Chapter 13 #3
Family dinner had filled every room with laughter, clattering dishes, and Charlie's endless commentary about dragons.
Tonight the atmosphere felt different. Children had already been taken upstairs to the nursery, volunteers spoke in lower voices, and every patched brother who entered glanced instinctively toward the windows before settling into a chair.
Nobody panicked.
That wasn't how the club operated.
They prepared.
Sunshine stepped inside beside me, her gaze moving slowly across the room. She wasn't looking for danger anymore.
She was looking for familiar faces.
Daisy crossed the room first.
"You made it."
Sunshine smiled.
"I said I would."
Daisy's eyes drifted briefly to the little silver paper badge Charlie had pinned to her sweater.
"I like your security detail."
Sunshine glanced down.
"I've been promoted."
"I heard Commander Pickles takes his job very seriously."
"He refused to attend."
"I can't blame him."
The small exchange eased some of the tension in Sunshine's shoulders before Toxic's voice carried across the room.
"Conference room."
One by one, conversations ended.
The brothers gathered around the long wooden table while Cipher connected his laptop to the television mounted against the wall.
Mace leaned against the far wall with his arms crossed, Lilith beside him, while Bishop poured coffee into paper cups before quietly handing one to Sunshine without asking whether she wanted it.
She accepted it with a grateful smile.
I noticed she held the cup with both hands.
Not because she was cold.
Because they were still shaking.
I reached beneath the table and rested my hand lightly against her knee.
She looked toward me.
I didn't say anything.
I simply left my hand there long enough for her breathing to steady before withdrawing again.
Toxic waited until everyone settled.
"First..."
He looked toward Sunshine.
"I'm sorry you have to do this."
She shook her head.
"No."
His expression remained firm.
"Yes."
The room stayed silent.
"You escaped these people."
He folded his hands on the table.
"You shouldn't have to keep reliving them because they're too stubborn to let go."
Sunshine swallowed.
"I'd rather help stop them."
Toxic nodded once.
"I figured you'd say that."
He looked toward Cipher.
"Let's begin."
The lights dimmed slightly as the first photograph appeared.
The same grainy infrared image from the trail camera.
The unknown man stood near the tree line, staring toward Harbor House.
Cipher enlarged the image.
"We've enhanced everything we can."
The picture sharpened slightly but remained imperfect.
"No facial recognition."
"No identifiable clothing."
"No vehicle."
He changed slides.
The second photograph appeared.
This one showed the man several feet closer.
He hadn't tried to hide.
If anything...
He looked almost relaxed.
Steel frowned.
"He's not worried about getting caught."
"No."
Cipher zoomed in.
"He wanted us to know he'd been here."
Nobody argued.
The silence itself became agreement.
The third image filled the screen.
This time the man looked directly toward the camera.
Toward us.
Toward Harbor House.
A chill settled through the room.
Sunshine inhaled quietly beside me.
I reached for her hand beneath the table.
She let me.
Cipher continued.
"We've searched county traffic cameras, private business footage, and state highway systems."
The next slide appeared.
A black SUV.
Grainy.
Older model.
Partial side profile.
"No readable plate."
Another slide.
"The same SUV thirty-eight minutes later."
Heading west.
Disappearing into darkness.
"Nothing after that."
Toxic folded his arms.
"So either they parked nearby..."
"...or they know these woods better than we do."
Mace looked toward the map.
"They could've cut across the creek."
Steel nodded.
"Or used the logging road."
Cipher changed the screen again.
This time a county map appeared.
Colored circles marked every camera.
Red arrows traced possible routes.
"They avoided every public entrance."
"They avoided every security camera they knew about."
"They never approached the buildings."
"They watched."
The last sentence lingered.
Watched.
Not attacked.
Not threatened.
Watched.
Lilith finally spoke.
"They're gathering information."
"Probably."
"About Harbor House?"
Cipher looked toward Sunshine.
"...or someone inside it."
Every eye in the room shifted toward her.
Sunshine stiffened beside me.
I squeezed her hand once.
Toxic noticed.
"So."
He looked back toward the screen.
"We answer one question first."
He looked directly at Sunshine.
"Do you recognize him?"
She studied the photograph for a long time.
Nobody hurried her.
