Page 141 of Falcon’s Forever

Nobody moves, and that includes him. I breathe out.

Sarah sees my face. "Merrick?"

"Yes."

Maggie straightens. "We're close, then."

Maybe. I hate maybe. She's right anyway.

By six the house is ready enough, not finished, but done enough that women could move in tonight if they need to. There’s clean bedding, toiletries in every bathroom, food in the kitchen, a basket of slippers in different sizes by the door, and new phones sitting unopened in a drawer until somebody checks they're safe to use. There are information sheets on the table that nobody will hand over unless somebody asks for them.

No rules are posted on the walls, there’s no schedule, just somewhere to land.

I stand in the living room. Sarah joins me. "You think they'll like it?"

"I hope they never need it."

"But if they do?" She loos sad.

I look around. "I hope they don't hate it."

Maggie comes in with three mugs of tea, gives one to each of us, and Ice Pick walks through the front door a second later, his expression telling me something's shifted.

I put the mug down. "What."

"The police got what they needed. One of the women appeared at an office window and held up a piece of paper."

Sarah goes pale.

"What did it say?" I ask.

His jaw tightens. "HELP."

Everything in me goes cold. "When?"

"Seven minutes ago."

"The police?"

"They’re moving. Vulture put Falcon on the rear route with Rook and Zip. If Merrick's people try to push the women out the back instead of through the front, that's where they'll come."

The mug's still warm in my hands and I can't feel it anymore. "Falcon's there? At the warehouse?"

"He’s covering, not entering. Vulture gave him the assignment this morning." Ice Pick says it like it should reassure me, and some old version of me almost lets it.

"Since when does covering mean safe," I say, and he doesn't have an answer for that, because we both know it doesn't.

"What do we do?" Sarah asks.

Ice Pick looks around the finished house. "Exactly what you've been doing. Wait."

We sit in the living room without the television on, without pretending to talk about something else. Updates arrive slowly.

Security Phone:

Police on scene.

Security Phone: