Chapter 1 #4
Her pulse kicked up again—a different kind of alarm. Not Bratva, but someone had noticed her. Someone with authority. Someone who might ask questions she couldn’t answer.
She pulled her keyboard closer. The bus’s interior—warm mint-green walls, the scent of new cupboards—suddenly felt like a cage. She’d been so careful, blending into the landscape, but that piercing look told her she wasn’t invisible.
Her fingers hesitated over the keys. She could hack the park’s database, but that radio was analog. She pulled up her supply list, mental gears shifting. A scanner. She needed a police scanner. If the rangers were onto her, she’d hear it first.
She glanced around the bus—her home, her shield. Every inch engineered for survival. The cameras alone had taken her over a week to mount and position in the trees.
But survival wasn’t enough anymore. If Emberly was right, the Bratva wouldn’t stop until they found her. Having a digital report filed by a ranger was the last thing she needed.
Nimue powered down her monitors, screens fading to black. She grabbed a jacket—brown, nondescript, forgettable—and stepped outside the bus’s front door, gathering the few items she had out there. She eyed the cameras mounted in the trees. No time to collect them.
Maybe if she moved for a week, they’d lose interest. She could return later.
She climbed into the driver’s seat, engine rumbling to life beneath her. As the bus rolled forward, dust kicking up behind her, the Bratva’s message replayed in her head.
New lead on target.
They hadn’t found her this time. But she had to stay one step ahead if she hoped to survive.