He huffed smoke out the window. “Already on it.”
I turned to Russ. “Cross-reference his pulls with the shell companies. Find me overlap. Anything that ties Corpus to San Antonio.”
Russ nodded, already scribbling.
“Hawk, Blade—you’ll run point with me. Logan, you back us up and keep your head on straight.”
Logan bristled but didn’t argue. Progress.
I finally looked at Raine. She sat steady, her pistol balanced across her lap, eyes sharp. The soldier in her was back full force, but there was more—fire, resolve, the kind that didn’t break.
“You stay glued to me,” I said, voice low. “No matter what. Understood?”
Her chin lifted. “Understood.”
Hawk smirked. “What about me, boss? Don’t get a personal vow of devotion?”
“Shut up and check your mags,” I snapped.
Blade actually chuckled, low and sharp, before twirling his knife again.
For a beat, the SUV was silent except for Boone’s keys clacking and Russ’s pen scratching. Plans forming. Targets narrowing. The war machine moving forward—ours against theirs.
I looked out the window at the horizon, my jaw tight, my blood hot.
They thought they could erase the ridge. They thought they could use lives like currency. They thought we’d back off once we saw the scope.
They were wrong.
This wasn’t about playing defense anymore.
This was about fire.
And Adam Stoker didn’t miss when he pulled the trigger.
100
Raine
Bone-deep exhaustion dragged at me, heavy as lead. Every breath made my ribs ache, every blink burned behind my eyes, but I kept my chin high and my pistol steady across my lap.
I wouldn’t say a word. Not when Adam was driving forward with that razor focus in his gray-blue eyes. Not when Hawk smirked like he was itching for another fight. Not when Blade sat silent, knife glinting, or when Russ scribbled notes without missing a beat.
I wasn’t going to be the weak link. Not here. Not ever.
Still, my body screamed for rest. The images of the lab kept flashing behind my eyes—the straps, the machines, the weak pulses under my fingers. Every time I thought about closing my eyes, I saw them all over again.
Adam’s hand brushed mine where it rested on my thigh. Just the faintest touch, but enough to snap me out of the spiral. He didn’t look at me, didn’t take his eyes off the road, but I knew what he was saying:I see you. I know you’re tired. I’ve got you.
A lump rose in my throat. I swallowed it down, forcing steel back into my spine.
“I’m fine,” I whispered.
His lips curved faintly, almost a smile, almost a challenge. “Didn’t ask.”
The others didn’t notice, but the corner of Hawk’s mouth twitched like he’d caught more than he let on.
I leaned back against the seat, staring at the horizon bleeding gold and red ahead of us. Bone tired or not, I wasn’t quitting. Not now, not while people were still strapped down in labs, waiting for us.
