I was his partner.
60
Adam
The conference room smelled like stale coffee and sweat. Hawk sat with his boots kicked up on the table, Russ hunched over his notes, Blade leaned against the far wall with that damn knife in his hand, and Logan paced like a caged wolf.
They were waiting for me to speak, but I already knew what was coming.
“She’s coming with us,” I said flatly.
The reaction was instant. Hawk slammed his boots down, leaning forward. “Hell no.”
Russ looked up slowly, his eyes narrowing in concern. Blade didn’t speak, but his knife stilled mid-sharpen, and that was louder than words.
And Logan—Logan spun on his heel, face going red. “Over my dead body. You think I’m going to stand by and let my sister walk into some butcher’s den?”
I let them vent for a breath, then cut through the noise. “She’s already in it.”
That shut them up.
I stood tall, meeting each set of eyes in turn. “She was on the ridge. She pulled A boy, his mother, and Boone from a fuckingroaring river. She heard the men talking about organs, the same as I did. She’s seen the families, the kids who were taken. And she’s not going to sit in some safe house while we bleed for her peace of mind. You think I could stop her?”
Logan’s jaw flexed. “You’re the one who’s supposed to protect her.”
My voice dropped low, iron in it. “I protect her by standingwithher, not by chaining her to a bed while the world burns around us. She’s strong. Stronger than most men I’ve led into battle.”
Hawk shook his head, frustration written across his face. “Stoker, she’s not trained like us. She’s not a SEAL.”
“No,” I said. “She’s not. She’s Raine. And she’s survived more than half the bastards we’ve ever gone up against. She’s got instincts, and she’s got skin in this fight. That makes her an asset, not a liability.”
Russ finally spoke, his voice quiet but firm. “If she’s coming, we plan around her. Adjust our angles, our fallback. We treat her like part of the op.”
Logan’s fists clenched, his voice rough. “You’re gambling with her life.”
I stepped closer, eye to eye with him. “Her life’s already on the table. You think this operation stops at the ridge? You think those bastards won’t come back for her—for you—for everyone connected? She’s in the crosshairs whether we take her or not. I’d rather have her where I can see her, fighting beside me, than waiting in the dark to be taken.”
Silence.
Finally, Blade slid his knife back into its sheath, his expression unreadable. “Then we go. And we don’t bury her.”
Hawk swore under his breath but didn’t argue further. Russ nodded once, already adjusting his notes. Logan glared, but the fire in his eyes was fear, not defiance.
I exhaled slow, the decision final.
“She’s in,” I said. “We roll at dusk.”
61
Raine
The motel mirror was cracked in the corner, warping my reflection, but I didn’t need a perfect image to know I wasn’t the same woman who walked into this storm.
I tugged the dark shirt down over my bandaged ribs, cinched the borrowed tactical belt at my waist, and checked the holster Adam had given me. The pistol felt heavier than I remembered, but my grip was steady.
I wasn’t an Army Ranger or a SEAL. But I have fought in wars, and after last night, after the boy’s words about preserving organs, after the ridge… I wasn’t just someone to be protected anymore.
I was part of this fight.
