“The Grim Reaper himself couldn’t keep me away from this, Doc.”
“And he tried,” Alistair muttered. “C’mon, time for your meds.”
I watched as Gage reluctantly followed the doctor, his movements stiff with what looked like both pain anddetermination. “What did they do to him? Was it the same thing they’re doing to the town.”
“No.” Trent didn’t seem inclined to go into more detail, and before I could press, a small chime sounded from the laptop someone had left on the hood of one of the vehicles.
“And our remote support,” Trent said, guiding me toward the screens where two faces had appeared. “You remember Kate and Oz.”
“I do. Thank you,” I said, genuinely grateful. “For coming. All of you.”
Kate’s expression softened. “That’s what we do. Besides, any chance to mess with corporate mind control tech is a good day in my book.”
Nolan called out behind us, “Hey, Bricks, you tell her how you got your nickname yet?”
I glanced at Trent, curious. “Bricks?”
His jaw tightened slightly, that telltale sign he was annoyed. Several team members had stopped what they were doing, grins spreading across their faces.
“Don’t,” he warned.
“Oh, we absolutely will,” Nolan said, appearing beside us with entirely too much enthusiasm. “See, it started on an op in Denmark?—“
“Building collapsed during extraction,” Trent interrupted. “I got the team out. End of story.”
“He got buried under half a building,” Leo corrected, joining the growing circle. “Three stories of concrete and rebar. We thought he was dead.”
“But when we dug him out,” Nolan continued, clearly enjoying himself, “he just stood up, brushed himself off, and said?—“
“Let’s move,” several voices chorused together.
“Man didn’t even have a concussion,” Rafe added, shaking his head.
Alistair spoke up from where he was repacking his medical kit. “Technically, he did have a concussion. He just refused to acknowledge it until after the mission.”
“Because that’s what you do when buildings fall on you,” Trent muttered. “You finish the job.”
“Hence,” Decker said with a slight smile, “Bricks. Solid as a brick shithouse, just as stubborn, and apparently immune to structural collapse.”
I looked at Trent, seeing him in a new light—this man who had held me through the night, whose touch was so careful, so controlled. But underneath that gentleness was something unbreakable. Literally.
“That’s...” I searched for the right word. “Terrifying, actually.”
“Thank you,” Trent said, shooting the others a pointed look.
“She said terrifying, not impressive,” Nolan pointed out.
“I’m choosing to hear it as a compliment,” Trent replied, his hand finding the small of my back again as he steered me toward the cabin. “Can we focus on the actual mission now?”
The team’s laughter followed us up the porch steps. It was the sound of people who had survived impossible things together and found ways to laugh about it afterward.
“Briefing,” came Ethan’s voice from behind us. “Now.”
I turned to find him watching us. Unlike the others, he was a hard man to read. With a slight nod to Trent, he strode toward the cabin.
“The Grim Reaper has spoken,” Nolan intoned. “All who do not heed his word will face his wrath.”
As I watched the team gather their equipment and head inside, the reality of what we were facing finally hit me full force. These men and women were elite specialists, people who facedthreats most of the world never knew existed. And they had all come here, to this remote cabin in Montana, because of me. Because of my daughter. Because Langston had gone too far, and Trent had asked for their help.
