“You want to elaborate?” Scarlett’s voice was tight. “Before I do something we’ll all regret?”
But Bear was already calling out. Not a challenge. Not a warning. A name, spoken with something like wonder.
“Marshall?”
Silence from the darkness ahead. One heartbeat. Two.
Then a young voice, male, cracking with disbelief and relief: “Bear? Holy shit—is thatyou?”
The tension broke like a wire snapping.
Two figures emerged from the shadows. Young adults—barely. Teenagers bundled in coats that were nowhere near adequate for the weather. The girl’s arm was looped through the boy’s like letting go wasn’t an option.
Bear reached them in three long strides. Marshall was already talking, words tumbling over each other.Car broke down. Saw the lights from the road. Didn’t know where else to go. Sorry, so sorry for scaring everyone, we just didn’t know what else to do?—
“Hey.” Bear’s hand landed on Marshall’s shoulder, solid and steadying. “Breathe. You’re okay. You’re safe.”
The girl—Ashley—let out a sound that was half laugh, half sob. She pressed closer to Marshall, still shaking.
Scarlett materialized from her position, weapon lowered. Recognition flickered across her face as she got a clear look at the two kids.
“Marshall and Ashley? From Bear’s kid camp a few years ago? Seriously?” She holstered her weapon. “Anticlimactic.”
But there was relief under the sarcasm. Theo heard it clearly. He felt it too—the slow release of pressure he hadn’t fully acknowledged until it was gone.
He keyed his comms. “Lincoln. False alarm. Friendlies. Bear knows them from his camp.”
Lincoln’s response came immediately, tone unchanged from when he’d been tracking potential hostiles. “Acknowledged. Should I inform the others, or do you want the dramatic entrance?”
“Tell them to stand down before my father kicks down a door,” Scarlett said.
“Tell them we’re coming in. And tell Charlie to put on coffee. These two need to warm up.”
The tension drained from the group as they turned back toward the building. Bear walked with Marshall and Ashley,one hand still on Marshall’s shoulder, getting the short version of their story. Car started making noise outside of town. Died completely about a mile up the road. They’d seen the lights from Linear Tactical through the trees, remembered the place from the camp a few years ago, figured it was worth trying.
They hadn’t even considered that approaching through the woods at night might look threatening. They’d just been scared and looking for somewhere safe.
Scarlett fell into step with Theo and Derek. The adrenaline was fading, leaving that particular heaviness that came after a response that didn’t turn into anything.
“Did you see them back there?” Derek asked. “The dads?”
Theo knew exactly what he meant.
“Four grown men looking like someone cancelled Christmas.” Scarlett shook her head. “My father had that look. The one Mom says means he’s about three seconds from doing something that’ll require lawyers.”
“They all grabbed side arms,” Derek said. “Dad had his hand on his for thirty seconds. I watched him make himself let go.”
“They were vibrating,” Scarlett said. “All four of them. Like caged animals watching someone else go on the hunt.”
A beat of shared understanding passed between them. These were the men who’d built Linear Tactical. Who’d spent decades being the ones to walk into danger. Who’d trained every single person on this response team.
Having to step back couldn’t have been easy.
“They did good, though.” Derek’s voice had gone quieter. “Letting us handle it.”
“Yeah.” Something softer crept into Scarlett’s tone. “They did.”
Theo thought about his father’s face in that doorway. The visible effort it had taken to stay put. The trust implicit in that stillness.
