Page 40 of Choosing Stella

Geo didn’t knock.

I sat on the edge of the bed and looked around. The walls were plain, the bedding was dark, and there was one lamp but no decorations. I couldn’t see a hidden second entrance, though I’d already checked the closet and the window because some habits didn’t need an invitation.

The lock was mine.

So was the choice to open it.

I stayed there another minute, listening to the stillness.

Then I stood, crossed the bedroom, and turned the lock myself.

The corridor light was low when I stepped out.

Geo hadn’t stationed himself outside it. He was in the main room with his dark jacket off, standing near the long table where the sealed Exchange unit still sat at the far end. A black shirt stretched across shoulders that had looked large in my apartment and ridiculous in this smaller space. He lowered his phone when he saw me.

“You doing okay?”

“I’m working on it.”

He nodded and left it there. He didn’t come toward me or ask what I’d been doing in there.

I walked into the living area.

“You really weren’t going to knock?”

“You locked the door. I assumed you wanted it locked.”

“That doesn’t usually discourage men who think they know what’s best for me.”

“It should discourage them.”

The rain had strengthened outside. I could hear it tapping somewhere high against metal, softened by brick and distance. The old walls showed their age in exposed brick and dark steel.

Geo set his phone on the table.

“Bancroft’s arranging the evidence handoff. Nobody’s coming here for it, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“I do. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome.”

I almost smiled.

“You make everything sound extremely simple.”

“Most things get worse when people make them complicated on purpose.”

“Tarot must be your personal nightmare.”

A hint of amusement touched his face.

“I’m reserving judgment until the cards stop predicting men with needles.”

A laugh escaped me before I could stop it. The sound felt strange in my chest after the hallway, but not wrong.

Geo glanced toward the table instead of studying my reaction.

Keeping me from being abducted didn’t create a debt I had to repay with my whole history.