Page 28 of Silent Shadows

“It’s overkill, right? I feel like I’ll get along fine without this.”

“That sounds like a you problem,” he says with a grin.

I narrow my eyes.

His smile broadens.

Friendly. Oblivious. Unaffected.

Oh, I’m going to lose my mind out here.

I make a show of pulling out my recorder again and clicking it on.

“Field note,” I say into the mic, looking Miles dead in the eyes. “The alleged leader of the Strange Terrain Division appears to be a repressed hall monitor with access to industrial lamination equipment.”

Taylor cackles.

Jax points at me. “Oh, she’s awesome.”

Miles heaves a sigh. “Okay, first of all, I’m not repressed.”

“You color-coded your boundaries.”

“Color coding increases efficiency.”

I lower the recorder. “You are so weird.”

“Again,” he says in a chipper tone, “sounds like a you problem.”

He’s right. It is going to be a problem.

chapter

four

MILES

It’s only been one night, but I know Daisy Bennett has officially disrupted the ecosystem of the Mystery Machine when Taylor starts brushing her hair before breakfast.

Not fully doing her hair. But there’s definitely more effort happening than usual as she stands in the kitchenette using the microwave reflection as a mirror.

“You know she interviews celebrities, right?” Jax says from the bench, not even looking up from his camera footage. “She’s not here to ask you for hairstyle tips.”

Taylor flips him off.

I’m at the monitor station trying to focus on route mapping for the next three days, but my focus is compromised by a very observant podcaster sitting cross-legged on the floor behind me. Daisy is recording voice notes into her phone like a tiny anthropologist documenting a newly discovered species.

“Day one embedded with the Strange Terrain Division,” she murmurs into the recorder. “Initial observations: they operate like a codependent staff at a summer camp run by conspiracy theorists with REI memberships.”

Taylor gasps. “That’s so accurate.”

“No, it’s invasive,” I snap before Taylor even finishes her sentence.

Daisy looks up at me, eyes bright with amusement. “See? That’s what I mean. You guys all react like a unit.”

Jax, Taylor, and I all snort.

Maya doesn’t even look up from her laptop. “You all snorted at the same time.”