated, showing Maria bound to a chair beside Cole. Both were alive, but Cole’s shirt was stained with blood.
Harper’s fear hardened into purpose. Maria had entered this danger because she chose to help when everyone else laughed.
Chris promised they would get her back. He did not order Harper away or pretend the rescue was his decision alone.
Then the camera shifted, revealing Sebastian Fawkes beside the hostages—and Bryan standing at his shoulder with a gun and a triumphant smile.
