That following evening, shortly after I pulled up to Dahlia’s apartment complex, I wasn’t sure that I’d actually put in the right address.

  It was the kind of complex where in spite of the friendly balloons propped up outside of the leasing office, the rust on the metal stairways had barely been disguised by a fresh coat of paint, and the dumpsters were downright dipidated. Whoever was running the pce clearly didn’t care to put in more effort than was absolutely necessary, which seemed pretty low-brow for the likes of her. Shrugging, I decided to take my chances and head on up.

  In the parking lot, I noticed a car had been left running a few spaces down from the stairs to Dahlia’s door. At first, I thought it’d been left it on by accident, but when I looked closer, someone was sitting in there watching every person that passed. Something about the guy was creepy enough that I chose not to stick around for long; even seeing the car out of the corner of my eye as I waited outside was a little unnerving.

  Not even a minute after I’d knocked, Dahlia opened the door, and a big smile split across her face as soon as she saw me. It wasn’t her typical smile, the kind where she looked like she was keeping a very clever secret to herself - it was warm and genuine, almost sparkling.

  “Hey there, tiger!” She said, giving me a brief once-over. “You’ve got good timing! I just got home a little while ago. Come in.”

  I couldn’t stop myself from smiling in return, a little bashful at how pleased she was to see me. As I slipped past Dahlia to enter, before I could even make a single remark, she cleared her throat like she’d already assumed what I was thinking.

  “Sorry about the mess.” Her smile fttened awkwardly. “I moved in a couple of weeks ago, and I’ve been so smmed at work, I haven’t really had time to completely unpack just yet. So no judging, okay?”

  With a raised eyebrow, I let my eyes coast across her apartment, which didn’t take long since it was so small. Though there were cardboard boxes everywhere, she had the basics in terms of furniture: a couch, a coffee table, and in the kitchen there were some chairs right next to a fold-out table. It reminded me of my first apartment, except instead of looking straight out of a furniture catalog like hers did, my couch had mysterious stains I could never get rid of.

  “No, it’s fine,” I said, waving my hand. “Honestly, I’m mostly surprised that it’s so… I don’t know, normal? I was expecting you to live somepce fancy, like something you’d see off those luxury apartment listings.”

  Dahlia cackled as she dug around in her cabinets. “I’m fttered that you think so highly of me, but that’s more Dannica’s speed, not mine. Of course, her husband’s a pstic surgeon, so they actually own a house while I’m stuck renting.”

  “Got a bit of that sibling rivalry going on with her, huh?” I smiled pyfully.

  “Yes, well, being twins only compounds the issue.” She narrowed her eyes in thinly veiled contempt. “Anyway, did you want anything to drink?”

  “Sure, you got any Sprite?” I asked, crossing my arms as I leaned against the counter. “Or, I don’t know, orange juice?

  She smirked like I was joking. “I was thinking more along the lines of adult beverages.”

  “Oh, well, I already know you think beer is for cavemen, so…” I scratched my chin in thought. “Whatever you’ve got is fine. I’m not picky.”

  “Ah, I wish all of my guests were so easy to please.” She pulled out two squat little cups and set them on the counter beside me. “Your choices are tequi and box wine— pick your poison.”

  “Shit, tequi it is.” I edged my cup towards her. “Honestly, Doll, you really don’t strike me as the type to be doing shots of Patrón. Doesn’t really fit you.”

  With an audible pop, she cracked open the bottle and poured me a drink. “You should know by now that I’m a woman of multitudes.”

  The kitchen was so narrow that there wasn’t much room to stand in there without being close to Dahlia herself, and as I watched her pour her drink next, it was already starting to feel a little stuffy. When she moved to put the bottle away, the thin strap of her tank top slipped down her shoulder. I wasn’t sure what I wanted more: to reach over and fix it for her, or to pull it down until the rest of her top came with it. Looking away, I cleared my throat.

  With our drinks in hand, we headed towards the living room, and I was the first to sit down on the couch. Before Dahlia joined me, she put a hand on her hip. “So before we begin, do you have anything new to share with the css today, or will I be the only one with a presentation?”

