The headlights swept around the bend and found Roy where he sat against the base of the utility pole, one hand still pressed to his thigh, the other resting on the SIG P365 beside him. He raised a hand to block the glare, squinting against the light as the van rolled to a stop.
The side door opened. Soren, Garrett, and Cody came out with weapons up, spreading across the road in a practiced arc, checking the tree line, the ditch, the darkness on both sides. Nothing moved. Soren gave a short signal and moved toward Roy at a jog. Garrett followed.
Then Garrett saw Smith.
He stopped walking.
Smith was on the ground near the van's open side door, on his back, arms at his sides in the particular stillness that had nothing to do with sleep. Garrett crossed to him in four strides and crouched
