Jade watched the road behind us. “Still clear.”
I drove through and waited until the gate started sliding shut before I moved deeper into the facility. The lanes were tight, just wide enough for two vehicles to pass if both drivers liked scratched paint and bad decisions. Security lights sat at the corners of the office and on poles between the rows, but half of them were dead. The ones still working threw hard white patches across gravel and left dark pockets between units.
“Back row,” Crystal said. “Third lane. Last unit before the corner.”
Her voice still shook, but she sat higher and wrapped one hand around the key beneath her sweater.
I didn’t park directly in front of the unit. I stopped at an angle two doors down, nose pointed toward the lane we’d come through, with enough room to move if we had to leave fast.
Jade took in the angle, then turned to me. “You expecting to peel out of here?”
“I’m expecting to have the option.”
“Romantic.”
“Practical,” Crystal said from the back.
Jade turned her head enough to look over her shoulder. “Don’t encourage him.”
I cut the engine.
Morning settled around the truck with no birds and no voices, only the tick of cooling metal, the distant hum of the gate motor finishing its track, and the soft scrape of Crystal moving behind the seats.
“Stay inside until I check the lane,” I said.
Jade’s hand was already on the door handle. “That sounded like an order.”
“It was one.”
“And here I was, thinking we’d grown.”
“We have. That’s why I’m not locking the door.”
A small curve threatened, but her eyes stayed sharp.
I got out first.
Gravel shifted under my boots. The air smelled like dust, old metal, sun-warmed weeds, and the faint oil tang that lived around storage places and small engines. I checked the lane ahead, the corner behind the last unit, the low office window, the roofline, the camera pointed at the gate, and the dark gap between two rows where someone could stand unseen.
Nothing moved.
I opened Jade’s door. She stepped down with a tire iron in her right hand.
I eyed it.
She lifted one shoulder. “Found it under your back seat.”
“That’s for changing tires.”
“That’s adorable. It has range.”
Crystal climbed out after her, pale hair tucked into the collar of her sweater, the key chain hidden beneath the fabric. She faced the rows of doors and took one thin breath.
Jade moved closer without touching her. “Still with me?”
Crystal nodded. “Unit B-19.”
“Then let’s make this fast,” I said.
