"That's not an answer, Harlow."
"I don't have one yet." The coffee is hot enough to burn. "I came to Alaska to hide. To take a job where I'd never be responsible for anyone's life again. Then you happened. This case happened. And suddenly I'm not hiding anymore."
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No. It's terrifying, but it's not bad." I meet his eyes. "I haven't thought about 'after' in two years. Haven't let myself imagine a future beyond just getting through each day. But last night, with you, I started thinking about it."
"What did you think?"
"That I want an after. With you." The words feel huge. Vulnerable. "If we survive what's coming."
He sets his coffee down and crosses to me. Cups my face in his hands. "We'll survive. Both of us. Then we'll figure out the rest."
"You mean that?"
"Every word." He kisses me. Brief but certain. "Now let's check in with Zeke and figure out how to end this thing."
The satellite phone takes a minute to acquire signal. When it finally connects, Zeke answers on the first ring.
"About damn time. Was starting to worry you two froze to death up there."
"Storm just broke," Rhys says, putting it on speaker. "What's the status?"
"Recon is complete. Nate, Caleb, and I spent the last thirty-six hours watching that camp. Everything Irina told us checks out. Eight captives confirmed. Four guards on rotating shifts. Main building for the women, smaller structure for guards. Single access road from the south."
I lean over the phone. "Security measures?"
"Basic. Motion sensors on the perimeter, but they're old and half don't work. Guards do walking patrols every two hours. No dogs. No thermal imaging. They're relying on isolation more than security."
"That's overconfident," I say.
"Or they've never been hit before," Rhys adds. "How many years has this operation been running without interference?"
"Too many." Zeke's voice hardens. "We move soon as possible. Tomorrow at zero-two-hundred hours. Extraction team is assembling now. State police tactical unit, plus federal support since this crosses state lines."
"Federal?" Rhys tenses. "We don't know who we can trust at the federal level."
"That's why I only brought in people I trust personally. Chris Calder is coordinating the federal angle. He's got contacts who are clean."
I don't know who Chris Calder is, but if Zeke trusts him, that's good enough.
"What do you need from us?" I ask.
"Harlow, we need you on-site. Your crisis negotiation background makes you the best person to handle the captives once we secure them. They're going to be terrified, potentially violent from trauma. You can talk them down, keep them calm during extraction."
My pulse kicks up. Back in the field. Back doing what I was trained for. "I can do that."
"Rhys, you're with me on the assault team. Your knowledge of Emma's case gives you insight into how this network operates. Plus you're the local sheriff. Your jurisdiction, your operation."
"Copy that." Rhys is already mentally shifting into tactical mode. "Equipment?"
"Being staged at the rally point. Meet us at the old forestry station, fifteen hundred hours today. That gives us time for final briefing and equipment check before we move."
"We'll be there."
"One more thing." Zeke pauses. "Intel came through this morning. Jason Merrick, the assistant manager at the mining site, is confirmed as the inside man. He's been creating fake employee records, manipulating shift schedules, everything you suspected. But he's not working alone."
I exchange glances with Rhys. "Who else?"
