Chapter 35

• The tension in the air was suffocating. Maya paced the length of the safe house’s small living room, her hands clasped tightly together. Rafael stood near the window, staring into the dark forest beyond. His phone sat on the table between them, the screen dim but charged with unspoken urgency. The children were asleep in the basement, their soft breaths the only sound in the house.
• “Why does it feel like the calm before the storm?” Maya asked, breaking the silence.
• Rafael didn’t answer right away. His eyes flicked toward the faint glow of the moonlight filtering through the trees. “Because it is.”