The ride back felt longer than it should have.
Not because the distance changed, but because everything else had. The road was the same, the silence between them familiar, yet heavier now, layered with what they had just seen. Aiden rested his head against the window, watching the blurred lights pass by, but his mind stayed locked on the warehouse. The movement. The extra vehicles. The fact that nothing about it looked like a simple "problem."
They were being played.
That much was clear.
What wasn't clear was how deep it went.
"You're quiet," Noah said after a while, his voice cutting through the low hum of the engine.
Aiden didn't look at him. "I'm thinking."
"Dangerous."
Aiden huffed softly. "Shut up."
That earned the smallest shift in Noah's expression, not quite a smile, but close enough. It faded quickly.
Aiden straightened slightly, running a hand through his hair. "Let's go over it again."
Noah nodded once. "Alright."
