Chapter 163 Inside

Chapter 163 Inside
The air inside was cool and smelled like dust and old metal.

Lyra stood just past the loading door for a moment, letting her eyes adjust, her pulse loud in her own ears. Rows of shelving stretched back into the dim interior, most of it empty, some of it stacked with crates she couldn't yet identify.

She checked her watch, nineteen minutes left, she moved forward slowly, careful with her footing on the concrete floor, staying close to the shelving where shadows pooled thickest.

The first row held nothing but broken pallets and a layer of undisturbed dust, clearly untouched in months, the second row was different.

Crates sat stacked three high, newer than the pallets around them, no dust settled on their surfaces. Lyra crouched beside the nearest one, reading the stenciled markings on the side. Numbers, no words, a code she didn't recognize.

She pulled out her phone, glanced toward the loading door, listened. Nothing but her own breathing and the faint hum of something electrical deeper in the building.

She took the photo quickly, then moved to the next crate, checking the markings against the first. Similar numbers, slight variation at the end.

Seventeen minutes, she moved further down the row, and that was when she saw it, a crate pried partly open, its lid resting loose to one side, the contents visible in the dim light.

Guns, not just a few. Rows of them, packed tight, more than she'd expected to see anywhere outside a film.

Her breath caught and she stood frozen for a moment, staring, the reality of what this actually meant settling into her chest like something cold and heavy.

This wasn't a warning shot anymore, this was preparation for something far bigger than a fire at a party.

She took the photo with shaking hands, careful to keep her fingers steady enough that the image wouldn't blur, then backed away from the crate, forcing her breathing to slow.

Fifteen minutes, she moved to the next row, wanting to see if there was more, if this was the extent of it or just the beginning. The shelving here held smaller boxes, unmarked, stacked less carefully than the crates before them.

A sound broke the quiet and Lyra froze, every muscle locking at once. Footsteps, distant, coming from somewhere deeper in the building, unhurried but real.

She looked toward the loading door, calculating the distance, the time it would take to cross back through the rows she'd already walked. Too far to make it before whoever was approaching came into view.

She ducked behind the nearest shelving unit instead, pressing herself into the shadow between two stacked crates, holding perfectly still.

The footsteps grew closer and a voice followed, low, speaking into a phone, the words indistinct at first, then clearer as the person passed just beyond the row she was hiding in.

"...said Friday, not next week. Tell him the timeline doesn't move because he's nervous."

Lyra held her breath, watching through a narrow gap between crates as a man passed, dark jacket, medium build, exactly matching the description she'd given days earlier on the hillside.

The watcher, he continued past without slowing, his voice fading as he moved toward the far end of the building, still talking into his phone. Lyra counted ten seconds after his voice disappeared before she dared to move again.

Twelve minutes, she needed to leave now, every instinct screaming at her to retrace her steps and get back to the loading door, but something made her pause at the edge of the row, looking toward the direction the man had gone.

Friday. He'd said Friday, that wasn't in two weeks, that was days away.

She pulled her phone back out, hands still unsteady, and typed the word into a note before pocketing it again, committing the timeline shift to memory as clearly as she could.

The footsteps started again, closer this time, moving back the way they'd come.

Lyra's heart slammed against her ribs. She pressed further into the shadow, willing herself smaller, willing the crates around her to hide more of her than they actually could.

The man passed again, still on the phone, his pace unhurried, giving no indication he'd sensed anything wrong. She waited until his voice faded fully before allowing herself to breathe again.

Nine minutes, she moved now, faster than before, retracing her path through the rows toward the loading door, checking each gap before crossing it, her whole body tuned to any sound that might mean she wasn't alone in the space she thought was empty.

The loading door came into view, the thin line of daylight beyond it steadier and more welcoming than she'd expected to find it.

She crossed the last stretch of concrete floor and slipped back out into the afternoon light, blinking against the sudden brightness.

Cade was there before she'd taken three full steps, materializing from the tree line with a speed that told her he'd been counting every single second.

"You're okay," he said, hands going to her shoulders, checking her over even as he said it.

"I'm okay." Her voice came out shakier than she wanted it to. "I saw someone but he didn't see me."

"We need to move," Renzo said, already at the fence line, checking the access road. "Now, before that sedan comes back."

They crossed the field fast, Cade's hand tight around hers the entire way, not letting go until they'd reached the brush cover and put real distance between themselves and the warehouse.

"What did you see," Cade asked, still holding her, still checking her face like he needed to confirm with his own eyes that she was truly unharmed.

"Guns," Lyra said, the word landing heavy even now, safely outside. "Crates of them, more than I expected."

Renzo's jaw tightened. "That's not a warning anymore."

"There's more," Lyra said. "The man I saw, the one from the hillside, he was on the phone. He said Friday, said the timeline doesn't move because someone's nervous."

Cade went very still. "Friday. That's four days."

"Not two weeks," Renzo said, already pulling out his own phone. "Whatever they're planning, it's moved up, way up."

Cade looked at Lyra, something fierce and grateful and terrified all tangled together in his expression. "You did it," he said quietly. "You actually did it."

"I got lucky," she admitted, her hands finally starting to shake now that the adrenaline was fading. "He almost saw me twice."

"But he didn't." Cade pulled her into him, holding her tight against his chest, his heart pounding as hard as hers had been minutes earlier. "You're safe. That's all that matters right now."

Renzo was already dialing Dante's number, his voice tight with urgency. "We need everyone at the clubhouse tonight. The timeline just changed, and not in our favor."