Chapter 59

Two weeks later.

I drive to Boone’s house, gripping the steering wheel as if I could keep myself tethered to reality through sheer force.

Now, as I pulled into the cracked driveway, I noticed a set of crutches leaning against the porch rail. My heart lurched with relief as he is still alive.

I stepped out of the car and walked up to the porch. The front door opened before I could knock.

Boone stood there, thinner than I remembered, his once-imposing frame diminished by the shadows clinging to him.

His skin is pale with stretched taut over his bones and a thin scar traced his jaw. His eyes.... those haven’t changed, hard as river stones and sharp with the kind of knowledge you couldn’t bury forever.

“Hayes,” he said. His voice was rough, worn. “Didn’t think you’d come.”

“I didn’t think you would answer.” I replied.

He gave a bitter smile and stepped aside. “You’d be surprised what I answer to these days.”

I followed him inside. The house smelled of antiseptic and old coffee, a sour mix that reminded me of hospital waiting rooms. Boone moved slowly, one hand braced against the wall as he led me into the living room. The curtains were half-drawn letting in a dim wash of light across the worn recliner where he lowered himself with a grunt.

“You look like hell,” he said, squinting at me.

I let out a hollow laugh. “I could say the same.”

“Difference is, I have an excuse, was attacked and been hospitalized. What’s yours?”

I didn’t answer. Instead, I sat on the edge of the couch across from him twisting my hands in my lap. “Ivy’s coffin has been gone for two weeks now.”

His gaze sharpened but his expression didn’t shift. “You sure?”

“I dug my nails into the dirt,” I whispered. “I saw the hollow ground. To be frank, have been having visions of Nolan since the day your incident happened. I heard him. He was there..”

Boone leaned back, exhaling through his nose. “Nolan.”

The way he said it wasn’t a question.

I nodded. “You believe me.”

“Doesn’t matter if I do,” he said. “but matters if you do, though ....I can see you do. Maybe that’s the only thing keeping you on your feet.”

I swallowed hard, my throat dry. “Why bury Ivy’s case in the first place Boone? You had leads, evidence and witness statements but you did nothing.”

He didn’t flinch but looked tired. “Because I was told to do nothing.”

The silence between us was a blade.

“By who?” I demanded.

Boone shifted in his chair, his hand pressing absently against his healing side. His eyes met mine and for the first time, I saw the cracks, not just in his body but in his conscience.

“Orders came down from LAPD,” he said finally. “Your sister’s case wasn’t supposed to see daylight. Every report I filed went missing and every piece of evidence rerouted." He paused then continue.

"I fought it for a while, I thought maybe I could dig deeper but the harder I pushed, the harder they pushed back until one day, I got a call, very short and sharp. ‘Drop it or you’ll bury yourself too.’”

My stomach twisted. “That's serious. But why Ivy? She was just a teenager.”

Boone’s jaw clenched. “Because she got tangled in something bigger than her, something called Project Shepherd.”

The name rang like a gunshot in my head. I’d heard it once before but I have forgotten where?

“What is Project Shepherd?” I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

Boone rubbed a hand over his face. “An initiative, off-the-books. It started in LA but spread through certain precincts like rot. It was pitched as a behavioral program, a way to redirect at-risk youth like foster kids and runaways but that was a cover." He pause then continue.

"The truth is, it was a pipeline, they identified vulnerable girls, pulled them into the system and tested them. Some for drugs, some for conditioning and some…” He trailed off. “Some for things I don’t even want to put into words.”

My stomach heaved. Ivy was just a teenager, stubborn and wild. A girl who wanted to dance and not be caged. A girl who never comes home.

“You’re saying my sister.....” I said.

“I’m saying she was never supposed to leave there alive,” Boone cut in. His eyes flickered with guilt and shame. “but when she did, when she slipped through whatever they planned, she became a liability. So, because of that, the order came down to erase her. When she vanished for good, they buried the case because the truth was too dirty to touch.”

I couldn’t breathe, my lungs locked and my vision swam.

“And you followed orders,” I said, my voice shaking with rage.

“I followed orders because I wanted to stay alive,” Boone snapped. “Don’t make me into some monster, I didn’t kill your sister, I couldn't save her either.”

Tears blurred my eyes. I wanted to claw at him, to tear the truth out of his skin but I couldn’t, I just sat there trembling while the ground of my entire life cracked open beneath me.

“Why are you telling me this now?” I asked finally.

“Because I almost died,” Boone said simply. “And because you’re the only one who’s still chasing ghosts. You deserve to know the kind of people you’re up against.”

The room tilted around me. The air grew heavy pressing against my ribs. Project Shepherd, LAPD. Ivy’s name caught in their jaws like a piece of meat.

“She’s not even safe in death,” I whispered. “They dug her up Boone. Someone took her.”

His face hardened. “Then you need to decideHayes. Are you going to dig too? Or are you going to let them bury you next?”

The words rattled through me sharp and cruel but beneath them was the truth I couldn’t ignore.

Nolan is circling, Damien didn’t believe me anymore . My brother has been struggling with his family to stand. Now, Boone, broken and bitter is handing me the final piece of the puzzle I have been chasing since I was a detective.

I stood, my legs trembling beneath me. “You should’ve told me months ago.”

Boone’s gaze followed me, unreadable. “And you wouldn’t be alive now if I had told you.”

As the sun slanted through the curtains, he gave me some files and his ledger while I walked out of his house the name burned into my chest like a brand.