Hunter’s grip on my hand tightens, and I turn to look at him, my eyes wide with panic.
“What if they were inside?” I choke out, the words barely audible through my panic. “Oh my God! We have to go back!”
“They weren't,” he says through gasping breaths as he holds me steady. “Oliver cleared the house. He’d have known if they were inside.”
“But what if—”
“Ella,” he cuts me off, turning to face me fully. His eyes are intense, filled with a mixture of shock and fear that mirrors my own. He shakes me gently, getting my attention. “They were not inside that house. Do you understand me? No one was inside. They’re still out there somewhere, alive, waiting for us like the good boys they are. Got me?”
I nod, swallowing hard as I try to push the panic down. He’s right. I need to stay focused, to stay in control. But it’s so damn hard when every fiber of my being is screaming that something is wrong, that we’re running out of time.
Ghost steps forward, his presence a dark shadow in the night. He’s still wearing that mask, his eyes the only thing visible, but there’s a tension in his posture that I can feel from where I’m standing.
“This wasn’t random,” he says, his voice low and dangerous. “They knew we were coming.”
The realization sends a fresh wave of fear crashing over me. He’s right. The explosion wasn’t a coincidence—it was a trap. And we walked right into it.
On the tail of that is a second realization.
Everything isgone.
Our home, the place the guys built. Our sanctuary. Everything we own.
Holy shit.
“Fuck,” Hunter mutters, running a hand through his hair. “They’re one step ahead of us. Again.”
“But how?” I ask, my voice trembling with the weight of the question. “How did they know?”
No one answers, the silence heavy with the implication. Someone had to have tipped them off, but who? My mind races, trying to piece it together, but my mind is too foggy right now.
Sirens start up in the distance and my heart sinks. This is real. This actually happened.
We lost everything.
Bobby’s voice breaks through the silence, his tone grim. “We need to get back to the van. Now.”
There’s no argument, no hesitation. We move as one, retreating back to the van in the same tight formation we came in with. The adrenaline is still pumping through my veins, the fear gnawing at the edges of my mind, but I force myself to stay focused, to keep moving.
When we reach the van, I glance back at the house—or what’s left of it. The fire is raging now, the flames licking at the night sky, casting an eerie glow over the scene.
A stab of intense pain makes my knees weak.
My home.
Our home.
The first place I’ve ever felt safe, loved. The place my guys put all their time, money, and resources into. They had it built to their exact plans down to the view.
And now it's gone.
Because of me.
The ride back to the compound is a silent blur. I hold onto my swirling emotions with a death grip. Only Hunter’s shaking arms wrapped around me keep me from breaking. And when we pull up into the garage and shuffle our way into the debriefing room, to wait for the other teams, I let myself fall into the numbness clawing at my soul.
I don’t know how much time passes, but when Madeline busts through the door, I’m a shadow of myself.
“Did you get it?” I rasp, shoving to my feet. “Did Oliver help you hack their computers? Did you find them?” Hope flickers in my chest as I close the distance between us and grab her arms. “Please tell me you found them, Madeline. Please.”
