She watched as he ended the call, his jaw clenched and his eyes distant, as if he were already miles away, lost in thoughts she could only guess at. And in that moment, Juniper realized that for all her attraction to Daniel, for all her desperate desire to unravel the enigma of his being, she was no closer to truly knowing him than she had been when they first met.

The loneliness of it burned in her chest… standing right beside him yet completely locked out, carrying the weight of this case while he carried secrets she’d never be trusted with. Another reminder that some distances couldn’t be crossed, no matter how much something ached to close them.