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She stills. “What?”

“You're doing it again.”

“I'm packing.”

“Do it quieter.”

She rolls her eyes but carefully starts putting everything back in the bag. Doritos. Gummy bears. Two unopened bottles of water. The empty one.

I point at it. “Throw that away.”

“I might need it next time.”

“There won't be a next time.”

She smiles.

Fuck. I know that smile now.

“Callie.”

“What?”

“There will not be another stakeout.”

“If you say so.”

I narrow my eyes.

She keeps packing.

“What does that mean?”

Her lips twitch. “Nothing.”

I don’t press it.

Instead, I look back at Mercer's house. No movement behind the curtains. No lights turning on. Everything is silent and still.

More importantly, Callie has no reason to stay.

Not that there was ever a reason for her to be here in the first place.

She stops packing, then reaches inside the bag.

I tense.

She pulls out the beef jerky and sets it on the center console.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“I don't want it.”

“You ate some.”

“One piece.”