Yes, she was anxious. But it wasn’t just nerves. It was those flashbacks that were creeping in again, twisting her thoughts and tightening the coil of tension in her chest. Still, Delaney reminded herself that she was trained for this. First at Quantico, then through nine years of real-world experience wearing an FBI badge. And finally, through the grueling twelve-week, military-style program she’d completed right here at Crossfire Ops headquarters.
Delaney looked down at her coffee, now cold and untouched. “You’ve been here since the start of Crossfire Ops.”
“Yeah. Six months,” he confirmed. “I’ve known Owen Striker for years, worked for him for a while at Strike Force and then shifted here when he and Ruby Maverick broke ground.”
She knew Ruby and Owen, of course. Had met them both during the initial interview process. They were celebrities in the world of personal security, both of them having built their own agencies, Strike Force and Maverick Ops, before venturing into Crossfire Creek.
“Owen and Ruby moved fast on this project,” Eli added. “Had this place up and running before the ink on the permits dried.”
“And you were one of the first,” she murmured. Eli, along with the other handful of operatives that Ruby and Owen had handpicked.
They’d no doubt chosen Eli because he was exactly the kind of man who could build a team from nothing. A former Air Force Combat Rescue Officer and later a Texas Ranger, he had the rare mix of tactical skill and unshakable calm under pressure. He was hardened by years in the field, forged in crisis zones and manhunts, the kind of operator who didn’t hesitate when lives were on the line.
Delaney took another long breath and turned her gaze back to the fog. “They picked me because I was broken,” she admitted.
Eli’s head shifted slightly. Not quite toward her, but enough that she knew he’d heard about her past. About her failure. About the girl she hadn’t saved.
“Because I needed redemption,” she added. “Or maybe because Ruby and Owen felt sorry for me. That’s probably more accurate.”
This time Eli looked at her. Really looked, and she felt a moment of shock at the intensity in his amber eyes. Shock and something else she definitely didn’t want. A reminder that along with being Mr. Perfect Crossfire Ops, Eli was a damn attractive man.
Yeah, she didn’t need that reminder, and Delaney shoved it aside.
“You think that’s why they brought you in?” he asked. “Because they felt sorry for you?”
Delaney shrugged. “Why else take in the FBI agent who misread a killer’s timeline and got ayoung woman killed?”
She didn’t expect him to argue. Didn’t need comfort. She just needed to say it out loud so that Eli knew she had screwed up and was willing to take the blame. Even if that blame chewed and chewed and chewed away at her. Even if that blame had no chance of ever going away, not without a blasted time machine anyway.
“You know what I think?” Eli asked. But he didn’t wait for her to respond. “I think Ruby Maverick doesn’t waste time feeling sorry for anyone. And Owen Striker doesn’t bring dead weight into a fight.”
His tone was neutral, but his words hit harder, and with far more reassurance, than she expected. Delaney blinked and looked away, her jaw tight.
The door behind them opened, and she felt the change in the air. Noah Riggs had entered the room.
His gait was uneven, boots thudding with a slight mechanical rhythm. The prosthetic wasn’t obvious unless you knew to look, but Delaney had studied his file. He was in his late forties, tall and lean, face weathered from the sun and something deeper. Combat lines etched across his features, but it was the quiet in his eyes that marked him most. He moved with a purpose that didn’t allow for wasted motion or wasted words.
Noah slid a glance at both of them before his attention fixed on her. “All settled in and ready to go?” he asked.
Delaney gave a nod, her expression composed, though her fingers tightened slightly around the coffee mug. “Yeah. I’m settled in. I’ve got one of the log cabins out back.”
Noah’s gaze lingered on her for a second longer, as if weighing what she said against what she didn’t.
“It’s quiet,” she added. “Modern inside. All the bells and whistles.”
What she didn’t say was that she hadn’t exactly had anywhere else to go. Or that the silence at night still pressed in too close.
But she figured Noah already knew that. From her short time with him, she had learned that he usually knew more than he said.
“I’ve got the unit at the edge of the tree line,” Eli cut in, tipping his hat back with one finger and leaning his shoulder against the wall. “Looks like a hunting cabin from the outside. Inside, it’s got surround sound, a rainfall shower, and a coffee maker that probably cost more than my first truck.”
“That’s because Owen personally picked the appliances,” Noah explained. “The man loves his gadgets and tech.”
Eli grinned. “Explains why the fridge has a Wi-Fi signal and inventory of what’s inside.”
Noah’s mouth twitched, just short of a smile, but his eyes had softened slightly. Delaney looked between them and let the moment settle. Eli had a way of easing the pressure without dismissing it.He gave space without acting like it was pity. That kind of thing didn’t go unnoticed.
And maybe it was nothing. But maybe it was the start of something she hadn’t felt in a long time.
