(Noah)
Roan called back before I put the phone down properly.
“They stopped,” he said.
The room didn’t get louder after that. It got quieter, the kind of quiet that meant everyone understood the shift without needing it explained. I looked at Dante, and he was already at the board with the marker in his hand.
“Where?” I asked.
“Half a block from Pierce,” Roan said. “Driver stayed in. Two men got out.”
“Armed?”
“Can’t see clear, but they’re moving like it.”
“Pierce?”
“Still inside.”
“Good. Keep eyes on him.”
I ended the call and looked around the room. Everyone was already waiting, even the prospects near the side station, because they knew this was the point where things moved fast. No one spoke, and no one filled the space with anything that didn’t matter.
“Dex moves to front,
