CHAPTER 73: THE DRIVE HOME

After several minutes, Linda’s tears gradually subsided into quiet sniffles. She pulled back slightly, and let out a shaky laugh that seemed to surprise even her.

"Look at us," she said, her voice still thick but warmer now, "crying in a parking garage like a couple of teenagers."

She reached for the tissue box on the console, handed one to Alex, then took one for herself and dabbed at her face. "I must look like a complete mess."

But as she settled back into her seat and looked closely at Alex for the first time since they’d gotten in the car, something shifted in her expression.

The raw emotion was still there, but now it was tempered by the familiar, watchful concern of a mother who notices things.

"You know," she said slowly, buckling her seatbelt.

Alex started the engine, the soft hum filling the garage as golden light slanted in through the concrete slats. His headlights swept long shadows across the floor as he backed out.

By the time he eased them onto the ramp, the heavy silence between them had lightened just enough for her to continue.

"I’ve been so worried about Nina these past few days that I haven’t really... Alex, honey, when’s the last time you came by the house? For dinner, I mean. Just to visit?"

"I’ve been... busy with school," Alex muttered, the words sounding thin even to his own ears. "I meant to come by, but... you know how it is."

Linda studied his profile as he backed out of the parking space. She had been so busy with Nina that she’d never noticed the changes in Alex.

But now, in the driver’s seat beside her, she saw it... how much he’d changed. His jaw had sharpened, his shoulders filled out, his whole frame carrying a new strength.

Handsome in a way that startled her, he looked less like the boy she remembered and more like... someone she was only just beginning to recognize.

"You look different... stronger. Healthier. Handsome, even. When did my boy turn into a man?" She tilted her head, eyes curious. "Have you been working out?"

Alex felt heat creep up his neck. "Just... trying to stay in shape."

"Mm-hmm." Linda’s tone carried that particular maternal note that suggested she wasn’t entirely buying his vague answer. "And you’ve been eating well? You look like you’ve filled out a little. In a good way," she added quickly.

They stopped at a red light. Linda remembered something Danny had mentioned and decided to ask Alex about it.

"Danny mentioned you two had some kind of disagreement," she said carefully, not wanting to push but unable to let it go entirely. "Something about a girl?"

Alex’s hands tightened on the steering wheel. Of all the topics he avoided with her, this was the one he couldn’t bring himself to discuss.

How could he possibly explain his own foolishness... how he’d let himself get trapped, ignored warnings, and pushed away the people who cared most? The words felt heavy on his tongue, impossible to say aloud.

"It’s... complicated," he managed.

Linda’s laugh was gentle, understanding. "Honey, at your age, everything about girls is complicated. Danny went through the same thing before he met Sarah."

She patted his arm affectionately. "You know, just like Danny brings Sarah around, you’re welcome to bring whoever you’re seeing to dinner. I’d love to meet her."

Alex nearly choked. The image of bringing Victoria to a family dinner at the Morrison house was so absurd he almost laughed despite his embarrassment.

"I’m not... it’s not really like that right now," he said weakly.

"Well, when it is," Linda said with the kind of matter-of-fact certainty that mothers specialize in, "our door is always open. I want to meet the girl who’s caught my son’s attention."

The simple word... son... said so casually in the context of his future romantic life, hit Alex unexpectedly hard.

This was what normal felt like. This was what family sounded like. A mother wanting to meet her son’s girlfriend, worrying about whether he was eating enough, noticing when he looked different.

As they turned onto the familiar street where Alex had spent countless afternoons and evenings, Linda’s expression softened, a mix of relief, quiet contentment, and something like wonder.

In the rearview mirror, Alex noticed the same black sedan from earlier, now two cars back, moving with patient precision.

He hadn’t been sure before, but now it seemed deliberate. To test his suspicion, he eased the car to the curb a house early, cut the headlights, and let the momentum carry them the last few feet into the driveway. The sedan followed without hesitation.

"Why don’t you go inside, freshen up, and pack a few things? I’ll handle things out here for a bit." Alex said.

"Where are you going?" Linda asked

"Something came up. I’ll be on time, don’t worry, " He replied.

She searched his face, that old instinct prickling, but nodded and went inside.

Alex waited until the hallway light clicked on and the front door latched, then rolled back out, coasting past the corner before the sedan reached the intersection.

He took three lazy turns that made no geographic sense, watched the sedan mirror each one, and let the last of his doubt fall away.

The industrial fringe gave him what he wanted: an empty lot beside a dead warehouse, long shadows stretching across open concrete, nowhere to hide.

For a minute he sat with the tick of cooling metal and the distant hum of traffic bleeding through the late-day heat.

Then he stepped out, deliberately unhurried, keeping the car between them as the sedan pulled in and idled thirty feet off.

"You’ve been on me for a while," he called, voice steady. "Who are you?"

The engine died. Two doors. A tall man and a compact one. Both moved with the economical quiet of people who’d trained for ugly moments. The tall one lifted his hands a little... visible, empty.

"My name is Damien, this is Dimitri " he said. "And we need your help. "

***

Author’s Note:

This Chapter is on the shorter side, as I wanted to give a different Chapter for Damien and his group’s backstory.