Atlas turns his head sharply.“Why not?”
“She slept last night,” I say.“For the first time in weeks.If we tell her now—before we confirm anything concrete—we give her fear instead of facts.”
Atlas narrows his eyes.“She’s not fragile.”
“I didn’t say she was,” I reply steadily.“I said she deserves precision.Not guesses.”
Finn exhales, rubbing his forehead.“Okay.Yeah.Precision.”
Santos closes the laptop.“We’ll keep digging on the back end.Run facial approximations and pattern movement.”
“Good.”I stand.“Flag anything unusual.Anything.”
As we step into the hallway, Finn rounds on me.“We’re telling her today, right?”
“Yes.”
Atlas stops.“After practice?”
“After footage review,” I say.“With all three of us there.”
They both accept that.Finn touches a locker as we pass, like he needs something solid under his palm before he cracks apart.Atlas walks like a storm trying not to break.
At the end of the hall, I stop.
“Listen to me,” I say quietly.
Both turn.
“This isn’t guesswork anymore.Someone watched her.Someone left when he knew the crowd would cover it.Someone understands cameras and blind spots.”
They both go still.
“So we tighten our lines,” I continue.“We move around her with intention.We keep eyes on exits.We rotate who walks her to the car.We don’t let her go home alone tonight.”
Finn nods.“Obviously.”
Atlas’s voice is a low vibration.“She comes home with us.”
I glance his way.
“Not Kael’s house,” he clarifies.“Ours.Wherever she chooses.”
Finn exhales like he’d been holding that suggestion back.
I nod.“Yes.”
Atlas looks relieved in the smallest, sharpest way—like he just won a battle against himself.
We return to the main corridor.Players mill around.Trainers sharpen skates.The smell of sweat and rubber fills the air.
Wren is at the cart, taping a player’s wrist.Her focus is steady.Her shoulders are down.The panic hasn’t crept back in yet.
Atlas slows.Finn’s breath stumbles.
I walk toward her first.
She glances up, and I watch the moment she relaxes because she sees us.The way her face softens.The way her breath deepens.The way her hands stop trembling.
