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I close the door behind me.

"Vaguely?"

"I'm managing expectations."

I cross the kitchen and kiss her.

She makes a surprised little sound before wrapping her arms around my neck.

When I pull back, she's smiling.

"Well, hello to you too."

"Missed you."

The smile slips into something softer.

"You were gone a few hours."

"Long fucking hours."

She laughs.

"How'd it go?"

"Mel's prospecting."

"Your friend. That's good, right?"

"Yeah."

"And Aaron?"

I tell her about the car. The gas station. The blurry picture.

She listens, her expression growing serious.

"So he could still be alive. God, I've been so worried."

"Might be. We don't know who's in the picture."

"But his car was there."

"Yeah."

She looks down at the wooden spoon in her hand.

"That's something."

"It's a start."

She nods, but I can see the questions piling up behind those brown eyes.

I brush my thumb along her cheek.

"Lock's working the footage. Hound's following up on the road."

"I know."