Flight landed just after dark.
Saw her standing near the exit before she saw me.
Looked exhausted.
Like she hadn’t really slept in days.
She walked over fast once she spotted me.
Didn’t say anything.
Just grabbed onto me.
Hug lasted longer than I expected.
Long enough I realized she was actually shaking a little.
She finally stepped back.
Looked around the parking lot for a second before looking back at me.
“This place...”
Didn’t finish the sentence.
That’s when I noticed the guy leaning against the car.
Big enough I noticed him immediately.
Black Mercedes parked near the curb.
Expensive enough it looked out of place.
Z grabbed my hand when we started walking toward it.
Tight enough I realized she was scared.
That bothered me more than the guy did.
Guy opened the back door for us.
Car pulled away from the airport.
Mostly just city lights sliding across the windows.
After a while the city started disappearing behind us.
Roads got narrower.
Darker.
Then the pavement ended.
Spent most of the drive staring out the window thinking about everything that could possibly go wrong once we got there.
Thought about the journal too.
Took me a while to realize Z had fallen asleep against my shoulder.
Think that was probably the first real sleep she’d gotten in a long time.
Wasn’t about to wake her up.
Couple hours later the Mercedes turned off onto a narrow mountain road.
Gate at the entrance looked military more than private.
Long drive after that.
Trees.
Fog.
Estate itself looked older than I expected.
Part mansion.
Part fortress.
Driver finally stopped near the entrance.
Z let go of my hand long enough for me to grab my bag.
Then grabbed it again walking toward the door.
Big guy stayed back with the car.
Another one opened the front door before we even reached it.
Walked through a huge entry hall.
Down another hallway.
Up a staircase.
Passed a couple more guys standing around that looked like they belonged there.
Nobody looked surprised to see me.
Z finally stopped at a door near the end of the second floor hallway.
Opened it.
Pulled me inside.
Locked it immediately after we walked in.
That bothered me too.
She went straight for the wet bar after that.
Poured herself a couple shots without even asking if I wanted one.
Finished both fast.
Just stood there for a second staring down at the glass.
Then looked over at me.
“I’m glad you’re here.”
Could hear how exhausted she was when she said it.
She looked me dead in the eye after that.
“Not tonight.”
Another pause.
“I’m spent.”
“We’ll talk in the morning.”
She turned and disappeared into the bedroom right after that.
Left the door completely open.
Think that told me more than anything she said since I got there.
Took a while just looking around the suite after she was gone.
Place was bigger than my whole shop back home.
Expensive.
Cold.
Didn’t feel lived in.
Sat down on the couch after a while.
Wasn’t much chance I was sleeping anyway.
Mind wouldn’t shut off.
Neither would whatever part of me was already on guard the second we pulled through that gate.
“Glad I brought a notebook with me.”
“Hope nobody finds it.”