My comm pinged again. “We’re out.” Legend’s voice rolled over me in slow, smooth, and deliberate fashion as he confirmed Bones’ earlier report. “Clear in two. Don’t do anything stupid back there, Bones.”
“I don’t plan to,” came Bones’ sharp reply.
My comm beeped again, I didn’t recognize this one. “Grace,” AB’s calm, clipped voice cut in. “I swapped our channel for a moment. I’ve got backup coming in and Feds on standby. They’ll hit the perimeter and sweep in once we have visual clearance on the evac. One of us will bring them to you when it’s time. You’re not alone.”
I let out a breath I didn’t know I was holding. “Copy,” I said. “Put me back on with Bones?” A whisper of noise that sounded like a kiss before the comm beeped and the sound of vehicles and shouting in the distance came over the comms.
“Help is coming,” I whispered, forcing my tone to be upbeat. “We’re safe. Goblin agrees.” Thankfully, the Staffy gave me a long, comforting look and thumped his tail.
A rumble of engines sounded outside. They weren’t close, but the vibrations carried. One of the girls clutched the stuffed toy to her chest and buried her face. I leaned close, voice low and steady. “Nothing’s going to touch us. Not here. Not tonight. You’re okay.”
She crawled over to curl up in what little of my lap was left. The kids were forming a bundle with me and Goblin on either side of them. It didn’t surprise me when Nico wrapped a thinarm around the youngest girl even as the littlest boy rubbed his dirty, tear-stained face against my sweatshirt.
Bones’ voice came again, more urgent now. “They’re pushing through the containers. I’ve got one down… two more?—”
The tension in his voice threatened to gut me. “Do you want me to tell you a story?” It was reaching and now that I’d offered, my mind went a little blank.
There was a metallic crash, the echo of combat. My stomach twisted.
Nico looked at me with a sheen of tears in his dark brown eyes. Tears he refused to shed, but blinked furiously to keep back. It was hard to fight the urge to cry. But I was proud of him for doing it.
“Story?” His request came out a little stronger than my offer.
“Sí, story,” I said softly, smoothing Nico’s hair back. “Let’s tell a story. One that’s… brave.”
The littlest girl peeked at me from under her toy with its stitched eyes glimmered in the dim light. I swallowed, trying to hold the knot in my chest at bay.
I took a slow breath, the kids pressed close, and began in a whisper,“Había una vez una tortuga que quería tocar el cielo.”
The little turtle who wanted to touch the sky.
Nico’s hand tightened around mine. He didn’t speak, but he listened. The youngest girl clutched her toy, head tilted to look up at me. Goblin lay like a shield at our side. I kept my tone calm, steady, soothing.
Over the comm, Bones’ voice crackled again. “Two down. West side—moving faster.”
I swallowed, forcing my words to remain soft.“Esta tortuga no era la más rápida ni la más fuerte, pero tenía un corazón muy valiente.”
Not the fastest. Not the strongest. But very brave.
I glanced at Nico. His eyes were wide, tracking sounds beyond our little building. He didn’t need translation for the fear, but he needed me to be brave for him.
“Un día decidió que nada—ni el viento, ni la lluvia, ni los animales más grandes del bosque—podía detenerla.”
Nothing could stop it.
The metallic clang of Bones’ gunfire echoed faintly through the comm, far off but sharp enough to make me flinch.
“We’ve got another moving in on the north dock,” he said, voice tense but controlled. “I can handle it.”
I nodded to myself. My job was here. The kids. The story. My hands rubbed the youngest boy’s back.“Pero la tortuga sabía que a veces se necesitan amigos. Amigos que te ayudan a subir y te protegen cuando el camino es peligroso.”
Sometimes you need friends.
Goblin thumped his tail, and one by one, the kids leaned closer, forming a bundle around me. I could almost feel their tension seeping into my lap. I whispered,“Y la tortuga encontró un amigo muy grande, un perro fuerte que estaba a su lado.”
A big friend. A strong dog.
Through the comm, I heard a shout, not Bones’ voice—closer, faster. “We are clear,” Voodoo said.
