Realizing he hadn’t yet spoken to Brandon that evening, Aaron asked, “How have you been, Brandon?”

He finished chewing and took a drink of his soda before replying, “Pretty good, I guess. Can’t complain too much. You guys doing all right?”

“Yeah, busy as usual,” Aaron replied nonchalantly. Cadence caught his eyes for a second, her expression pressing him to elaborate. Aaron hesitated, not sure if the information she wanted him to share would even be important to Brandon, but after a moment, he finally continued. “We, uh, caught the Hunter that killed Elliott last week.”

Brandon’s chewing slowed for a second as he considered the information. He swallowed and...