When the SUVs finally tore up the unpaved access road, the pumping station looked exactly the same as they'd left it.
Rusted chain-link fencing, the same overgrown weeds nobody had bothered to clear… complete isolation. Two of Nico's ghosts were posted at the tree line when the cars pulled up, with their weapons held low but ready.
Nico was out of the car before it fully stopped. "Report."
"Nothing since the sighting," the lead guard said, stepping out of the shadows. "We pulled the cameras from the main road and ran the plate through three databases. Comes back to a rental company two towns over. Car was returned four hours ago. Clean."
"Clean isn't the same as innocent," Nico replied.
"No, Boss. It isn't."
Mara stepped out behind him, pulling her cashmere sweater tighter against the biting night chill. "Is Silva still inside?"
"Hasn't moved from the back room all day," the guard confirmed. "Ate lunch. Slept some. He's scared, but he's stayed put."
