Claire looked out over the courthouse lawn.
Families. Reporters. People dispersing into the day.
A town learning how to tell itself a different story.
“I knew they were capable,” Claire said. “That’s different.”
Parker nodded slowly.
“I keep thinking about how calm you were.”
Claire almost said, I wasn’t calm.
Not all the way.
Her heart had raced.
Her skin had gone cold when the door blew.
Her mind had flashed, bright and ugly, through every undercover story that ended with someone being found before help arrived.
But fear and calm are not opposites.
Not for people who do this kind of work.
Sometimes calm is just fear that has learned where to stand.
“I was ready,” Claire said instead.
Parker looked like she understood.
Months passed.
Millhaven changed by inches.
New oversight.
New training.
Outside review boards with actual teeth.
Evidence audits.
Mandatory dual-signoff for searches.
Random body-cam integrity checks.
