Watching as another agent left the office, I sighed.

The place was unusually calm as it was a Friday evening so most of the agents who still had lives outside of this building had already left.

I was finishing some paperwork and decided to stay overtime at the office. However, I had no open cases, so nothing was actually holding me back from leaving, but I wasn't entirely sure if it was a good idea.

I would love nothing more than to go home and get some pleasant sleep without having to wake up early for work. However, a constant reminder kept nagging me about not being able to sleep without having a dreadful nightmare, waking me up in the middle of the night. Something that made sleep feel more like a method of medieval torture.

I had no idea why I kept having those nightmares, and I felt they were pushing me to the brink of madness. The number of sleeping hours I was getting was nearing zero, day after day.

I even had a feeling that I started seeing unreal things like that man with the tattoo at the auction—he must have been some kind of hallucination. There was no way he could be real.

My train of thought came to a stop when I heard someone clearing their throat near me.

Glancing up, I saw Ava looking at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What?"

"You look like hell," she stated, her eyebrows brought together.

I let out a sigh. I was very much aware of that little fact. There were large dark circles under my eyes from the lack of sleep, which I failed to hide with makeup. And my hair was frizzy and unkempt, even though it was in a messy bun. So yes, I looked like hell.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "Oh, and don't say it's work-related. I know this job can be hard, but I feel like there's something else going on with you, Alex."

I wanted to tell her. I wished I could share what I was feeling with someone, but I couldn't do that without telling them everything that had happened. And I wasn't sure if I could do that.

"Nothing," I lied. Then I changed the subject. "Do you have any plans for the night?"

"Yes, Caleb and I are going to a nearby bar to have a drink, and you're coming too," she said with finality, taking the file that was still in my hand. Then she tossed it inside one of my drawers. "Get off your ass now. And please do something with your hair."

I frowned at the last part, but I decided to go with them. Having a drink didn't sound like a terrible idea, and maybe a night out would help me ease up a little...

***

We went to a bar that wasn't far away from the FBI building. I figured out that most of the agents hung out there after work. Ava and Caleb had a group of friends already waiting for them. I sat and chatted with them for a while. But then the noise of so many people talking at the same time made me feel like my head was going to explode. So I excused myself from the table.

I wasn't really that much of an introvert, but this wasn't one of my best times.

I walked to the bar and ordered a shot of tequila. The bartender put the glass in front of me with a flirtatious smile. I gave him a sharp look that made him swallow hard and look the other way.

I swallowed all the tequila in one gulp. I put the now-empty glass on the table before I asked for another shot.

I kept doing that until I lost count of how many shots I had, and now I thought I must be very intoxicated because everything seemed to be in a blur...