Pale. Awake now. Hair wild. Mouth calm.
That calm was what scared them.
She could feel it.
Normal people cried in the back of squad cars.
Normal people shouted.
Normal people asked what was happening.
Claire just sat there like she was waiting for a train she knew would arrive on time.
Kessler climbed behind the wheel.
Dugan got in beside him.
Hale followed in a second vehicle.
The radio crackled with ordinary night noise.
A fender bender near the diner.
A noise complaint on Cedar.
A pickup stalled by the old bridge.
Normal little town problems.
And in the middle of it, three men were driving the worst decision of their lives to the station.
They pulled away from the curb.
Claire looked out the window as her busted door got smaller behind them.
Then she looked at the back of Kessler’s head in the rearview mirror.
He kept checking on her.
