"I'm not supposed to know a lot of things. I know them anyway."
"That's not comforting."
"It wasn't meant to be."
The coffee cup came down on the railing. She stepped closer, not quite into my space. Close enough that I stopped leaning on the railing.
"If the point was timing," she said quietly, "the delay helped them."
I didn't answer immediately.
"You already knew that," she said.
"Yes."
"But you're going to keep the guests here anyway."
"No. The road opens in twenty minutes. Departures resume after that."
"Because the timeline matters more than the risk?"
"Because the risk doesn't go away if I keep everyone locked down. It just moves." I leaned against the railing beside her. "Whoever did this isn't coming through the front gate. They're patient. They're testing. They'll wait until we're stretched thin and pick the moment we can't cover."
She processed that without flinching. "So you're choosing to look normal while you're vulnerable."
"I'm choosing to keep moving while I figure out where the pressure is actually coming from."
Her fingers stilled on the coffee cup. "That sounds like a strategy I'd use."
"I know."
The words came out before I could stop them.
Her mouth curved slightly. Not a smile. An acknowledgment.
My phone buzzed in my pocket.
I pulled it out without thinking. Sofia's name flashed across the screen. A third message:
SOFIA:never mind. you're busy. talk whenever.
She'd even given me an exit.
Juliette's eyes moved to the phone and back to my face. She didn't ask who it was. She didn't need to.
"You should answer her before the road opens," she said.
"You don't know it's her."
"You don't look like that for rangers."
I slid the phone back into my pocket. My daughter had provided a way out, but Juliette was still standing three feet away, blocking the door.
The radio barked at my hip. "Nick, road is clear. First transfer can stage in fifteen."
I lifted the radio. “Copy. Begin guest staging. Miles and Owen first. Wilder is on the rescheduled transfer.”
Juliette’s chin came up. “With what luggage?”
