Page 86 of Choosing Stella

He didn’t push.

I turned the Seven of Swords over, then The Moon.

“I hate this part.”

“Not knowing?”

“Knowing just enough to be scared and not enough to do anything useful with it.”

Geo’s hand opened on the table beside mine.

I put my hand in it.

“You did something useful,” he said.

“What?”

“You told me.”

I turned toward him.

“You could’ve kept this to yourself because you knew I might cancel the operation.”

“I thought about it for approximately three seconds.”

“Three too many.”

“Don’t ruin the moment.”

His thumb moved over my fingers.

“If the warning changes at the casino, you trigger the tracker.”

“Even if I can’t explain it.”

“Especially then.”

“And you won’t make me prove it first.”

“No.”

“I need the tracker active before we enter the casino,” I said.

“It will be.”

“Not just the location. The alert needs to stay ready the whole time.”

“Yes.”

“If anything matches this feeling—anything involving security moving me, separating us, or telling me someplace is safe when it doesn’t feel safe—I trigger it.”

“Yes.”

“And Locke hears it.”

“Immediately.”

I squeezed his hand.