A ghost of a smile tugged at his mouth. “Pretty sure it’s not standard briefing language.”
“Make it standard.”
His gaze dropped to my lips. “You ordering me, Detective?”
“Absolutely.”
He kissed me—slow this time, not desperate, the kind of kiss that tasted like a promise instead of a goodbye.
For a moment, the world shrank to that touch. The infirmary, the facility, the dead man six floors down—everything else faded.
Then Aaron’s voice crackled over the comm:
“Bird’s wheels down in thirty. Jensen, I need you prepped to move.”
Hawk rested his forehead against mine for half a heartbeat,exhaling slowly, like he could stall time with breath alone.
“Briefing,” I said.
“Briefing,” he agreed.
And even though he’d just promised me everything, a part of me still whispered the same old fear into the quiet:
He’s leaving.
What if he doesn’t come back?
37
Hawk
The transport that would ferry me to D.C. sat on the far edge of the field, rotors spinning lazy circles while the crew did final checks. From the outside, it looked like every other flight I’d ever taken into a debriefing: gray paint, dull metal, no comfort offered or expected.
Inside, it felt like a wedge being hammered between me and the only thing that had felt right in a long time.
Julia walked beside me down the corridor toward the exit, fingers laced with mine. She hadn’t let go since the infirmary. I hadn’t tried to make her.
Outside, the afternoon sky over Missouri was soft blue, and clouds stretched thin. It should have felt peaceful.
It didn’t.
“You know they’re going to grill you,” she said. “About everything. About me. About what you did down there. About what we did.”
“I know.”
“Probably run your psych file again.”
“Wouldn’t be the first time.”
She cut me a sharp look. “This isn’t funny.”
“I’m not laughing.”
We stepped out onto the tarmac. Wind slapped at our clothes, tugging at her hair. She brushed it back impatiently, eyes fixed on the aircraft.
“When you shipped out,” she said suddenly, voice raised over the engine noise, “I didn’t get to say goodbye.”
I looked at her.
