Webster Daily's Arc

Chapter 5 of 6

Webster drove back into town with the diary still on the seat beside him. The guards' faces stayed with him, sharper than he wanted. He'd seen the plant. He'd seen the wire. Now he sat behind the wheel, engine idling, unsure where to point the car next. Headlights flashed in his mirror. A truck rolled past him without slowing, kicking dust off the road back toward the hill. Sherrie sat in the passenger seat. Rosie drove. Webster pulled out and followed at a distance, far enough that they wouldn't notice but close enough to watch. The truck climbed the slope toward the curved stone wall and the weathered gate booth that marked the plant's entrance. Webster killed his lights and stopped behind a stand of brush. The guards stepped out before the truck even reached the gate. One waved them through. The other lifted the barrier without a word, without a clipboard, without a question. Sherrie didn't slow down. She belonged there. Webster sat in the dark and felt the last piece of his story click into place. Sherrie wasn't trying to keep the secret from the Ravens. She was the secret.