Page 140 of Falcon’s Forever

Security Phone:

LAW ENFORCEMENT CONTACT EN ROUTE TO OBSERVATION POINT. NO ACTION YET.

Sarah reads over my shoulder. "They're still inside."

"Yes."

Maggie looks at me. "Then we get ready."

Not Falcon. Not the club. We.

For the next hour we turn an empty house into somewhere a frightened woman could walk into without feeling like she's just traded one set of walls for another. We move furniture so nobody has to sit with their back to a door. Sarah checks every bedroom lock twice. Maggie cracks windows to clear the stale air. Two prospects arrive in plain clothes, Digger and a younger one called Mouse, and neither of them wanders or asks unnecessary questions, they just puts things where we tell them and leave. This club's learning fast.

My phone buzzes again. Falcon.

Falcon:

House okay?

Cara:

Yes. Needs work but it feels normal. That matters.

Falcon:

Security?

Cara:

Ice Pick is handling it. Sarah found two things he missed.

Falcon:

Tell her she's hired. Don't tell Ice Pick.

I laugh.

"What?" Ice Pick asks, looking over.

"Nothing."

"I hate all of you."

Another message.

Falcon:

Merrick just arrived at the warehouse.

Everything in me goes still.

Cara:

What happens now?

Falcon:

Police contact confirms enough for a surveillance warrant, not entry. Working on probable cause. Nobody moves yet.