"Rotate and pull," he reminded her. "Use their momentum."
She executed the move, breaking free cleanly. His approval sent an unwelcome flutter through her stomach.
"Good. Now, someone grabs you from behind?—"
Before she could prepare, his arms wrapped around her from behind in a bear hug, pinning her arms. The solid wall of his chest against her back made coherent thought difficult.
"Remember," his voice rumbled near her ear, "drop your weight, create space, then?—"
She dropped, twisted, and drove her elbow back—stopping short of his ribs. He released her immediately.
"Better." He studied her with those intense eyes that seemed to see everything. "You actually might buy yourself time to run."
"Still not attempting the thumb thing," she said, trying to steady her breathing. "That's barbaric."
The corner of his mouth twitched—almost a smile. "It's effective."
"It's disgusting."
"Tomorrow's going to be dangerous." His voice softened, and for a moment, she glimpsed something beyond the warrior—genuine concern, maybe even fear. "I need to know you can protect yourself if I'm not—if things go wrong."
The weight of his words settled over her. This magnificent protector, this man who could probably take down a dozen threats without breaking a sweat, was worried about her. The realization that she'd become important enough to him to warrant that worry made her chest tight.
Before she could respond, her laptop chimed. A pattern recognition alert.
She rushed back to her screens, Griff following. "Look at this." Her fingers flew across the keyboard. "All of Buckley's replacement personnel—they have something in common."
The patterns emerged. All had passed specific medical screenings in the last six months. All had the same unusual marker in their records.
"They're pre-cleared for the bio-passport system," Sarah breathed. "They're already authenticated. If something happens to the primaries?—"
"The replacements step in seamlessly," Griff finished.
Ronan had moved closer, studying her screens. "No security checks needed because they're already in the system."
Sarah pulled more data, cross-referencing with the summit attendee list. Her excitement built as the pieces clicked together.
"This changes everything. They're not only eliminating threats. They're planning to replace them with their own people. People who are already cleared, already trusted."
"He’s installing a shadow network," Maya said.
"Exactly." Sarah pulled up more files. "Look—every replacement has ties to defense contractors, pharmaceutical companies, or intelligence services. All with contracts worth billions."
"It's a coup," Axel said quietly. "A corporate coup disguised as security protocol."
Ronan straightened. "This changes our approach. We need to expose the entire network."
"I can track the money," Sarah offered. "Every pre-cleared replacement will have payments, contracts, something linking them to Buckley."
"Do it," Ronan ordered. "Sarah works the digital angle. Find everything you can on these replacements."
"The rest of us will handle the physical infiltration," Deke added. "We show up for our security posts at 1600hrs as scheduled. Maya and I maintain the exterior positions Buckley assigned us. But Izzy goes in early as kitchen staff. Axel infiltrates with the medical team."
"Kenji and I will float between our assigned post and actual surveillance," Finn added.
"Doc," Ronan turned to the older woman. "We need you with Sarah, coordinating from the truck. Eyes on all of us."
"Obviously," Doc said dryly. "Someone needs to keep you children from getting killed."
