Chapter 9:
The black car is still there when the sun comes all the way up.
I watch it from the window. Same car. Same spot at the town line. No headlights, no wipers, no movement. Just a dark shape parked sideways on the shoulder like somebody left it there and forgot.
Then Jax comes in from the back and says, "It's been there since six."
Kael's already behind the counter with a cup of coffee. He doesn't look up.
"How long's it been there?"
"Since six. Carl called it in at six-fifteen." Jax shakes rain off his jacket. "Said the fella inside ain't getting out. Ain't rolling the window down. Just sitting."
I come down the last steps.
They both look up.
And Kael's eyes go somewhere they haven't been yet. Not to my face. Not to the bruises. To the cut. His cut. Still on my shoulders.
