Bea will be arrested. Fingerprinted. Shoved into a cold and dirty cell where her bright light will be extinguished. She’ll be scared. Sad. Lonely. The other inmates will sense her innate goodness and want to smother it. And the Bea I’ve thought of more often than I’d like to admit will eventually disappear, replaced by a hollow shell of who she used to be.
I know how that feels, just for a different reason. And I don’t want it for her.
Ican’tlet it happen to her.
With a tug at the bushy grey wig hiding my dark brown hair, I turn in the passenger seat to look at Ace and Webb. “I know this is a risk. A big one. And I wouldn’t even consider it except…”
Except what?
Except Bea was one of the reasons I’m still alive today? That her dogged belief in me, even when I didn’t believe in myself, kept me going when I wanted to give up? That her bright light made the world a little less dark? That I feel like I owe her for all she did for me?
It’s all of those things.
And it’s something else I can’t explain. It’s just a bone-deep certainty that I need to do this. ThatIneed to be the one to protect her.
But I’m not telling Ace and Webb all that. So instead I settle on another truth. “She’s one of those good people. The rare ones who are truly good. The ones who make other people happy just by being around them. And Bea… she’s not just a good person. She makes a difference. A big one.”
After a few seconds of silence, Webb nods. “I’ve met a few people like that.”
“Same,” Ace agrees. “My mom. She was like that. Everyone loved her.”
“Bea didn’t do it,” I repeat. “I’d bet my life on it. Maybe that’s crazy, not having seen her in years.”
Ace claps my shoulder. “If your gut’s telling you she’s innocent, listen to it. There was only one time I thought my gut led me wrong, and it turned out it hadn’t. The person Ithoughtbetrayed me was actually set up for it.”
I know who he’s talking about. For years, Ace had believed his old Green Beret teammate, Sawyer, had betrayed them. It was only recently that Ace discovered the truth—that Sawyer was innocent and had been set up to take the blame.
“I didn’t want to believe it,” Ace continues. “It didn’t seem possible. Not Sawyer. But I saw the evidence, listened to what the higher-ups claimed… and I went along with it. I should have looked into it further. Should have—” He stops. Grimaces. “Shit. Sorry. Not the time.”
“We get it,” Webb says. “And if you’re sure about this, I am, too.”
“Same.” Ace lifts his oversized chin at me. He touches the latex and frowns. “Are you guys sure this isn’t too big? I want to be disguised, but I don’t want people staring at my monster chin, either.”
It’s a welcome moment of levity amid the stress of the mission. “It’s fine,” I assure him. “It’s big, but not too big.”
“That’s whatshesaid,” Webb adds with a snicker.
Ace punches Webb’s arm. “Really? Now?”
“Is there ever a bad time for athat’s what she saidjoke?”
Ace taps his chin thoughtfully. “Fair enough.”
I glance at the clock on the dashboard. It’s six-thirty in the morning, which means we need to get moving if we want to get in and out of the hospital before sunrise. Wecouldmake our move later, but considering the circumstances, we all agree it would be better done under the cover of dark.
“We need to move soon,” I tell them. “Tyler’s got the security on Bea’s wing on a loop until seven-fifteen. But I’d rather not push it.”
“That’s fine,” Webb says. “Let’s review the plan one more time, just to be safe.”
“Before that—” I look between my two teammates and friends. “Areyouguys sure about this? Because this isn’t some small crime. We shouldn’t get caught, but if we do… I’ll try to take the brunt of the heat. But I won’t be able to take all of it.”
Ace regards me for a few seconds. “I’m sure. If your Bea is like my mom, there’s no way I want her sitting in jail for a crime she didn’t commit.”
Webb lifts his chin at me. “I’m sure, too. I know we weren’t on the same team before. But we are now. And that means I’ve got your six no matter what.”
Unexpectedly, my throat goes thick. “Same for you. Anything you need, ever?—”
Ace smacks me in the back of the head. Not hard, but enough to sting. “Don’t get all sappy on us now. We have a mission to complete. So let’s run through the plan and get on with it.”
