Page 21 of Crosscurrent

Tom saw opportunity. Efficiency, not cruelty.

Still.

“We move at her pace,” Gabe announced. “Or we end up exactly where Ellie warned we’d end up.”

Skye studied all of them quietly. “I usually don’t announce boundaries,” she said after a moment. “But I’m trying to save everyone time.”

Piper snorted softly. “That might be the most terrifyingly competent sentence I’ve ever heard.”

Reagan pointed toward her. “You are not allowed to admire the paranoid witness.”

“I’m not admiring. I’m observing.”

“You’re absolutely admiring.”

“Maybe a little.”

Cara smiled.

The tension eased just enough for everyone to breathe again. Then Gabe brought up the part he knew they were all thinking about. He shifted to face Skye. “You came here tonight. If they connected you to us already, we’ve got a limited window before that becomes a much bigger problem.”

Wade understood it first. Gabe saw it happen behind his eyes.

“I’ll take the couch,” Gabe said.

“Storage room’s fine for me,” Wade added.

Cara was already moving toward the linen cabinet upstairs in her mind. “I’ll grab blankets.”

Skye looked faintly alarmed for the first time all night. “I don’t need the room,” she said. “I don’t really do…” She paused slightly. “Families.”

Nobody said anything.

“I have a safe place,” she continued. “Well. A place.”

“If Neptune is hunting you, there’s nowhere safe,” Wade said baldly. “Except with us.”

Skye’s mouth dropped open. “But––“

Cara held up her hand, but her voice was gentle. “If they find you, we’ll just end up in more danger when we have to plan a rescue. You’re staying with us. It’s the selfless thing to do.”

Skye’s eyes glazed over with panic, but she didn’t argue, at least.

“You’ve been awake for over thirty hours,” Reagan interrupted. “You are not sleeping in a marina shed.”

The silence stretched roughly four seconds before Skye sighed. “Fine.”

Victory. Tiny. Exhausted. Temporary.

Still victory.

Cara disappeared upstairs for blankets while Tom kept working through the ledger files, monitor glow reflecting across his face. Wade checked the lock on the storage room window without comment. Reagan rinsed out the water glass and set it upside down beside the sink rack.

"One more thing," Tom said, already pulling up the perimeter dashboard. "Those two men. The ones who said the bakery was next." He typed without looking up. "I'm setting the exterior system to maximum sensitivity. Six AM to noon. Anything comes within fifty feet, our phones go off."

"Good," Gabe said.

Wade leaned forward slightly in his chair. "We want to know before they reach the door."