Chapter 4
The passage smelled like dust, hot wiring, and rain trapped in concrete. I kept one hand against the wall and the other pressed over the blood spreading through my trousers. Behind us, the office door opened fully.
“Search the room,” a man said.
His voice was calm enough to make my stomach tighten.
Gabriel moved ahead of me, carrying the black laptop under his arm. He didn't ask whether I could keep going. He watched my pace and adjusted his without touching me.
At the end of the passage, a steel door opened onto a narrow service alley. Rain struck the pavement in silver sheets. A dark sedan waited beside a loading entrance, its engine running. The driver got out, but Gabriel lifted one hand.
“Stay in the car,” he said.
The driver obeyed.
That small exchange told me more than any reassurance could have. Gabriel trusted the driver enough to call him, but not enough to let him stand between us and the door.
We climbed into the back seat. Gabriel shut the door, then looked at me.
“Hospital?”
“No.”
“You're bleeding through the fabric.”
“I know.”
“Then tell me what you need.”
I looked through the wet window at the service entrance. No one came after us. That didn't mean no one knew where we were.
“A place with people,” I said. “Somewhere ordinary. No private rooms. No security desk.”
He nodded once. “Diner?”
“An all-night one.”
The driver pulled away before Gabriel could say anything else.
The diner sat beside a county road under a red sign missing two letters. Inside, the air smelled like coffee, fryer oil, and wet coats. A clock above the pie case had stopped at 2:17. I noticed it because I couldn't stop noticing things that didn't move.
Gabriel chose a booth near the front window, where anyone entering would be visible. He set the laptop on the seat beside him and kept both hands on the table.
He didn't reach for me. He didn't ask for the drive.
That helped.
A waitress brought coffee and a glass of water. I managed the water first. My hands shook so badly that the glass clicked against my teeth.
Gabriel looked away until I set it down.
“Tell me about Toby,” he said.
“Not here.”
“We can leave.”
“No. If we keep moving, we're easier to find.”
The waitress returned with a plate of toast I hadn't ordered. “Kitchen's closing breakfast prep,” she said. “Figured you could use something.”
I thanked her. My voice sounded normal. That almost made me laugh.
Gabriel opened the laptop but didn't turn it on. “The copies are separate. One is with me. One is hidden in the drive. The original hasn't left your possession until you decide otherwise.”
I stared at him. “You said the files linked Toby's initials to a payment trail.”
“They do.”
“And the message said he wasn't clear.”
“I know.”
“Then don't tell me you're protecting me. Tell me what you can prove.”
His face tightened, not with anger. With attention.
“We can prove someone used an internal authorization code to access records connected to Toby. We can prove payments moved through controlled accounts. We can prove the drive was expected to remain where you found it.”
“Found it where?”
He waited.
I folded the edge of the napkin until it tore. “In a records room. Behind a loose panel. I wasn't supposed to be there.”
“Why were you?”
“Because I saw my name in an access log.”
He didn't interrupt.
“I thought it was a mistake,” I said. “Then I saw Toby's.”
A pickup rolled past the window, tires hissing on wet pavement. I watched it disappear into the dark.
Gabriel lowered his voice. “We need to know whether Toby is reachable.”
“I can't call him from my phone.”
“Then we'll use a protected channel.”
“You have one?”
“I can arrange one. Not through the organization.”
I studied the man across from me. His suit was still dry except at the shoulders. There was a faint smear of dust near his cuff from the passage. He looked less untouchable than he had in the office.
“Tomorrow,” I said.
“Why wait?”
“Because if they know the drive reached you, they'll expect me to contact him.”
“They may already know.”
“That doesn't mean we make their next move for them.”
His gaze stayed on mine. “All right. Tomorrow.”
It was the first time that night someone had accepted a boundary without trying to negotiate it.
I pulled the silver drive from inside my coat and placed it on the table between us. Gabriel's eyes dropped to it, then returned to my face.
“Not yet,” I said.
“Not yet,” he agreed.
May you like
Outside, headlights slowed on the county road. The vehicle continued past.
Only then did I realize I had been holding my breath.
