0526 Hours
Roscov thinks he’s smarter than me.
That’s his mistake.
His voice comes through the comm again—too calm, too confident, like a man who believes he’s still controlling the board.
“You’ve always been predictable, Pierce,” he says. “You attach. You protect. You bleed for the people you care about.”
I don’t answer.
Because I already hear what he’s not saying.
Aaron’s eyes flick to me. “He’s stalling.”
“No,” I say quietly. “He’s posturing.”
Miles murmurs from overwatch, “Movement on the upper ridge. Small unit. Five, maybe six.”
Roscov continues, “You could still walk away. I’ll let the woman go. I’ll even call off the pursuit.”
There it is.
The offer.
The lie.
“You already let her go,” I reply evenly. “And you still followed.”
A pause. Just long enough to tell me I struck something real.
“You misunderstand,” Roscov says smoothly. “I didn’t followher. I followedyou.”
That’s when I know.
He didn’t plant the tracker to retrieve Lena.
He planted it tomap my response.
My tactics. My timing. My team.
Aaron mutters, “Son of a—”
“Roscov,” I cut in, raising my voice so it carries. “You moved your men too close.”
A chuckle filters through the static. “You’re bluffing.”
“No,” I say. “I’m informing you.”
I tap twice on my comm.
Jase answers instantly.“Charges set.”
The fatal mistake isn’t arrogance alone.
It’s clustering.
Roscov concentrated his elite unit towatchme—forgot that mountains amplify sound… and pressure.
