He tried to drive fast, but with caution.
They were silent and this drive felt like forever.
Sabrina's tears were dry. She seemed … numb.
The road ahead curved around a heavily wooded area. Walker followed it, checking the coordinates again.
"There," he said, pointing to a clearing where a helicopter waited. "Reed came through."
Walker parked, and they hurried to the helicopter.
The rotor blades were already spinning, the noise deafening as they climbed aboard.
One of the security team handed them headsets.
"Where are we going?" Sabrina asked once they were airborne.
"Somewhere safe," Walker replied, watching the ground fall away below them. "Somewhere no one will think to look."
The helicopter flew north for nearly an hour, eventually descending toward a clearing in dense forest.
Walker tried to process everything but kept falling short. He would stare at Sabrina sometimes and he wondered if there were other things she wasn't telling him.
After a bit longer, a simple cabin sat nestled among pine trees, smoke curling from its chimney.
"Star family safe house," Walker explained as they landed. "Off-grid, untraceable."
They got off the helicopter and moved to the cabin. Her hand brushed his arm. "I'm afraid."
He turned to her, taking her hand in his own. "It's okay. Reed had this set up, so we're safe." He pushed the door open.
Inside, the cabin was rustic but well-equipped. A fire flickered in the stone fireplace, and the kitchen was stocked with supplies.
There were extra clothes for each of them piled on the table.
Sabrina stared blankly at all of it, then took a pile of clothes. "I'm going to use the bathroom.”
He nodded. "Yeah, go ahead."
Sabrina nodded, disappearing into the bathroom. When she emerged twenty minutes later, face washed and wearing clothes that had been left for her; jeans and a flannel shirt that hung loosely on her frame. She looked good, but Walker pushed any thought like that away. They were on a mission and he didn't need to think of how good she looked.
He poured water into two glasses and pointed to the table that had sandwiches on it. "Let's get some food in you."
"Thank you." She took a sandwich and nibbled on it. "So what now?"
Walker sat across from her at the small kitchen table. "Now we try to understand what's happening. Your father's company, the attacks—it's all connected." He ate a huge bite of his own sandwich.
"To what?"
"That's what we need to find out." Walker said through his bite.
They both ate in silence for a bit.
Of course, Sabrina didn’t eat much. She looked … still in shock.
Walker finished a couple of sandwiches, then focused on her. "Sabrina, I need to ask you something important. Do you think your father was involved in something... beyond his stated business?"
Her brow furrowed. "What do you mean?"
