Page 66 of Cold Ignition

Keanu stayed in the car. Didn’t move. Didn’t speak.

The man stopped just outside the driver’s side, looking down at him through the visor.

“Been a while,” he said finally.

Keanu tilted his head slightly. Typical Ahi response. Nothing more.

The man’s mouth curved faintly. “Thought you were gone.”

Keanu let a beat pass.

Then, through the modulator—“Then you thought wrong.”

The man studied him a second longer.

Then nodded once. “Maybe.”

His gaze flicked briefly over the car, the detailing, the precision of it.

“Run like that again,” he said, voice lower now, “and you won’t just be racing.”

There it was. The hook.

Keanu leaned back slightly in the seat, relaxed.

Unbothered. “Then don’t waste my time.”

The man smiled. Not friendly. Interested.

“Good,” he said. “We like confident.”

Keanu didn’t respond.

The man stepped back, already turning away. Decision made.

Keanu waited another beat. Then started the engine again.

As he pulled away, Luca’s voice came through, quieter now.

“You’ve got movement,” he said. “They’re tagging vehicles. Tracking patterns.”

Keanu’s grip on the wheel tightened slightly.

Alexios spoke next. “Then we let them,” he said calmly.

Rangi exhaled slowly. “Yeah ... we just stepped into it.”

Keanu’s gaze flicked briefly to the rearview.

The handler was still watching.

Exactly what they needed.

Exactly what would get them killed if they misstepped.

Keanu’s mouth curved slightly beneath the helmet.

Ahi had their attention.