When faced with an utterly unexpected situation, people tend to freeze.
Like when a truck suddenly appears from nowhere in an alley, and you’re so shocked you can’t even move—just getting hit in the end.

This reaction is commonly referred to as the freeze response, and for me, realizing that Greg was in danger triggered exactly that.
It was a scenario I’d never considered during the month he’d been away from the city.

"You said you’d be back soon. And now this?"

I clenched my fists tightly as the memory of my last moments with Greg replayed in …