Red sat in front of her laptop, the glow of the screen reflecting off her tired eyes.

  Her latest article for The Red Files was almost done, a full breakdown of what she had seen at the latest crime scene. The details, the timeline, the eerie resemblance to the original Wolf murders—it was all there.

  She exhaled sharply, rubbing her temples.

  Something wasn’t adding up.

  She opened a new tab, scrolling through her old case files. Maybe she needed to start from the beginning.

  Red skimmed through her notes, flipping through archived interviews and reports.

  Then—she found it.

  An old witness statement, buried beneath years of research.

  Elliott Shepherd.

  Her eyes narrowed as she skimmed the report.

  Elliott had been the only witness to come forward during the original Wolf killings.

  He had seen something.

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  “I saw him. In the woods. He wasn’t alone, though. I swear, something—someone—was with him. But when I got closer, they were gone. Only the Wolf remained.”

  That part had always stuck with her.

  Someone was with the Wolf.

  But Elliott never clarified who—or what—he saw.

  And then, after the Wolf was “killed,” Elliott vanished.

  Red’s pulse picked up.

  Had he realized they got the wrong man?

  Had he seen something that terrified him?

  And if so—was he still alive?

  She chewed on her lip, drumming her fingers against the desk.

  She needed to find him.

  But before she could dive deeper—

  A headline at the corner of her screen caught her eye.

  PI Robotics Acquires Gepato Technologies in Unprecedented Tech Merger

  Red frowned, clicking the article.

  Greg Gepato.

  She recognized the name immediately.

  Gepato Technologies had been working on experimental AI software for years, and Greg himself had built a program that could recreate human memories.

  She had read about his work before, but it had always been dismissed as a novelty—nothing serious.

  So why would PI Robotics—one of the most powerful tech firms in the country—suddenly buy him out?

  And why was there so little information on the deal?

  Red scrolled through the article, itching to dig deeper.

  But then—her website pinged.

  She glanced at the screen.

  5,000 views.

  Her latest article on The Red Files had racked up thousands of hits in just minutes.

  The StoreyBrook Gazette had already quoted her once.

  Now the public was watching. Waiting. Wanting answers.

  The Gepato story could wait.

  The Wolf came first.

  Red closed the article.

  She needed to find Elliott Shepherd.

  And she needed to do it fast.