Lark shifted beside Kawan, her brows drawing low. Specs and Jupiter stood to the side, posture alert. Thor leaned backslightly in his chair, arms crossed over his chest, clearly sizing the man up.
“Colonel Amber,” Lark said first, voice crisp but not cold. “Wasn’t expecting you.”
“Wasn’t expecting to be standing in front of you again, either,” he replied. “But here we are.”
Kawan’s jaw ticked. “You showing up right after we get a message from the dead is either perfect timing—or complete bullshit.”
Dustin didn’t flinch. “Fair.”
“What do you want?” Thor asked.
“I’m not here to tell you what to do,” Dustin said. “I’m here because Grady sent me. And because I thought it was time you heard the truth—before you walk into a fire blind.” He stepped farther into the room and set a plain manila folder on the table. “Let’s start with why I was pulled off the op.”
No one moved to touch it.
“It was a setup,” Dustin said flatly. “A bullshit harassment charge filed by a civilian contractor two weeks before the mission went hot. Convenient timing, right?”
Jupiter narrowed his eyes. “You’re saying Lorre had it arranged?”
“I can’t prove it. Not yet. But everything changed the minute Lorre made his retirement announcement. The investigation came down fast. Quiet. I was cleared—but still blackballed.”
Kawan’s fists curled at his sides. “So, Lorre got the op you were supposed to lead.”
“Exactly,” Dustin said. “And now the AI you were sent to extract is missing, your people are dead, and the one guy Lorre underestimated—Bradford—is out there leaking breadcrumbs in the digital shadows.”
Specs blinked. “You know about Bradford?”
Dustin looked at her. “He reached out. Two weeks ago.”
The room went silent.
Kawan stiffened. “And you didn’t report it?”
“To whom?” Dustin challenged. “The same assholes who burned me and greenlit an op they knew was compromised? I couldn’t risk it. Not until I was sure who was still loyal to the country—and who was loyal to their own pocket.”
Lark stepped forward, eyeing him. “Why come to us now?”
“Because you got the flash drive. Which means Bradford trusts you. And because if we don’t move fast, Lorre will close the loop and disappear before any of this sees the light of day.”
“Or you’re trying to bait us into another ambush.” Kawan didn’t know what to make of this situation. He didn’t know Dustin well, but what he did know made him question why the man hadn’t come to them sooner.
“You think I’d enter the lion’s den just to get you killed?” Dustin looked around the room. “Grady didn’t just send me to deliver a message. He sent me because he knows you’re the only team that can pull this off. And because Lark—” He turned his attention fully to her. “You’re the only one Lorre’s still talking to.”
Silence.
Specs shifted closer to Lark. “The call earlier. He wanted her to come to Fort Liberty. Just her and me,” Specs said, voice hard. “No one else. Higher authority than Grady.”
Dustin exhaled, dragging a hand down his face. “Then he’s moving faster than we thought.”
“And you want us to walk into that?” Kawan growled. “You want her to go play sacrificial lamb while the rest of us sit here and wait for the fallout?”
“No,” Dustin said. “I want you to do what you do best. Use the invitation. Let Lorre think he’s winning. Set the stage. Get inside. Plant eyes. Feed him just enough to make him slip.”
“And if he doesn’t?” Thor asked.
“Then we pull the trigger on something bigger.”
Kawan looked at Lark, but she was already staring at the wall like she could see the mission unfolding. “No,” he said, preemptively. “Hell no.”
