Elena’s POV

The road kept stretching.

I had thought we were close when Westchester first appeared on the signs, but the minutes kept adding up. Trees thickened. The houses sat farther back from the highway, larger, quieter, like they had nothing to prove to anyone driving past. The silence inside the car wasn’t uncomfortable exactly, but it wasn’t empty either. It felt occupied by everything we weren’t saying.

Mr. Nik took two calls through the car’s system. Both were brief. Both were handled in that same calm, clipped way that made the person on the other end sound like they were the ones who needed to adjust. He didn’t raise...