Naomi sat in the front passenger seat with her tablet angled toward her lap and her face arranged into the pleasant vacancy of a woman pretending not to listen with every cell in her body. Across from me, Victor adjusted one cufflink, then the other, as if precious metal might restore his sense of control.
The driver checked the rearview mirror for the fourth time in three minutes.
I watched his eyes flick up, settle, flick away.
Interesting.
My phone had one bar, then none, then one again. Just enough connection to deliver fragments. Not enough to let me control the order in which they arrived. A notification from Summer. Three from the sister chat. One from Sarah. None from Nick.
The absence sat in my palm anyway.
Cufflink cleared his throat. “I assume the delay at departure has put us behind schedule.”
Naomi’s mouth tightened by the width of a breath.
“We left three minutes after the posted transfer time,” I said.
“Yes, well.” Cufflink looked out the window at the escort vehicle ahead of us. “Precision matters.”
“Then this must be a meaningful morning for you.”
Naomi bent her head over the tablet, attempting to hide a smirk.
The road curved toward the south checkpoint, where two rangers stood beside the gatehouse with rifles held low and eyes moving. Our driver lifted two fingers from the wheel. One ranger answered with a short nod, then turned his head toward his radio.
The gate opened.
We passed through.
The vehicle ahead rolled forward, then eased left instead of continuing straight toward the airstrip road.
Our driver’s radio crackled.
“Transfer Two, hold your line. Reduce speed.”
The driver did not answer right away. His hand tightened once around the steering wheel before he reached for the handset.
“Copy. Reducing speed.”
Naomi looked up.
The escort behind us closed distance, close enough that its grille filled the lower edge of the rear window. The lead vehicle moved across the road at an angle, not blocking us, not quite.
Controlled. Not casual.
Cufflink leaned forward. “What is happening?”
No one answered him.
My phone buzzed in my hand.
NICK: Stay in the vehicle. Do not argue with the driver.
A laugh rose in my throat without humor.
ME: That is an ambitious two-part request.
His reply came at once.