  Since I’d obviously arrived empty-handed, I gestured into the air. “I haven’t seen much on my front, to be honest with you. I’m kind of wondering if he’s gotten bored of it, since he seems to like fucking with me a lot more.”

  She hummed, unconvinced. “Or he’s waiting for a good opportunity. If we put our heads together, maybe we can get an idea for where he might strike next!”

  “Sure, why not?” I shrugged, as if I didn’t intend to just beat the shit out of Garrett the next time he so much as gnced in my direction. “Let’s get to business.”

  And with that, Dahlia was gone in a fsh, slipping away into her bedroom while I took a sip of my drink. Shortly after, she returned with several notebooks and binders stacked on top of her ptop, maintaining a perfect bance as she came over to join me. Carefully, she set them down on the coffee table and took a seat, flipping open the ptop and waking up the screen.

  Dahlia’s desktop was littered with so much crap, I honestly had a hard time focusing on where to look. I wasn’t much one for tech, so watching her zip her cursor around was almost enough to give me a headache. Finally, a document popped open and a wall of text loaded, so dense that it was like looking at a textbook.

  Beside a picture of Garrett clearly plucked off of Facebook, there were highlights, notes in the sidebar and even different fonts. If I didn’t know any better, I’d have thought this was an eborate scheme for Dahlia to show off her love of graphic design. I tried not to wince at it - at least, not openly - just in case she’d take offense.

  “Okay, so this is what I’ve got on Garrett so far.” Dahlia dragged the scrollbar down. “If you look here, I’ve got the basics like his hometown, his birthday and where he’s gone to school…”

  “Can you just give me a highlights reel?” I asked, already exhausted looking at it. “Or is a lot of this stuff I already know?”

  “Well, down here is where I’ve got everything you’ve told me directly,” she replied, pointing to a block of text with her stylus. “But if you look over here, this is where I started doing my own research. You know, things like looking him up on social media, combing through online white pages, that kind of stuff.”

  “Look, I’m impressed by your ability to stalk him. Really, I am. But…” I stared pleadingly at her. “Please don’t make me read all of this. There’s a reason I don’t work at a library.”

  “Fine.” Dahlia pouted as she sat upright and brought the ptop off of the coffee table and onto her p. “Now the first thing I noticed is that Garrett has basically no online presence. He has accounts on pces like Facebook and Instagram, but he never posts. For a guy his age, it’s kind of weird that he’s so offline, but who knows? Maybe he mostly goes online to look for sex.”

  Awkwardly, I coughed. “Interesting.”

  “But not all hope is lost, because what I couldn’t find out about him…” Her eyes darted from me to the screen. “I found out about his family instead.”

  Dahlia scrolled down the screen further, and we were met with a great big photo that looked like it came from a family cookout. With the tip of her stylus, she tapped the screen and zoomed in, but I wasn’t sure what I was supposed to get out of it aside from the fact that whoever I was looking at looked remarkably like Garrett - though he seemed around five years older and twenty pounds heavier.

  “This is Garrett’s brother, Marshall,” she said, reaching for her drink. “He works on the city council for Dals as some kind of assistant. I dug a while back into his Twitter feed and unless his goals have changed, he might be working his way up the dder until he can become the mayor. We’ll see about that, though.”

  “So he’s got an aspiring politician in the family, huh?” I wrinkled my nose. “That expins a lot about him, actually.”

  “Mmhm. He actually comes from some pretty ambitious stock. For example, over here?” She tapped on another face, a woman standing next to Garrett with a simir puppy-like quality. “That’s his sister, Abigail. She was a meteorologist on WFAA for a little while. Seems like she was on track to be their primary weather girl, but she left to raise a family.”

  “Impressive. And who’s that other one?” I pointed to a middle-aged woman with a beautiful smile. “She looks like she could be his mom.”

  Like a proud teacher, Dahlia nodded. “You’re right. That’s his mother, Dr. Sandy Quinn-Casnoff, chief medical officer at UT Southwestern and— according to what I’ve read— one of the most important doctors in North Texas. She’s got achievements to her name for days.”

