We brought Cole back to the compound against the counsel of nearly everyone who heard about it first, Otis chief among the skeptics, arguing loudly that a stranger showing up with convenient information at precisely the moment we needed it was exactly the kind of setup Callahan himself might orchestrate.
He's not wrong to be cautious, Ronan said to me privately that night, watching through the garage window as Otis interrogated Cole with a thoroughness that bordered on hostile. But my instincts say he's telling the truth. His fear reads real. Manufactured stories don't usually shake that badly when you press on the details.
I trust your instincts, I said. But I also can't stop thinking about how much easier all of this would be if we just had proof, real proof, instead of everyone's gut
