"Dylan will say he's there to deliver jellybeans. That's how you'll know it's really him." Rachel meets my eyes, and I nod confirmation. "He's good at what he does. He'll keep you safe."
After she ends the call, Rachel stands very still, staring at her phone like it might explode.
"They're not going to stop," she says quietly. "Even if we relocate. Even if we disappear. They'll keep going after everyone I know until there's no one left to threaten."
"That's why we need to end this." I move closer, keeping my voice low and steady. "Kane's right. We can't just defend forever. We need to eliminate the threat."
"You mean kill them."
"I mean stop them from being able to hurt anyone else. Kessler, specifically. He's the immediate threat. Without him, the Committee loses their most effective enforcer."
Rachel processes this, and I watch calculation replace fear in her expression. The same cold logic that kept her alive in Mateo's compound. The same survival instinct that rebuilt her life from nothing.
"What do you need from me?" she asks.
Question catches me off guard. I expected resistance. Expected her to refuse to be part of any operation that involves violence.
"You need to stay here with Lucas," I say. "Keep him safe while my team handles Kessler."
"That's not what I asked." Her eyes are hard. Determined. "I asked what you need from me. Because that man came to myson's school. He threatened my sister. He's hunting a six-year-old child. So tell me what you need, and I'll do it."
Before I can respond, my phone signals with an incoming call. Not Kane. Tommy.
"Stryker, we have incoming," Tommy says the moment I answer. His voice carries the kind of urgency that means immediate threat. "Satellite picked up thermal signatures approaching your position. Three vehicles, eight occupants. They're trying to look like contractors, but the approach pattern is all wrong. You've got maybe five minutes before they're at your front door."
My blood runs cold. "How did they find us?"
"Don't know yet, but we'll figure it out later. Right now, you need to move. Get Rachel and Lucas to the panic room, then hold position until we can coordinate extraction."
I'm already moving, gesturing for Rachel to follow. "Copy. Going dark."
Lucas is in the kitchen, exploring cabinets and making sound effects with his stuffed wolf. Rachel scoops him up without explanation, already heading for the panic room location.
"Mom, what's?—"
"Shhh, baby. We're going to play a game. We have to be very quiet, okay?"
Panic room door opens smoothly behind the utility shelving. Rachel carries Lucas inside while I grab weapons from the cache. Understanding without me saying a word—that the Committee just found us, that we're about to be under siege, that the only thing standing between them and her son is me and whatever defensive position I can hold.
"Stay here," I tell her. "Door stays locked until you hear my voice or Kane's on the other side. No one else. Understood?"
"Colton—"
"Promise me, Rachel. No matter what you hear, you don't open this door unless it's me or Kane."
Her jaw tightens, but she nods. "Be careful."
Door closes. Lock engages.
I'm alone in the house with three vehicles full of Committee operatives closing in, and Rachel and Lucas are locked in a steel box that will either be their salvation or their tomb depending on whether I can hold them off long enough for Kane to send reinforcement.
Cameras show the vehicles approaching. Black SUVs, just like Tommy said. They're not even trying to hide anymore.
This is it.
Hold the line or die trying.
I check my weapons, position myself at the optimal defensive angle, and wait for the Committee to make their move.
