Chapter 18 - Pierce Makes The CallPierce eventually called Ruiz again.
This time he did not apologize immediately.
He simply asked whether Ruiz wanted coffee.
Ruiz said no.
Two weeks later, Ruiz called back.
“Coffee.”
They met at a diner outside the base.
Pierce did not defend himself.
He listened.
Ruiz told him what betrayal felt like.
How lonely the hospital had been.
How humiliating it was when everyone called the crash an accident.
How deeply Pierce’s silence had hurt.
Pierce accepted every word.
When they left, Ruiz stopped beside his truck.
“I don't forgive you yet.”
“I know.”
“But I don't hate you anymore.”
For Pierce, that was enough.
He watched Ruiz drive away.
Then he deleted the old hidden folder from his phone.
Not the evidence.
Those files remained secured with investigators.
He deleted the copy he had carried like a confession.
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He no longer needed evidence to remind himself who he had been.
His choices would decide who he became next.
