Page 31 of Silent Shadows

“It’s not personal.”

“It feels personal.”

“It’s logistical.”

“ Why am I here if I can’t record or join in?”

I exhale. “You’ve never done field investigations before.”

“You think I can’t walk around outside?”

“I think unfamiliar terrain plus active search conditions plus distraction variables increases risk.”

“You just called me a distraction variable.”

“You are objectively a distraction variable.”

Taylor buries her face in a throw pillow to hide her laughter.

Daisy stares at me. “Wow.”

“I don’t mean that offensively.”

“That somehow makes it worse.”

I rub the back of my neck. “Look, until we know how you move in the field⁠—”

“How I move?”

“Yeah.”

She blinks. “What does that even mean?”

“It means some people panic under environmental stressors.”

“I interview celebrities for a living, Miles. I’ve stared down armed entourages.”

“That’s not geographically dangerous,” I point out.

“It is when you don’t understand an East Coast vs. West Coast feud.”

Jax wheezes.

Daisy shakes her head, muttering something under her breath that includes the word “unbelievable.” I begin to roll through the plan again, focusing on the details.

When I’m done and the rest of the crew has dispersed, she leans closer to the map. “You’re assuming migration patterns based on elevation shifts,” she says.

I glance up, surprised. “Yeah?”

“Wouldn’t that change seasonally?”

I stare at her for half a second too long. She’s right.

Interesting.

“It does.”

“Cool,” she says, turning to walk towards her bunk. She looks back over her shoulder to add, “And I’m definitely coming tomorrow.”