THE FIXATION
A Mire Institute Novella
He was hired to find a missing girl.
He found something worth keeping instead.
Nathan Cross solves problems that can't go through official channels. His specialty is the lost—those who disappear into the dark corners where law enforcement won't venture. Recovery rate: perfect. Conscience: flexible. Questions asked: none.
The West case should have been routine. Parents desperate for answers. Daughter vanished after signing suspicious paperwork. Standard predator pattern. But when Nathan tracks Lilah West to a dive bar where she's serving drinks with hollow eyes and too-careful movements, nothing about her is standard.
She's broken in ways that speak of systematic destruction. She's dangerous in ways she doesn't yet realize. And when she starts hunting the very networks Nathan navigates for his work, he makes a decision that changes everything:
He'll help her. Guide her. Protect her from the forces that would reclaim their escaped asset.
But Nathan Cross has his own history with broken things, his own understanding of how trauma can be shaped into purpose. As he watches Bunny transform from victim to weapon, as he falls deeper into her orbit, certain questions become unavoidable: Why was he really hired to find her? How much of their connection is chance versus calculation? And in a world full of predators and prey, which one is he?
A psychological labyrinth told from the perspective of a man whose true nature is darker than anyone suspects—especially the woman who trusts him with her life.
The most dangerous monsters are the ones who make you feel safe.
A Mire Institute Novella
He was hired to find a missing girl.
He found something worth keeping instead.
Nathan Cross solves problems that can't go through official channels. His specialty is the lost—those who disappear into the dark corners where law enforcement won't venture. Recovery rate: perfect. Conscience: flexible. Questions asked: none.
The West case should have been routine. Parents desperate for answers. Daughter vanished after signing suspicious paperwork. Standard predator pattern. But when Nathan tracks Lilah West to a dive bar where she's serving drinks with hollow eyes and too-careful movements, nothing about her is standard.
She's broken in ways that speak of systematic destruction. She's dangerous in ways she doesn't yet realize. And when she starts hunting the very networks Nathan navigates for his work, he makes a decision that changes everything:
He'll help her. Guide her. Protect her from the forces that would reclaim their escaped asset.
But Nathan Cross has his own history with broken things, his own understanding of how trauma can be shaped into purpose. As he watches Bunny transform from victim to weapon, as he falls deeper into her orbit, certain questions become unavoidable: Why was he really hired to find her? How much of their connection is chance versus calculation? And in a world full of predators and prey, which one is he?
A psychological labyrinth told from the perspective of a man whose true nature is darker than anyone suspects—especially the woman who trusts him with her life.
The most dangerous monsters are the ones who make you feel safe.