"She's not going anywhere near that property."
"She doesn't have to be near it for them to hurt her." I turn to face him. "Her company. Her life's work. They're holding it hostage, and if we don't handle this perfectly, they'll destroy everything she's built."
"Since when do you care about corporate assets?"
"I don't." I meet his eyes. "I care about her. And watching her lose everything would break her. I won't let that happen."
Deck studies me for a long moment. "You love her."
It's not a question.
"I've known her for five days."
"Didn't stop me with Vivian."
He's right. I was there when Deck fell for his federal witness. Watched him fight it, deny it, and ultimately surrender to it. At the time, I thought he was being reckless. Letting emotion compromise his judgment.
Now I understand.
"Richard is going to kill me."
"Richard is going to be thrilled." Deck claps me on the shoulder. "He's been trying to get you to settle down for years. Said you needed someone who could match your intensity."
"Mara doesn't match my intensity. She exceeds it."
"Even better." Deck moves back to the tactical table. "Now focus. We execute at 0200. Four hours to review every detail and make sure nothing goes wrong."
I nod, turning back to the display. But my mind keeps drifting to Mara, safe in her cabin with Cade standing guard. She'd wanted to be part of the briefing. I'd insisted she rest.
Our first real argument.
She'd called me overprotective. I'd called her reckless. She'd pointed out that her company was on the line. I'd pointed out that her life was on the line. She'd told me I couldn't control everything. I'd told her I could damn well try.
She'd stormed off to her cabin. I'd let her go.
Now I'm standing here, four hours from the most important operation of my life, wondering if I should go to her. Apologize. Explain.
Tell her what I'm only just admitting to myself.
"Incoming call." Sully's voice cuts through my thoughts. "Blocked number. They're routing through multiple proxies, but the signature matches our targets."
The room goes tense. Deck nods at Sully, who patches the call through to speaker.
"Guardian Peak Security." Deck's voice is calm. Professional. "Who am I speaking with?"
"You know who this is." The voice is male, slightly accented. Eastern European, maybe. "More importantly, you know what we want."
"Enlighten me."
"Mara Plummer. Delivered to us by midnight. In exchange, we don't destroy her company and disappear into the night."
"That's not going to happen."
"Then I hope she's prepared to watch everything she's built burn." A pause. "We know she's there, Commander Cross. We know your security protocols. We know the weaknesses in yourperimeter. Did you think David Chen only had access to her systems?"
My blood runs cold.
Deck's expression doesn't change, but I see his hand tighten on the table edge. "You're bluffing."