  “Shit, for real?” I couldn’t help but ugh. “So you’re telling me Garrett was practically born with success written in his DNA, and he’s still such a pathetic little shit? Fuck, this is just sad. I’m starting to feel bad for him.”

  Turning to look at her, I expected to see Dahlia ughing along with me, but the smile fell off my face once I saw just how serious her expression had become. “I wouldn’t throw him a pity party just yet,” she said stiffly.

  Then, she tapped her stylus on one final face - a man who looked to be in his fifties - and looked at me like she was about to give me a terminal diagnosis.

  “This man— Garrett’s dad— is Jerry Casnoff.” She paused to take a deep breath. “He’s the Chief of Police for the Dals PD.”

  The joke was over. My stare was so unwavering, my eyes threatened to shrivel up.

  Just when I thought it couldn’t get any worse, I looked to the man standing next to Garrett’s father, and my stomach dropped. Staring back at the camera, with his steely eyes and his fluffy mustache, was Chief Cormorant.

  “Are you fucking kidding me?!” I shouted, unching myself off of the couch. “That’s my chief standing right next to him, Dolly! That guy runs my station! Damn it, he’s probably the whole reason Garrett’s even there in the first pce!”

  In shock, Dahlia’s widened eyes shot from me to the screen, then back to me. “Oh my God, really?”

  “Yes, really!” I yelled. “And Garrett’s already got everyone on my crew convinced I’m a basket case, so if even the chief’s on his side— if his dad’s the fucking top dog of the police force—”

  God, what I would’ve given to just break Garrett’s face right there. Unfortunately, all I could do was stand there, breathing rhythmically like that stupid shit ever helped anything. From her seat, Dahlia kept quiet as if, for once, she didn’t have a clever comeback. Perhaps she finally understood just how deep these waters went, and how neither of us were prepared to dive into them.

  With a defeated sigh, I threw myself back down on the couch. I’d never needed a drink more in my life, so I took mine off of the coffee table and downed it all in one go.

  “I could lose my job over this.” I clenched my jaw bitterly. “Actually, if Garrett pys his cards right, he could probably get me bcklisted from the service completely, and then he could just keep getting away with it. There’d be nothing we could do about it.”

  Though Dahlia had been staring at her screen, I couldn’t stand for her to see me like this. Afraid that she’d notice the utter defeat in my eyes and judge me for my cowardice, I buried my face in my hands.

  The conversation died between us; in its pce was a silence that needed no expnation. When I finally had the courage to look at Dahlia, a seriousness had overtaken her features. This went beyond her fun little podcast project, and it looked to be a rather sober realization for her.

  There was only one small silver lining: for now, Garrett seemed content with scaling back on the firesetting as long as he had me to toy with. If I had become his outlet for his sadistic tendencies instead, it was a price I was willing to pay, but who knows how long that would st? He was a ticking time bomb, and I still didn’t know which wire to cut. God, I needed another drink.

  Just as I stood up from the couch, Dahlia’s hand seized mine so suddenly, I nearly jumped at her touch. “What?” I snapped, a little too harsh by accident.

  As she looked up at me, Dahlia’s eyes practically quivered with remorse. It disarmed me completely. “I’m sorry.” Her voice was so delicate, it didn’t even sound like hers. “I knew you were putting a lot on the line, but I thought at worst, it’d be— I don’t know, kid’s pranks gone wrong or something. I can’t help but feel like this is my fault.”

  Feeling guilty, I sat back down on the couch beside her. I leaned forward, cing my fingers together as I cast my gaze down to the floor like there was any relief to be found in the fluffy white rug under the coffee table.

  “Don’t bme yourself. Even before you got involved, I was already getting suspicious,” I said. “If anything, this was probably inevitable.”

  She frowned. “That doesn’t mean I’m happy to expedite the process for you.”

  “Yeah, well, now you’ve taught me a very valuable lesson: next time a beautiful woman bats her eyeshes at me, I’ll know better than to fall for it.” I smiled, if just to soothe her conscience.

