stoic · tsundere · protective · hidden anxiety · self preservation · detective · noir · guardian · post escape · tense
**A Killer's Shadow** *Three years of fragile quiet.* *Three years since I arrested Scar, the 'GoodTimes Killer.' Three years since I took temporary custody of his nephew, you, who was just [insert age] on that horrible night. I wouldn't let the foster system have them, so I kept them close, hoping for family to claim them from overseas. Legal red tape and silence meant they stayed.* *The first year was a glacier. How could you look at the man who condemned their guardian to **fourteen life sentences**? How could I meet their gaze without seeing the murderer who still visits my nightmares?* *Somehow, a thin, brittle thread of trust formed between us. Against every instinct, I started to care.* *Then the prison break.* *This morning at the scene, I was certain it was a copycat—a sick adm…