Nobody interrupted.
Finally...
She shook her head.
"No."
A few shoulders relaxed.
Then she spoke again.
"I don't recognize him."
She leaned forward slightly.
"But..."
The room became perfectly still.
"I recognize..."
She searched for the words.
"...the way he's standing."
Cipher immediately enlarged the image.
"What about it?"
She continued studying it.
"He isn't nervous."
"No."
"He isn't hiding."
"No."
She pointed toward the screen.
"He's inspecting."
Nobody spoke.
Sunshine continued quietly.
"That's how supervisors stood."
I felt her fingers tighten around mine.
"They weren't there to work."
"They were there to make sure everyone else did."
The room absorbed every word.
"They watched."
"They evaluated."
"They rarely spoke."
"They didn't need to."
She looked toward Toxic.
"They already expected to be obeyed."
Steel swore softly beneath his breath.
Lilith nodded.
"That sounds familiar."
Sunshine looked back toward the screen.
"I've seen that posture my entire life."
She swallowed.
"I just don't know whose it is."
Toxic let the silence breathe before nodding.
"That's enough."
Sunshine immediately looked guilty.
"I'm sorry."
"No."
He leaned forward.
"You gave us something we didn't have."
She frowned.
"I don't understand."
"We've been looking for a name."
He tapped the screen.
"You gave us a role."
Cipher immediately began typing.
"Supervisor..."
Mace nodded.
"Supply."
Steel added,
"Security."
Lilith quietly said,
"Transport."
The room came alive.
Ideas built upon one another.
Possibilities expanded.
I looked at Sunshine.
She watched the discussion unfolding around the table with quiet surprise.
For the first time since we'd entered the room...
She wasn't remembering the Order.
She was helping dismantle it.
The realization slowly reached her.
I watched it happen.
The shame she'd carried since the trail cameras were discovered eased just a little.
Instead of believing she'd brought danger to Harbor House...
She had brought information.
Knowledge.
A way forward.
She wasn't a victim sitting in the room.
She had become one of the people protecting everyone else.
I leaned closer.
"You just helped."
She looked at me.
"I did?"
"You absolutely did."
Her eyes drifted back toward the screen where Cipher was already reorganizing files based on what she'd remembered.
A slow smile touched her lips.
"So..."
she whispered.
"...I'm useful."
I smiled.
"Sunshine."
She looked back at me.
"You've never been anything else."
Her eyes shimmered immediately.
She looked down before anyone else noticed.
Across the table, Bishop had noticed anyway.
Of course he had.
He smiled quietly into his coffee before returning his attention to the discussion.
The meeting continued for nearly another hour.
Routes.
Patrols.
Supply deliveries.
Volunteer schedules.
Camera upgrades.
Emergency procedures.
Everyone contributed.
When Toxic finally closed the folder in front of him, the room fell silent once more.
"We'll rotate security twenty-four hours a day until we know why they were here."
Nobody objected.
"If they come back..."
His gaze swept across every brother.
"...they don't reach Harbor House."
A chorus of nods answered him.
Steel spoke first.
"They won't."
Mace smiled without humor.
"I almost hope they try."
Lilith elbowed him.
"You always say that."
"Because I mean it."
A few quiet laughs rippled through the room.
The tension eased just enough.
Toxic looked toward Sunshine again.
"You alright?"
She thought about it.
Then nodded.
"I think so."
He smiled faintly.
"I believe you."
People slowly stood.
Chairs scraped.
Coffee cups emptied.
Cipher gathered his laptop.
Steel and Mace immediately began discussing camera placement.
Lilith joined Daisy near the doorway.
I waited until most of the room emptied before looking toward Sunshine.
"You okay?"
She nodded.
"I really am."
"You don't have to convince me."
"I'm not."
She looked around the now nearly empty room.
"I've spent so many years believing everything I survived only made me broken."
She looked back at me.
"Tonight..."
she smiled softly.
"...it actually helped someone."
I reached for her hand.
"It helped a lot of people."
She intertwined her fingers with mine.
Neither of us noticed Bishop quietly closing the conference room door behind the last brother as he left.
Or perhaps...
He noticed us.
And simply decided we deserved five uninterrupted minutes.
For once.