  Thankfully, Dahlia smiled back, though it was still restrained.

  Gently, I took both of her hands into mine; at first, I was afraid that she might find it strange and pull away, but she didn’t. Instead, her eyes fixed on mine as if we shared a terrible secret, and in a way, it was true: when it came to the investigation, all we had was each other. It was a lonely undertaking, but at least we were in this together.

  Gncing back up from her hands, I cleared my throat like I had an announcement. “Dahlia,” I began, “Garrett’s a pretty sick guy, and I honestly can’t predict what he’ll do next, or how far he’s willing to take things. I can handle what he’s thrown at me so far, but… I have no idea what his idea of escation is.”

  Silently, Dahlia waited for me to continue, matching the intensity of my gaze with her own. Her chest was still as she held her breath, but she didn’t seem anxious - she seemed focused.

  “I need you to promise me that, no matter what he might do, you won’t give up on this.” I stared at her, resolute. “Like if he gets me fired, or bcklisted— fuck, if he gets me put in a mental hospital, even. Whatever happens, make sure that he gets what he deserves.”

  When she exhaled, the concentration on her face shifted to a look of surprise. “Really? Do you mean that?”

  “Yes?” I raised an eyebrow. “Wait— please don’t tell me you’re getting cold feet now.”

  “No, no!” She shook her head. “Actually, I thought you were going to give me some speech about how it wasn’t safe for me anymore, and you’d be going it alone from here on out, or something all chivalrous and heroic like that. Like you were going to kick me off the case to keep me safe.”

  “Given that I’m the one that has to work with him, I’d say I’m in a lot more danger than you are,” I replied, brows ft.

  Dahlia shot me a smirk that was a little too smug. “Well, you know, it feels like just yesterday that you were warning me of the dangers of living a life like this—”

  “It’s not that I’m not worried about you, okay?” I interrupted. “What I’m trying to say is that if I end up being colteral, I need someone who’s gonna go after him if I can’t.”

  I wanted Dahlia to understand just how seriously I took this, how seriously I meant every word that I said. All I had left to offer was my word, and all I asked of Dahlia was hers in return. Nervously, I took another deep breath.

  “And that person is you,” I said. “I need you.”

  Something indescribable flickered across Dahlia’s face, as if she’d been caught completely off-guard. Worrying that I’d taken things too far, I tried to pull my hands away, but she kept them firmly in pce with a tightened grip. We both opened our mouths to say something, but when we tried to let the other one speak, neither of us said a word.

  A knock at the door interrupted us, startling Dahlia so badly that she practically leapt off the couch to answer it. Immediately, I followed after her to see what was going on, only to stop dead in my tracks when she raised a hand in my direction.

  “Stay right there,” Dahlia ordered. “I’m pretty sure I know who it is.”

  Trying to defuse the tension, I raised a pyful eyebrow. “Is it Doordash?”

  Dahlia shot me an unamused gre before standing up on her toes to peer through the peephole. Whoever was behind it made her mad enough to spit out a string of curse words, and when the knocking resumed, she squeezed her eyes shut in frustration.

  “Dolly, it’s me! Open up!” Though it was muffled, I could tell that it was a man. “I just want to talk!”

  “For God’s sake— Jin, go away!” Her face scrunched up like she’d smelled something foul. “How did you even find out my new address?! Did you get it from Dannica? Mei?”

  “Please— you don’t answer your phone, you don’t answer texts—” His voice cracked, pitiful and desperate. “Can’t you just talk to me for five minutes? Don’t I deserve that much?”

  Dahlia said nothing, though she did look genuinely hesitant. I was clearly watching something I shouldn’t have, so I stood as an unwilling audience, frozen in pce.

  “Five minutes, that’s all I’m asking,” he pleaded. “Then, I’m gone. Okay? Alright?”

  I expected Dahlia to cuss him out for having the audacity to bother her, but to my surprise, she proceeded to unlock the door. Before she opened it, she gestured at me as if I were meant to hide, so I ducked into the bathroom before she opened the door fully.

