Page 189 of Shhh…It’s A Killer Story

"Busy?"

Derek scoffed.

"Reed, you've practically moved into this station."

Before I could answer, movement in the corridor caught my eye.

Deputy Collins.

He wasn't walking with purpose. He wasn't carrying files or speaking to dispatch. He simply drifted past the briefing room at an almost casual pace, one hand hooked through his duty belt, his attention apparently fixed somewhere farther down the corridor.

Apparently.

His head never turned toward us. It didn't have to. His pace slowed ever so slightly as he reached our doorway. Just long enough. Then he continued walking.

Nothing unusual.

Unless you'd spent enough years in places where people learned to watch without looking.

Mason saw it too. Without lifting his head, he rested one hand on the edge of the table. Three fingers moved. The same movement he would do when we were stationed.

Stop talking.

His index finger shifted.

We're being watched.

Derek's grin disappeared so quickly it was as though someone had switched it off. He lowered his eyes to the paperwork in front of him, picked up a pen and started writing absolutely nothing.

I didn't react.

Training.

You never reacted. You acknowledged. You remembered. You waited.

By the time Collins disappeared around the corner again , my pulse hadn't accelerated. It had always happened. Fear speeds civilians up. Training slows soldiers down. I kept staring at the corridor after Collins vanished.

Something didn't fit, not Collins but something about the station.

Over the last four days, conversations had begun stopping whenever Mason, Derek and I walked into a room. Dispatch suddenly found reasons to linger outside briefing doors. Deputies I'd known for years seemed strangely interested in where we were going, what we were discussing, and how long we intended to stay.

Individually...

None of it meant anything.

Together...

It felt like surveillance.

Mason never looked at me. He didn't have to. His fingers had already said everything.

We have ears and eyes around.

I watched another deputy glance toward our room before immediately looking away when he realised, I'd noticed. My stomach tightened. For four days I'd been convinced the biggest threat was somewhere out beyond the tree line.

Hidden.

Waiting.