Yeah. That was fair.
"Griff, as in Griffin?" She tested the name. "Like the mythical creature? Guardian of divine power?"
He shrugged. "My mother had high hopes."
"Did you live up to them?"
He thought of Tank, dead at his desk. Of the months hunting shadows while his team thought he'd lost his mind. Of the men he’d willingly kill to save this woman he'd just met.
"No," he said simply.
Something in his tone must have warned her off further questions. Sarah pulled the blanket from the back of the couch, wrapping it around herself.
"There are bedrooms," he reminded her. "Your tech dude clearly spared no expense."
"I'm fine here." She curled into the corner of the couch,making herself smaller. "I just... I don't want to be alone in a strange room. Is that pathetic?"
"It's human."
He moved to the security station, checking the monitors Garofalo had installed. Motion sensors showed clear. Thermal imaging picked up some deer about a hundred yards out, nothing else. At least he’d see the enemy coming. They were as safe as they could be, for now.
His sat phone buzzed—not a call, but an automated update from the dark web crawlers he'd set up. He pulled out his tablet, encrypted beyond belief, and checked the alerts.
His blood went cold.
Knight Tactical was being watched. Subtle surveillance, professional grade. The kind you'd only notice if you were looking for it. Ronan's vacation house in Marin. The Knight Tactical hangar. Even the coffee shop Izzy and Cory frequented on their trips to San Francisco.
Someone was keeping tabs on his team, waiting for him to make contact.
"What is it?" Sarah had sat up, reading his body language despite her exhaustion.
"Confirmation that staying dark was the right call." He showed her the screen, the surveillance photos he'd pulled from a dark web intelligence broker. "They're watching my team."
"Stillwater?"
"Or whoever Stillwater's working for." He studied the images. Professional but not perfect. They wanted him to know his team was being watched. A message: come out of hiding and we'll know.
He had to tell his people.
Griff opened the encrypted messaging app, typing quickly:
Ghost: Active surveillance on all KT assets. Professional grade. Check your six.
The response was immediate.
Ronan: Ghost?? Where have you been?
Maya: Are you okay?
Axel: SIX MONTHS, brother.
Ghost: I'm fine. You're being watched. Marin house, hangar, even Izzy's coffee shop.
Izzy: How do you know this?
Ghost: Dark web intel. Someone wants me to know you're being watched.
Ronan: Where are you? We're coming.
