The guy chuckled before nodding toward the building next to them. "There's a staircase over there that'll lead you up to the roof. We have covers over each of the corners so we can use them as lookouts without being spotted from the air. You might try up there."
"Am I going to bother anyone up there?" He didn't want a gun pulled on him while he was eating. It tended to make the food in his stomach sour.
"Jones and Craig are up there. Just have them check with me and I'll wave the okay. You should be fine."
"Thanks, man."
"No, thank you." The guy grinned. "You guys brought my husband out of a facility in Phoenix."
"Oh, glad I could help."
Stefan sent the man a smile then headed for the next building over. He climbed up the rusty metal stairs to the roof. As soon as he stepped onto the roof, he had a gun in his face.
Damn it.
"I've been given permission to be up here," he said quickly. "Check the sentry downstairs by the main door."
"Jones, check with Carl. Make sure this guy's legit."
Stefan rolled his eyes. "Fuck, man, you'd think with the way the world was today, humans would trust other humans."
"We've had a lot of marauders up this way lately."
Oh, well, that would explain it.
"I'm just looking for a quiet place to eat my dinner and get some fresh air."
The guy's eyebrows lifted. "And you chose here?"
"The guy down by the door suggested it."
"He's right, Craig," Jones said as hurried back over. "Carl gave the all clear."
"Sorry, man." The guy with the gun lowered it. "Can't be too careful now days."
"No, I guess not," Stefan replied. "So, do you guys mind if I hang out up here for a little bit? I promise not to bother you. I just wanted a little peace and quiet while I ate my food."
"It's cool, man." Jones pointed to the far wall. "There's a spot over there where you can eat."
"Thanks." Stefan waited until he walked away to breathe out. As many times as he'd faced the barrel of a gun, it still made his stomach turn in knots. He found a spot along the wall where he could sit and look over the edge. From his vantage point, he could see everything on the south side of the complex.
As he ate, he thought a lot about his desire to find Sawyer. It was almost an obsession. Hell, he'd shot Roark because he believed the man had sat there and done nothing while Sawyer died. There was a part of him that said he was being ridiculous, that Sawyer was dead. Surely the man would have come back to him if he was alive.
Unless Sawyer truly didn't love him. That would be a good reason to stay away. Stefan had asked himself a hundred times if that could be the case. His heart ached each time his thoughts went in that direction.
And each time, he knew deep down inside that something else had to be keeping Sawyer away. He just didn't know what that something was. It had to be something monumental because Sawyer loved him. He had to, otherwise all that time they had spent together and all of Stefan's heartache since they'd been apart meant nothing.
Stefan squinted into the darkness. He could have sworn he saw something move in the shadows in a cropping of trees close to the boundary line. He sat as still as possible, not wanting to give his location away in case he was right.
When he saw something flicker in the moonlight, he slipped down behind the wall. He stayed bent over as he hurried across the rooftop to where Jones was hunkered down, watching his section of the compound.
"There's movement on the east side," Stefan said in a low voice. "I can't tell what it is, but there is definitely something out there. You need to alert your superiors."
"Show me what you saw."
Stefan stayed down as he hurried back across the roof to where he'd been eating. He crouched down to the wall and pointed to the trees. "There in that cropping of trees on the far side of the perimeter fence."
Jones stared for a minute before shaking his head. "I don't see anything."
