Page 51 of Hard Rain

“The truck was parked outside the room.”

“You remembered a broken mirror from two days earlier.”

“It mattered.”

“Boone made us pull the surveillance footage.”

Whip nodded. “Because I was right.”

“You were.”

The mirror had been broken.

The truck belonged to the fugitive’s cousin.

Three hours later, they’d put him in cuffs.

Axel shook his head and reached for another piece of jerky.

“That’s when I figured out working with you was either going to make my life a lot easier or get me committed.”

“What’d you decide?”

Axel looked over at him.

“Jury’s still out.”

The fire had burned down to a steady glow.

Rain still tapped against the roof, though not as hard as before.

The coffee was gone.

The trail mix was gone.

The stories had finally run out.

For a while, neither of them said much. Whip finally stopped fiddling with shit and tipped his head back against the wall.

He always looked different when he stopped moving. Like the weight of everybody else’s problems wasn’t sitting on his shoulders for once.

Most people never got to see that side of Whip.

Stillness never looked natural on him.

Axel stretched his legs toward the fire and yawned.

“I’m tired.”

“Shocking.”

“Been a long night.”

“Mountain tried to kill us.”

“That too.”

The warmth from the fire settled over him in slow waves. Combined with the coffee and the lack of sleep from the night before, it hit all at once. He rubbed a hand across his face and stifled another yawn.