Page 41 of Raven

Katherine stood in the hallway, just past the corner of the room.

“Everything okay?” she asked, her voice light, but her eyes too sharp. “You looked a little… intense just now.”

My heart thudded so hard I could barely hear. “Oh—yeah. Just trying to finish the personnel rotation schedule. Didn’t want to forget. I’m supposed to be home, I’m headed there in a couple of minutes.”

“Hmm.” She took a step closer. “You always were good at planning.”

I forced a laugh. “It’s a weird talent.”

She smiled like it amused her. But there was something coiled under it, like a snake stretching just before a strike.

“I can’t hold this in any longer,” she said, walking closer to me. “I have a secret, it’s been driving me crazy ever since the warehouse fire. I found something and I wanted to show you. I need other eyes on it before I bring it to the police.”

“What is it?” I asked, thinking this was the reason Katherine had been acting so weird. It had nothing to do with me, and I wished I hadn’t sent that message to Cyclone.

“I don’t think I can live with myself if something worse happens. Which is why… I need to show you something.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Katherine—”

“No, please, just hear me out,” she rushed. “I didn’t tell the team yet. I found something in one of the old case folders—something I missed. But I need your eyes on it. I need you to see what I’m seeing. I can’t do this without you.”

I hesitated. “Katherine, I’m not supposed to be on duty. I promised the captain—”

“This isn’t duty,” she said quickly. “It’s off the record—just a second opinion between friends. I’ll drive. We’ll be back in a couple of hours, I swear.”

She blinked fast. like she would start crying if I didn’t go with her. “I’ve been doing this alone for so long… and after what happened, I just don’t trust myself right now.”

Her voice cracked, and I felt my resolve begin to slip.

“Fine,” I said softly. “But only a couple of hours. And you’re driving. You have four assistants. You should be talking to them, not me.”

She wiped her eyes quickly and nodded. “Of course. Just a couple of hours.”

But as I grabbed my jacket, a small knot twisted in my stomach.

Something didn’t feel right.

* * *

We drovein silence for the first twenty minutes. I stared out the window, watching the buildings thin out as we left town behind.

“Where are we going?” I asked finally.

Katherine kept her eyes on the road. “Old supply station on Croft Ridge. It was decommissioned years ago. I found something in the blueprints I hadn’t noticed before. A hidden sublevel—could be where he’s been rigging the bombs.”

My stomach tightened. “Croft Ridge? That place is practically wilderness.”

She glanced over. “Exactly. No one would think to look out there.”

I watched the trees blur past. “You didn’t tell anyone else? You should have told the police.”

“I didn’t want to bring in the team or the police, unless I was sure. And after what happened at the last fire…” She paused, voice tightening. “I couldn’t let anyone else get hurt.”

That quiet guilt again. It hung in the car like smoke.

I looked out the window, unease settling deeper in my gut.God, am I the stupidest person on earth?“Just a couple of hours,” I reminded her.

“Of course,” she said. “You’ll be home before lunch.”

---