There’s always something about the heat of a fire. How it licks at your skin when you’re surrounded, trying to taste your flesh as it roars all around you. It consumes everything if you’re not careful. But even with that risk, someone has to face the inferno to put it out.
It takes guts to stand up to an inferno, both literal and metaphorical.
And that was something you did when the chips were down. You risked life and limb, literally burning yourself all over to try and save your family when your house was ablaze. Even when that fire consumed your mind, becoming something else, you hunted for the one that caused the fire.
It was something you couldn’t just burn out on.
When it comes to cases that need to find the truth and bring a fella to justice, you have to be relentless. It’s a cruel, dark world out there. You don’t work the streets, investigating and helping others without expecting to run into some dark things. There’s some twisted desires out there, hearts wanting nothing more than the destruction of the peace of others.
You don’t come out here kicking hornets nests without expecting to be stung.
The things that I have seen while prowling the streets would make most shudder in horror. I’ve gotten the scent of cases that have been around some of the nastiest things. Rape, assault, even a murder here and there. It’s not my first time geting down and dirty with some of the worst scum.
I understand your hesitation, your worry. You’re a family man, someone who’s been holding on for dear life to the few people you care about. Compassion oozes out of you, leaving you raw like your skin in the wind. It’s not unnoticed, but that doesn’t change the core of the matter.
It’s leaving you vulnerable.
So bring whatever test you think is necessary. Do whatever you think it’ll take for me to get on the hook. All I’m after is that information. Where those old safehouses are, the places they used to run around. All sealed up in that envelope in your hand, with you being the lock and key holder.
I don’t want to have to break you, but if that’s how the cards fall, let them tumble.
Because at the end of the day, it’s not about how open you are, it’s how you get back up when you’ve been knocked flat. How hard you hunt down that lead, push for the truth, see what they all overlooked.
Out of the two of us, one of us is a relentless machine, pushing against new boundaries with the intel given to help the world. One of us is haunted by a past case that’s consumed their entire lives, and put risk to what else they have left. Both have the right sense, but only one is going to have what it takes to walk away.
And I’m the one who’s got nothing to lose.