Diamond stood and nodded once. “You don’t owe me anything. Just live. Start over.”
Carla stepped out long enough to hug Diamond—brief, but sincere—before turning back to help her daughters into the van’s middle seat.
Seven gave Diamond a final look. “I’ll have Nova confirm when the drop’s complete.”
“Don’t wait too long,” Sayer said from where he leaned against the sedan. “We’re burning daylight.”
Seven smirked, then climbed back into the driver’s seat of the van. The engine turned over quietly. She didn’t say goodbye—just gave Diamond a small, knowing nod.
Diamond stepped back with Sayer as the van turned around and rolled toward the tree line.
Carla turned in her seat as they passed, her hand pressed gently against the glass. The girls waved.
Diamond lifted a hand in return, holding it up until the van disappeared behind the trees.
Silence followed. Sayer was the one to break it. “Think they’ll make it?”
Diamond didn’t answer right away. Her eyes were still on the road where the van had gone. “They better.”
After a beat, she turned and walked toward the sedan, fishing the keys from her jacket pocket. “Come on,” she said. “Let’s go get our truck.”
Sayer didn’t argue. He slid behind the wheel without another word.
The sedan purred to life, and just like that, they were back in motion—quiet, deliberate, and invisible. But this time, they weren’t running. They weregoing back.
Chapter Thirty-One
They rode the back roads,retracing their steps to get back to the rig. Neither said much, keeping the interior of the sedan quiet. It was almost as if they were afraid to jinx themselves by speaking aloud about the situation. Soft, low classic rock filtered through the speakers, the steady hum of the tires on pavement the only other sound between them.
Diamond kept her eyes on the road, fingers tapping lightly on the armrest. The silence didn’t bother her; she was used to moving in quietness. Though this kind of quiet felt like a held breath. Like the calm before something cracked wide open. She wasn’t ready to speak it into existence, whateveritwas.
The sun was close to setting when they pulled up to the old barn. The last rays of evening sun cast shadows through the cracks in the wood and the open windows.
Diamond stepped out of the sedan, her boots crunching over gravel as she closed the door quietly behind her. Sayer did the same, stretching out his legs with a grunt before falling into step beside her. The barn smelled like diesel and dust, the faint scentof old hay clinging to the corners. It felt like a place meant for silence, for secrets tucked into shadowed corners.
As they started toward the rig, movement flickered at the edge of Diamond’s vision—too fast, too close.
“Don’t move,” a voice snapped, low and sharp.
Two men stepped out from behind the stacked pallets near the back wall, both holding steel pipes like they knew how to use them. Diamond’s body went rigid. Recognition hit hard, swift as a punch.
The first man—broad-shouldered, greasy smile—was Carla’s ex. The same bastard who’d hassled her at casino night, throwing threats like they meant something. The second was the creep from the secure lot, the one who’d tried to snatch the girls.
Her jaw clenched. “You two just don’t know when to quit.”
Sayer shifted beside her, already angling his body between Diamond and the men.
Diamond didn’t flinch, didn’t reach for her weapon yet. No need to escalate if she didn’t have to—not until she knew if these two were stupid enough to swing first.
“You’re a long way from home,” she said coolly, eyes locked on Carla’s ex. “You really think this is going to go the way you want?”
The man grinned, a nasty sneer that didn’t reach his eyes. “It’s already going the way I want. We know the girls are here. You move aside, and we don’t have to make this messy.”
Sayer scoffed, stepping forward just enough to draw attention. “You really think this is your shot? Two against two, and you brought pipes to a gunfight?”
The second man shifted uneasily but didn’t back down. “You won’t risk shooting. You’ve got too much to lose.”
Diamond raised a brow. “You sure about that?”
