“How romantic.”
“This is not the portion of the morning where I attempt charm.”
“No, I remember that portion. You were bleeding and emotionally unavailable.”
Another small silence. This one had teeth.
“Stay in the vehicle,” he said.
“I heard you the first time.”
“I know.”
He gave me nothing else to hold except the instruction and the control it cost him to keep his voice even.
The call ended with the clean click of someone making himself hang up.
I lowered the phone to my lap.
Cufflink blinked. “Are we in danger?”
I looked out at the escort vehicle, at the ranger stepping from it with one hand near his rifle and his eyes on the scrub line.
“Yes,” I said. “But not because anyone is confused.”
No one spoke after that.
Daniel arrived in a dark-green vehicle with dust already clinging to the tires. He stepped out, spoke briefly with the driver, then scanned the road ahead through binoculars. His jaw was set. His movements were efficient without theatrics.
Theater would have been less unsettling.
Three minutes later, our convoy moved.
The alternate road cut wider through the reserve, farther from the low drainage wash near the original route. Gravel snapped under the tires. The air-conditioning worked too well. My coffee went untouched. My thumb kept finding Nick’s last text.
Manage it.
Infuriating man.
The airstrip came into view as a pale scar of packed earth and low fencing, with the charter aircraft waiting beyond a line of cones. Two rangers stood near the plane. Another checked luggage laid open beneath a shade awning. Staff moved quietly, faces neutral, hands busy.
We didn't board.
Of course we didn't board.
The vehicle stopped near the terminal hut. When the driver finally opened the door, heat rushed in with the smell of dust, aviation fuel, and dry grass. I stepped out and adjusted my sunglasses with fingers that only shook once.
Naomi came to my side. “Juliette.”
“I know,” I said. “Visible composure. Limited information. No guest panic.”
Her eyes moved over my face. “Yes.”
“Then let’s do that.”
Cufflink emerged behind us with a tragic relationship to silence. “I will need a full explanation before I board.”
“You will receive a concise explanation when there is one that does not interfere with the people keeping you alive.”
