And Viper had learned a long time ago:
the higher the money trail, the dirtier the monster.
Within minutes, they were racing across the desert—tires churning, dust billowing, the border fading behind them.
It wasn’t until they were halfway across Arizona, the sun breaking over the horizon, that the tension finally eased.
Memphis groaned, rubbing his shoulder as he rolled his neck.
Law glanced over. “You good, Memphis? Thought I saw you limping earlier.”
Memphis cracked a grin. “Nah, that’s just swagger. You’d know if I was hit—I’d be cussing you out.”
Laughter rippled through the transport. The two men Viper trusted to be smartasses lived up to it.
“Hell, if Rivers was hit, the whole damn desert would know,” Major Rhett Caine chimed in—thirty-eight, lean, and fast as hell.
“Careful, you two,” Captain Ramsey Webb added with a grunt—Special Forces, all muscle and trouble. “Memphis could bench-press both your asses and still have a hand free for his coffee.”
Law laughed, low and genuine. “Wouldn’t be the first time.”
Viper’s mouth twitched, a half-smile.
Just another night’s work for ghosts.
They made it to Kingman, Arizona, by sunrise, dropped the convoy at a secured site, and waited for orders.
One day turned into two, the desert heat settling in like punishment.
Titus came up gasping.
Late afternoon sun slanting through the closed blinds.
For a second, he didn’t know where he was—only the tight band of pain across his chest, the ghost of grit between his teeth. Then the silence hit. Real silence.
He dragged in a breath. Cold. Dry.
Alive.
But the smell of sage and smoke clung, as if it had a right to stay.
The dream refused to let go.
Rolling, he sat on the edge of the bed—head hanging, hands braced against his knees.
The door cracked open. Light from the hall split the dark.
“You okay?” Walt Beckman’s voice, rough as gravel.
He stepped closer, holding out a glass of water.
Titus took it and drank deep. “Yeah.” The word rasped like it hurt coming out.
“Nightmare again?”
A rough nod. He drained the rest and handed it back.
“Was it Tatum or Viper this time?”
