The car had been still for too long.
Sebastian knew it because his body had begun to ache in places that only noticed time when his mind refused to. His right foot hovered near the brake out of habit, though the engine was dead. His fingers rested loosely on the steering wheel, the leather warm beneath his palms. He focused on the abstract to keep from spiraling, things around him he couldn’t control.
The road was empty. Deliberately so.
Tall trees closed in around the narrow clearing like silent sentinels, their branches creaking softly whenever the wind moved through them. It was the kind of place people didn’t come unless they wanted privacy, or trouble.
He checked the rearview mirror again. Nothing. Still, his shoulders refused to relax.
His phone lay face down in the cup holder,
