Status

The squad car rolled up to the station in the dead of night, the faint hum of fluorescent lights casting a pale glow over the cracked asphalt. Parker sat in the back, cuffed but relaxed, his expression cool and unreadable. The officers hadn't manhandled him; there was no need. He didn't resist, didn't fight. Hell, he barely spoke. He moved with the kind of quiet confidence that made people second-guess themselves, like he was the one letting them escort him, not the other way around.

Inside, they ran the usual protocol. Prints. Photos. A quick database check. That's when things got sticky.

"Uh, you might wanna take a look at this," one of the officers muttered, pointing at the screen. Parker Black. Legal ward of the Blackwood family. Recently tied to a whirlwind of scandals. The air in the room shifted, a weird cocktail of tension and unease.

"Shit," someone whispered.