Then Crystal called from inside, “I can hear both of you, and I’m still wanted by the county.”
My eyes closed.
Amusement threatened Dex’s mouth.
“I’ve missed her,” I said.
“I can tell.”
We went back inside.
Crystal sat at the table with the water bottle in both hands and cracker crumbs on her sweater. She sat steadier, though her fingers stayed white around the bottle.
Dex unfolded the paper map from his truck across the table. He didn’t mark it. He used a bottle cap for the cabin, a cracker crumb for the storage place, and his pocketknife laid closed along the road between them.
“This is insulting to cartography,” I said.
“It’s temporary.”
Crystal pointed at the cracker crumb. “That’s the locker?”
“Yes,” Dex said.
“I hope the locker feels respected.”
I pressed my fingers to my mouth.
Crystal smiled, small and tired.
Then Dex tapped the road. “We leave before dawn. Daylight makes the road easier for anyone watching. You know the locker. Crystal has the key. I know how to spot a tail. Phones stay quiet unless I update Annette.”
“I don’t want Annette knowing anything about Crystal,” I said.
“She won’t get Crystal’s exact location from me.”
“Or my name.”
Dex went quiet, and my stomach tightened.
He met me across the table. “I haven’t given North Fork your name.”
Crystal turned to him. “You haven’t?”
“No.”
“Why?”
His attention stayed on me. “Because once I do, you become part of the case file.”
I had three sharp answers ready.
None of them came out.
Crystal rubbed her thumb over the bottle label. “The storage place is outside Whispering Pines. Past the last strip of businesses before the road widens. One gate. The office closes overnight. My unit is in the back.”
“Save the unit number until we’re moving,” Dex said.
I raised my eyebrows.
