“What do you mean?”
He smirks.“You’ve never cared about ‘guesthouses.’”
I swallow.“I’m branching out.”
“Bullshit.”
I meet his stare.“Drop it.”
He holds my gaze for a moment but then nods once.“Fine.But whatever this is, make sure it doesn’t bite you in the ass.”
Too late.
I glance around again, every instinct prickling.There’s somethingwrongabout this place, something under the surface.Maybe Dad’s warning about structural integrity was just a convenient lie, a way to keep us out of here.
I file the thought away.“By the way,” I say, forcing a casual tone, “you still have that team keeping an eye on Dad?”
Falcon’s attention sharpens.“Of course.I guess you haven’t visited him at the hospital lately.”
“Why would you say that?”
“Because the guard is still there, and he’s still checking IDs.”
I resist my eyeroll.IDs.Everyone knows we’re family.But whatever.
“Why do you ask?”He wipes sweat off his forehead with a bandana.
“Add Eagle to the list.”
Falcon frowns.“He has security.”
“I want the whole shebang,” I say.“Like Dad.”
Falcon raises his eyebrows, but he doesn’t press me further.“Okay.”He kicks the dirt.“You think something’s going on?”
I shrug.“Just being cautious.”
He seems to buy it, though his gaze stays on me a little too long.
We step back into the light.The moonflowers sway around us, white petals shimmering like ghosts in daylight.
Falcon whistles low.“They’re beautiful,” he says.
“Yeah.”I pull out my phone, snapping pictures from every angle—inside, outside, the whole structure.My mind’s already racing.If Vega’s “death” was an AI-manipulated photo, maybe I can “burn” this building the same way.Then I’ll have time to really get things checked out.
I’ll send him proof the barn’s gone without ever striking a match.
Falcon heads toward his truck.
“Thanks for coming out,” I say.
He waves it off.“Next time, bring beer.”
When he’s gone, I linger.The wind hums low through the cracks, and for a heartbeat I swear I hear something beneath it—a whisper, almost, like breath through hollow wood.
I shake it off.
I take a few more shots, making sure to get the roofline, the flower ring, the boards.Enough for the AI software to do its job.Then I head home.
