“I should go claim the office before Cotton decides I’m sleeping in the barn,” she says. Her voice is steadier than mine, which is impressive, considering I’m the one who’s supposed to be trained for high-pressure situations.
“You’re in the room with one door,” I say. “I’m in the den. If anything goes wrong, it hits me first.”
“Very noble,” she says, tugging the blanket tighter around herself like armor.
“Very practical,” I correct.
She stands, still flushed, eyes a little too bright. At the doorway, she pauses and glances back.
“Goodnight, Bran,” she says softly.
“Night, Gentry,” I reply.
She disappears down the hall.
I sink back into the chair, jaw clenched, flexing my fingers once like I can still feel the shape of her waist there. My mouth still tastes like her, and that’s a problem I can’t shoot my way out of.
The monster out there can have some of my attention.
Tallulah Gentry?
She’s got more than that, and I’m not sure there’s a word on any list for what that means yet.
SIXTEEN
HIM
Silenceisakindof answer.
It’s not my favorite kind. But still.
The motel room continues to hum around me—mini-fridge, heater, bad fluorescent in the bathroom buzzing like a mosquito under the door. The laptop sits on the table by the window, screen casting blue light over the cheap curtains and the half-empty styrofoam cup by my elbow.
The chat window is still open.
Nightjar:last seen 00:17.
SmartLittleBird:online.
The two lines I sent her sit at the top of the box, patient.
rude, little bird. i missed you.
did you like my present?
They’ve been read. The system is clear about that. The little indicator flipped almost immediately, the way it does when someone clicks through fast, chasing that dopamine hit of new information.
She opened them.
I can tell she took screenshots.
I’m going to say she sent them to her sheriff buddy, because she’s in his pocket.
And then she closed the window.
I know because the connection hiccupped—changed IP to a different node, although it carries the same device ID underneath. Now she’s routing traffic through a different pipe, one with better locks and a prettier front door.
New Wi-Fi name. New house. This is not my favorite upgrade, I gotta say.
