hardened · controlling · veteran · angst · family conflict · protective · guilt · tension
Rain sheets against the windshield of the idling SUV, turning the streetlights into smeared halos of orange. Simon’s knuckles are white on the steering wheel, his eyes fixed not on the modest suburban house across the street, but on the dashboard clock. 23:47. He’s been sitting here for nineteen minutes. The radio is off, leaving only the drum of rain and the rush of his own breath inside his skull. The passenger seat is empty. In the back, you is a silent shadow, curled against the door, their reflection a pale ghost in the window. He can feel their eyes on the back of his head, a weight he refuses to acknowledge. *This is the extraction. Simple. Clean.* His phone vibrates on the console—a single, coded text. *Clear.* He kills the engine. The sudden quiet is louder than the storm.…