“Organs,” I muttered.
Blade looked up for the first time, his eyes flat. “That’s your lead.”
The room fell quiet.
I let the silence stretch, weighing the risk, feeling every set of eyes on me. My men were battered. My woman was bruised. And I’d be damned if I let this ghost operation vanish into the dark again.
“We hit the clinic,” I said, my voice sharp. “Quiet. Fast. No comms, no paper trail. We find out who’s funding them, who’s moving product, and where the bodies from that ridge went.”
Hawk leaned back, a grim smile tugging at his mouth. “About damn time.”
Russ just nodded, steady as always. Blade slid the knife into its sheath. Logan shifted, like the weight of belonging finally settled on his shoulders.
I looked at each of them, my voice low but final.
“This isn’t recon anymore. This is war. And we strike first.”
59
Raine
When Adam finally came back to the room, his shoulders were tense, his face darker than the storm clouds outside. He didn’t speak at first, just stripped off his jacket and sat heavily on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees.
I’d been waiting. Heart pounding, ribs aching, replaying the boy’s words in my head over and over. Preserving organs. Inventory.
“What did you find?” I asked.
He didn’t look at me right away. “A clinic. El Paso. Paperwork doesn’t add up. Supplies, refrigeration, more saline than they could ever use. Russ traced it.”
My stomach twisted. “That’s where they took some people?”
“Maybe,” he said. His voice was steady, but I knew him too well—I could hear the fury straining beneath it. “Maybe it’s just one branch of something bigger. Either way, it’s our lead. We move tonight.”
We.
Except the way he said it didn’t include me.
“You meanyoumove tonight.” I kept my voice calm, though my hands were shaking.
His jaw clenched. “Raine—”
“No.” I stood, ignoring the pain in my side. “Don’t you dare cut me out of this. I was there on that ridge. I heard those men. I looked into the eyes of that boy. This isn’t just your fight, Adam. It’s mine too.”
Finally, he looked at me. Really looked. His eyes were storm-gray, burning with a thousand things he wasn’t saying. Fear. Anger. Love.
“I can’t lose you again,” he said, voice breaking low.
“You won’t,” I whispered, stepping closer until I was standing between his knees, my hands on his face. “But if you try to lock me away while you walk into hell, I’ll lose you. And I can’t survive that again.”
He exhaled sharply, his hands catching my wrists. For a long moment, he didn’t speak. The only sound was the buzz of the motel light and the pounding of my heart.
Finally, he pulled me against his chest, burying his face in my hair. “Damn it, Carter.” His voice was rough, choked. “You’re going to get me killed. Logan and the Team will not like this.”
I smiled against his shoulder, even as tears burned my eyes. “Then we’ll go down fighting. Together.”
His arms tightened around me, and I knew in that moment the decision was made.
I wasn’t just Adam Stoker’s weakness anymore.
