Not quite out of range. He stopped to face her for a moment when he heard it.

They all had to be patient but one of the things they had to be most patient about was how she was targeted for things in the way people were when they were behind everyone else.

"Hey, you do know that we have your back, right?" he asked her. "This place is lousy but if it really came down to it, and they actually tried something, you know we'd break cover and make 'em regret it, don't you?"

It was terrible but the threat of something bad happening was an illusion, as far as he was concerned. The reality was that the second things turned genuinely threatening, whoever was making it threatening was going to pay for it.

"Because we would." A pause. "I would. In a heartbeat."