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"I carry what I might need."

"For work?"

"For life."

Carys raises an eyebrow.

"I suddenly feel underprepared."

"You own six fire extinguishers."

"Five."

"You forgot the one in the laundry room."

She blinks.

"You looked?"

"I check every house."

She mutters something under her breath.

"What was that?"

"I said you're impossible."

"I heard that part."

Despite herself, she smiles. It disappears almost immediately. I don't mention it.

Instead, I hand Sayer one of the battery packs.

"If your phone dies, use this."

"My phone barely works anyway."

"I know. It's still worth trying."

He nods and slips it into his backpack.

I move from room to room, checking signal strength. Cell service. Wi-Fi. Bluetooth. Anything that can establish a reliable connection. Nothing stays stable for more than a few minutes.

The router disconnects. Reconnects. Drops again. The security cameras freeze every thirty-seven seconds. Always thirty-seven. Not thirty-six. Not thirty-eight. Exactly thirty-seven.

Patterns. There it is again.

"Carys."

She looks up from her laptop.

"What?"

"Time it."

She opens the stopwatch on her watch instead of her phone. Good.

"Ready."