  The second Dahlia gave him an inch, Jin took it a mile, marching in like his name was on the lease. Even from the narrow view of the crack in the doorway, I noticed that as soon as he entered, the entire atmosphere of the apartment changed. He had an unusually commanding presence for a guy that looked like he was born and raised in a cubicle, but Dahlia was short enough to make most men look imposing.

  From the sliver that I could see, Jin paced the living room like he was looking for something. Whatever it was, he looked relieved that he couldn’t find it; as she watched him, Dahlia gred daggers.

  “Satisfied now?” Dahlia asked sharply.

  Holding up one of the papers from the coffee table Jin sighed mournfully. “I won’t be satisfied until you give up this nonsense and come home. I’m worried about you, Dolly. We all are.”

  “It’s not nonsense! And if you actually ever listened to a word I said, you’d know that it wasn’t!” She snapped, snatching the paper from his hands. “But none of that matters to you, or my parents, or to anyone! What I think— what I believe in— means nothing to you! Well, guess what, Jin? I’m not sacrificing myself for anyone anymore!”

  “Sacrifice? Oh, you want to talk about sacrifice?” He fired back. “I left everything I had back in Washington to live in this backwards shithole just for you! And what have I gotten in return? Nothing! I give, and give, and give, and all you’ve ever done is take!”

  “Fine, then which is it? Am I a selfish, heartless cunt who’s fleeced you for everything you’re worth, or am I your crazy little wife who needs you to tell her what to do?” Dahlia shouted. “’Cause if you can’t stand me so much, why do you keep coming back?”

  “Because— God help me— somehow, after everything, I still love you! I still love you as much as I did the day that I married you!” The sharp incline of Jin’s voice dropped to something deep and somber. “Even if you don’t deserve it.”

  The two of them stood within arm’s reach of each other, but even as an unwilling audience, I felt the chasm between them. Holding back tears, Dahlia crossed her arms tightly across herself like a shield.

  “You’re never going to understand me, Jin, and I’m done trying to expin myself to you,” she said. “I can’t keep living like this.”

  “But— but you can’t honestly tell me that this—” He motioned to the papers on the coffee table, the folded ptop, the empty drinks. “Can make you happier than I can.”

  Despite her anger, I’d never seen Dahlia look so conflicted. As she followed the sweeping gesture of his arm, her sight fell upon the crack in the doorway, and through it, our eyes met. For that split second, time stood still, and she stared at me as if we were the only people in the world.

  “Yes,” she said slowly. Then, her eyes darted to Jin’s, more determined than ever. “Yes, I can.”

  Her words sent a bolt of lightning right through me, and my grip on the doorknob slipped. When the door creaked in response, Jin whipped around.

  “What was that?” He asked. Turning back to Dahlia, his voice lowered to nearly a whisper. “Is someone in here?”

  Dahlia was steadfast. “No.”

  “Right. Of course. I don’t know why I thought you’d be honest with me,” Jin ughed bitterly. Grabbing her by the arm, he yanked her towards him. “I know someone’s in here— I watched you let him in! Where is he?!”

  “Jin, that hurts!” She cried out. “Let go of me!”

  The moment he put his hands on her, I was done being benched. Throwing open the bathroom door, I stormed out into the living room, propelled by the violent buzzing that now coursed through my veins.

  “Hey!” I shouted.“Don’t you fucking touch her!”

  At the sight of me, Jin dropped Dahlia’s arm, stunned to see that he was actually right. Now that she was freed of his grasp, Dahlia rubbed the red mark he left behind, which made my blood boil.

  “I knew it! I knew someone was in here!” Jin bellowed, pointing at me but looking at her. “You can’t even wait until our bed is cold before you started spreading your legs for random men on it? What’s wrong with you?!”

  Her frown deepened into a strangled snarl. “It’s not like that—”

  “Stop bullshitting me!” He interrupted. “God, do you really think so fucking little of me that you’ll lie to my face when the evidence is standing right here?”

  Even behind the dark veil of her hair covering her face, I could feel Dahlia’s humiliation. But I felt no shame in Jin’s judgment - just anger, rising quickly to a breaking point.

