She lifted them slowly, watching me as I checked along her ribs, then her waist. My hand rested briefly at her hip to steady her while I leaned in to check the line of her collar. A faint trace of her shampoo cut through the cool night air. Her chin tilted, daring me to stay there. I let it hang for a second longer than necessary before stepping back.
When I straightened, her crystal green eyes locked on mine.
“All clear,” I said, keeping my voice even.
Behind me, Ellie opened the back hatch of the SUV and ran the scanner across Sabine's bag in slow sweeps. She finished with the bag and moved on to her laptop. The soft chirp of the scanner cut through the still air. A final pass over the keyboard, then the back panel, and she shook her head.
“Nothing,” she said.
Sabine’s eyes flicked between us, her stance still set like she was waiting for the other shoe to drop. I stepped back to give her space to get into the SUV. She climbed in without comment, settling into the seat and pulling the belt across her chest.
I closed her door firmly and circled to the driver’s side. I kept my gaze working the perimeter until I was in my seat.
Ellie loaded her bag in the back, then slid in beside me. “Switched the plates,” she said quietly.
I eased us toward the exit, headlights staying off until we were close to the street. A right turn took us back toward the highway, the lanes opening ahead in dark stretches between passing vehicles.
The sedan was gone. No sign of it merging back into view. I kept the pace steady for another few miles before settling into the northbound lane that would take us the rest of the way.
In the rearview, Sabine watched the road ahead, her face unreadable in the dim light. She didn’t ask any more questions, and I didn’t offer anything. Ellie adjusted in her seat, one hand resting on her knee, her focus still split between the mirrors and the road.
The safehouse wasn’t far now. I’d get her behind the gates. And if the Bellantes wanted her after that, they’d have to go through me, and I wasn’t feeling generous.
5
Sabine
The hum of thetires changed as we left the highway for a narrower road. Streetlights thinned until there were none at all, only the sweep of our headlights across dark trees and the pale glint of gravel shoulders. I sat forward slightly, trying to see past the dash.
The first thing I spotted was the gate. Tall iron bars rose between two stone pillars, the metal worked into an old pattern that caught the light and sent a shiver up my spine. A security camera sat in a shadowed corner, its lens reflecting a small spark from our headlights.
The gates began to swing inward before we reached them. Kara slowed just enough for the SUV to glide through. The sound of the outside world faded with the road behind us, replaced by the steady crunch of gravel under the tires.
The gates closed behind us, the sound muted through the SUV’s frame. They were supposed to make me feel safe. All they did was press the air tighter, the bars falling away into trees that blocked every line of sight. The SUV’s cabin feltwarmer than it had a second ago, my pulse climbing in a way I didn’t like. The highway hiss fell away; no other engines, no houses, just our lights and the dark.
From where I was sitting, safety looked a lot like being trapped. My fingers curled tight in my lap, nails pressed into my palm. I told myself it was just the change in air pressure or the darkness closing in, but the weight in my chest said otherwise.
I hoped Mark was right about these women being vetted, clean. They could kill me out here and it would take days, or more, before anyone even knew I was missing. A damp, earthy scent seeped through the vents, the kind that clung to your clothes and stayed. The tires drummed a steady rhythm over loose gravel, every bump sounding louder in the silence.
We followed a long, curving driveway lined with trees so close they formed a canopy overhead. Branches filtered the headlights into broken strips of light and shadow across the hood. The air felt heavier here, closed in, as if the trees were holding their breath. Even the night insects sounded far away, like we’d driven off the map. The longer we drove, the more I realized I couldn’t see where the driveway ended. Or if it did.
When the canopy finally opened, the house appeared without warning. It loomed at the far side of a wide courtyard, built from pale stone darkened in patches with age. A slate roof angled steeply toward the sky, and the windows were deep-set, catching slivers of moonlight. The center of the structure arched high enough for the SUV to pass through.
We rolled under the arch, tires crunching louder as we entered the courtyard. Stone walls enclosed the space, dotted with small, warm lights near the ground that cast long, soft-edged shadows. In the middle, a circular drive wrapped around a bed of low shrubs and trimmed hedges.
The SUV rolled to a stop near the porch. For a moment, I just stared at the house, trying to imagine it as a “safehouse.” It looked more like something from an estate magazine than a place meant for hiding. Nothing about this place wanted to be temporary.
The engine cut and Kara stepped out, her door closing with a solid thud. She took a slow look around the courtyard, eyes moving from the house to the walls and back to the arched entrance we’d come through.
Ellie got out next, pulling my bag from the back and setting it at her side. Her attention didn’t settle anywhere for long, drifting between the shadows and the higher points along the wall.
I reached for my door handle, but Kara was already there. She opened it for me, standing close enough that the cooler night air carried the faint scent of her perfume over the heavier smell of stone and damp earth. Her shadow cut across me, filling the space and leaving nowhere to step but back. Her hand came toward my elbow, palm open, as if to guide me toward the steps.
“I can walk,” I said, a little sharper than I meant.
“It’s dark,” she answered evenly. “Uneven ground. Easier if you let me lead.” Her hand hovered there, not touching but close enough that I could feel the heat of it through the air. My skin reacted before my brain had decided what to do with her. It wasn’t an offer so much as an opening to see if I’d let her close that last inch.
She was measuring me, not just for compliance, but for how I’d break if she pushed. And the worst part was, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to pass the test or fail it. That flicker of temptation made me all the more determined to shut it down.
