"Yeah." I nod. "Go."
She touches my arm once, walks back down the cabin and folds into the seat beside Tobias. His hand finds her thigh the second she sits. She leans into his shoulder and closes her eyes.
Knox's arm moves from the seat back to my thigh. I settle against him.
For the rest of the flight, the cabin hums with low conversation. Anna catches my eye a few times across the seats. She tells me about her apartment, a cooking class she started, the dog Tobias brought home without asking. Small things passed between us in fragments, leaning across armrests, voices soft beneath the engine noise. Normal things. The kind of ordinary that used to feel impossible.
When the jet begins its descent into Chicago, I glance back. Anna is watching me from Tobias's shoulder. She lifts her hand. A small wave. I lift mine back.
It's enough.
We meet at The Blackwell. The building rises against the morning sky, all glass and limestone. It's the kind of building that looks respectable from the street and keeps its real business underground.
We're standing outside the east entrance. Knox is right behind me. Anna is beside me with Tobias behind her.
McKenzie approaches. "Ready?"
Anna looks at me. I look at her. "Ready," we say at the same time.
McKenzie's mouth curves. "Let's go."
The building is empty in a way that makes sound feel intrusive.
My footsteps echo no matter how carefully I place them. The Blackwell holds silence the way old churches do. Heavy, patient, cataloging everything that's happened inside its walls.
Knox walks half a step behind me, close enough I feel his warmth. Malachi is on my other side, hands in his pockets, eyes mapping the space the way he maps every room he enters. Candace stays at his shoulder, posture sharp, cataloging every corner.
The full team spreads behind us. Nash and Ruby are side by side, Nash's hand brushing her elbow once before falling away. East scans the ceiling, counting cameras. Frankie moves with her fingers trailing the wall, lips moving once without sound. Arden is a step behind her, silent. Amelia and Felix stay near Phoenix and McKenzie. Anna stands beside Tobias, their arms close.
"This door," I say at the east service entrance. My voice comes out level. I let it stay. "This is where they bring them in."
Anna steps beside me. She stares at the door for a long time. Her fingers curl, flatten, curl again. "It always smells of cleaning solution," she says. "Even when they haven't cleaned."
"They want it to feel clinical. Neutral. Sanitized. A place where bad things couldn't possibly happen."
"You're sure about this?" Knox asks.
I lean back, shoulders brushing his chest. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."
East crouches by the doorframe, running his fingers along the lock mechanism. "Electronic. Mag lock?"
"Mag lock," I confirm. "Controlled from the security station on the second floor."
Nash takes out his phone, photographs the lock, the frame, the hinges. "We'll need the override frequency."
"Phoenix," Malachi says.
Phoenix nods from the back. "Working on it."
We move inside. The corridor narrows, the ceiling dropping just enough to make shoulders tense without anyone naming why. Fluorescent lights hum and flicker. I turn left without checking signs.
"This hallway. They keep it plain on purpose. No artwork, no signage, nothing to make it feel as though people belong here. The cameras are hidden. You can't see them, but they can see you."
East points up. "There. Recessed behind the vent cover. Another one at the junction."
"Good eye," Nash says.
Ruby marks them on her tablet, tapping locations on the blueprint she's loaded. "That's six so far. Want me to keep counting?"