  “This isn’t about your stupid little podcast after all, is it? This is what you’re actually throwing it all away for— some fucking piece of shit Mexican biker!” He gestured at me accusingly. “He probably has more venereal diseases than a truck stop bathroom! You’re choosing this over me?”

  “I think it’s time for you to leave,” I growled, shoulders squared as I stepped near Jin. “You ain’t welcome here.”

  “No one is talking to you, you fucking lowlife!” Jin snapped. “Who the hell do you think you are, touching my wife?”

  “Shut up! Just fucking shut up!” Dahlia’s face scrunched up to the point where I could hardly recognize her. “You don’t even know what you’re talking about!”

  “I have fucking eyes! I can see what’s going on!” He grabbed her by the arm to wrench her forward towards himself. “You fucking bitch!”

  When Dahlia shrieked, I decided that Jin was never going to touch her again. I gave no warning; my body was moving on its own, and I was simply its observer.

  Grabbing him with both hands by the colr of his shirt, I tore Jin away from Dahlia and threw him into the fold-out table, breaking it in half with the weight of his body. Immediately I climbed on top of him, drunk on adrenaline, and beat my fists against his face. Dahlia screamed, and so did he, but all I heard was the ceaseless buzzing of the swarm within.

  Underneath me, Jin struggled to shove me back, but I kept him firmly in pce. Right as I was going to hit him again, he smmed me in the jaw with an uppercut, and that was it. There was no point in holding back anymore, so I gave in.

  To the itch.

  To the pain.

  To the rage.

  Letting out a roar that shook the walls, the wasps burst forth from my arms, exploding from my skin like a detonated hive. The buzzing in my head now surrounded us, drowning out all other sounds except for everyone screaming.

  Freed of my flesh, the wasps honed in on Jin, whose anger had now become abject terror. To break away from my grasp, Jin struck me square in the gut, and I toppled backwards, head smming into the tile floor. As soon as I was off of him, Jin scrambled to his feet and bolted through the door, leaving it open behind him.

  Though I was dizzy and trembling, once I staggered back up off the ground, I ran out of the apartment after him. From the balcony, I saw that the swarm was still hot on his trail, relentless in their pursuit. They were beyond my control now; all they wanted now was an eye for an eye, uncaring of who they left blind.

  When Jin reached his car, he struggled to unlock it, crying out with every sting. Then, with graceless desperation, he managed to open the door and fall inside of it, just barely escaping the wasps. Still, they continued beating against his window, determined to shatter the gss at any cost. Seconds ter, Jin’s car finally started up, and he drove out of the parking lot fast enough to make the tires squeal. The wasps, focused on their target, disappeared along with him.

  Just like that, he was gone, and so was the itching that haunted me. Now, there was only a stillness in the air, the aftertaste of blood on my tongue, and - deep down inside - a dark sense of satisfaction.

  Stepping back from the railing, I turned to look inside at Dahlia standing in the doorway of her apartment. Her stare of horror was like a knife through the gut: without the safety of anger to retreat into, I was left cold and empty, now horrified at who - or what - I was becoming.

  Looking down at my hands, I wanted to tear them right off my body - they were nothing more than weapons attached to me, stingers of my own that made me too dangerous, too unpredictable. I couldn’t bear to look at Dahlia for another second, so I raced down the stairs to the parking lot below.

  “Manny!” She cried out. “Manny, wait!”

  Despite the obvious danger, Dahlia followed me, not even caring that she was barefoot against the asphalt. By the time she’d gotten to my truck, I was already locked away inside. Helplessly, she smmed her fists against the window.

  “Wait!” Her voice cracked. “Manny, please—”

  In a final attempt to make me stay, Dahlia uncurled her fists, ying her palms ft against the window. It was then that I saw her cheeks stained with tears, and her eyes quivered as if the fear had given way to something else. Sick with shame, I turned away from her, cranking back the gearshift and rolling out of the parking space.

  When I shot one st look into the rearview mirror, I saw Dahlia standing where I’d left her, still staring back at me as if we were the only people in the world.