Page 281 of Silent Target

“You’re welcome.”

“I may still shoot you.”

“Get in line.”

She looked directly at the traffic camera.

At me.

I couldn’t see the exact color of her eyes through the grainy feed, but I saw the intelligence in them. The anger. The strength.

And something else.

Recognition.

Not of my face.

Of my voice.

“You knew the wall would break?” she asked.

“The original construction plans showed⁠—”

“That wasn’t my question.”

I hesitated.

“No.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You told me to drive into a wall without knowing whether I’d survive it?”

“I knew staying in the garage would get you captured.”

“So you gambled with my life.”

“I gave you a choice they hadn’t controlled.”

She stared into the camera for another second.

Then the anger in her face changed.

It didn’t disappear.

It changed.

“You understood the pattern,” she said.

“So did you.”

“Not quickly enough.”

“You were inside it. That made it harder to see.”

The words silenced her.

Most people viewed fear as weakness. They assumed intelligence should overpower instinct, as if the mind continued functioning normally when the body believed it was about to die.

Kate knew better.