They stood there for a while, wrapped around each other, the bay stretching out before them. Tomorrow night, this would all be over. One way or another.
When they went back inside, the others had dispersed. Hank was on the phone with Diaz, working out logistics. Bree and Sabrina were making lists. Colby was studying a hand-drawn map of the streets around the cottage.
"We're in," Brian said. "What do you need from us?"
Colby looked up. "I'm working out sight lines from the shop. Second floor has a clear view of the cottage if we use binoculars. Hank and I will be there with you."
"Sabrina and I will be here," Bree added. "Close enough to help if needed, far enough not to spook Carla."
"Meeting at the station at four," Hank said, hanging up the phone. "Diaz wants everyone there. Full briefing."
Tessa nodded. This was happening. Tomorrow night, she'd face Carla Reeves on her own terms.
The rest of the day passed in a blur of preparation. The meeting with Diaz was thorough: positions, timing, signals, contingencies. Tessa was fitted for a wire. Brian memorized the route from the shop to the cottage until he could run it in his sleep.
That night, they lay in the guest room bed, not sleeping.
"I've been thinking about after," Tessa said quietly. "When this is over."
"Yeah?"
"I'm going to take the clinic job. Dr. Hendricks said the offer's still open."
Brian turned to face her. "You're sure?"
"I'm sure. Urgent care isn't trauma surgery, but it's medicine. It's helping people. And it leaves room for a life." She found his hand in the dark. "A life with you."
"I signed up with Dawson today. Official volunteer with county EMS, starting next month."
"Brian." She squeezed his hand. "That's huge."
"Felt right. After Eleanor, after everything. I can't save everyone. But I can save some."
"Look at us. Both starting fresh."
He kissed her, slow and deep. "Starting fresh. I like that."
Tomorrow would bring the trap. The confrontation. The end of Carla Reeves.
Tonight, they held on to each other and waited for dawn.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Brian checked his phone for the fourteenth time in ten minutes.
The shop's second floor was dark except for the glow of a laptop screen showing the feed from a camera Diaz had positioned across the street from the cottage. Tessa was visible through the living room window, moving around, looking normal. Looking alone.
She wasn't alone. Two officers were in the Hendersons' place next door. An unmarked car sat at the end of White Gull Lane. Diaz was in a van two blocks over, monitoring Tessa's wire.
But from where Brian stood, she looked alone. And that made his skin crawl.
"She's fine." Hank's voice was calm. He sat in a folding chair near the window, binoculars in his lap. "Nothing's moving out there."
"Yet."
Colby leaned against the wall, arms crossed. "Carla might not show tonight. She's been careful so far. She might smell a trap."
"She'll show." Brian didn't take his eyes off the screen. "She can't resist. Tessa alone, vulnerable, no truck in the driveway. It's exactly what she's been waiting for."
