Surge ground his teeth.“You don’t get to decide when we move.”
“You think I haven’t been here before?”Wraith barked.“Looking for fire when there’s no smoke.Take the shot.You’ll save more than you could ever lose in this moment.”
Surge’s breath hitched.You’ll save more than you could ever lose in this moment.A flash of a voice in the dark, a touch, the sound of laughter under rain.It vanished as quick as it came, leaving a hollow ache.
His tone turned to iron.“We’ll talk after this, Wraith.”
“You won’t find me,”came the cold but confident reply.
“Don’t bet on it,” Surge said, then allowed the ice of an imminent mission to fill his veins.“Alpha, move.Bravo, perimeter.Let’s end this.”
They surged forward, silent shadows slipping through steel and salt.Mano watched over them from the high point, rifle sighted.Reef moved flank while Torch’s knives caught the light once before cutting it again.Breaker’s drones moved silently above, eyes in the sky.The team closed around Shed Five.
The truck rolled in, headlights slicing through mist.Surge’s hand signaled.The world narrowed to breath and movement.
“Now,” he ordered.
Chaos erupted.The Tide moved like a storm surge—controlled violence, sharp and absolute.Mano’s first shot cracked the air, dropping the guard before he could shout.Torch was already in the doorway, knives flashing.Surge and Reef stormed the truck, tearing open doors, cutting ties.Inside—crates, cages, frightened eyes.Children.Women.Everything the intel had promised and more.
Surge’s chest burned.“Move them out,” he commanded.“Mano, clear the rear.Torch, cover our six.Breaker, jam the port feed.”
The comm in his ear hissed once more.“Good work, Surge,”Wraith said, voice like smoke.“Get them out.I’ll cover the cleanup.”
Surge didn’t answer.He didn’t trust himself to.
They moved fast, loading the rescued civilians into the SUVs.Reef coordinated the exit timing, Breaker looped surveillance, and Mano watched the perimeter through his scope.Everything flowed the way it should—but that feeling still lingered.Someone else was watching.
As Surge shut the final truck door, he looked back toward the docks and caught movement in the shadows—too deliberate to be random.The shape disappeared before he could lock onto it.
He touched his comm.“Reef.We’re not alone.”
Reef’s tone sharpened.“Eyes up.We’ll find them.”
Surge nodded, even though no one could see it.“We always do.”
Black Tide rolled out of the port, engines low and steady, the lights of the Newark docks fading behind them.Their ledger was secured and righteous, the rescued safe, but Surge couldn’t shake the echo of Wraith’s voice.
Ghosts didn’t just haunt—they hunted.
