“Finally.”

The word leaves Paul Smecker like a prayer gone wrong. He exhales hard, drags a hand through his hair, and unhooks his watch with the care of a man shedding the last weight of the evening. It lands on the nightstand with a quiet, final clink.

He’d had a particularly awful day at the office, another day of cold cases, inconclusive evidence, and dead ends; it’s all just noise without meaning. Here, at least, there is silence. Dim light. A chance to breathe.