Ian’s jaw locked. “Tracking shows them routing deeper into Niger toward a known Krueger corridor.”
Mike’s breath stuttered. A sound escaped him—not words, something closer to heartbreak razor-sharpened into fury. “No,” he whispered. “Not that bastard. Not him.”
Ian placed a steady hand on Mike’s shoulder, not comforting but commanding. “We’ll move every asset we have. Ford and Bravo are already repositioning. Crescent is airborne. We’ll get Dante back.”
Mike shook his head once. “Shannon—she can’t know yet. Not until we have something actionable. I’m not giving her another ghost to carry.”
Ian nodded. “We’re moving now.”
He turned to the analysts. “Lock down all feeds. Prioritize tracking on Krueger’s militia. And patch me into Bravo and Crescent, encrypted channel six.”
The command floor erupted into motion. The moment Dante Olivetti went missing in Krueger’s desert, the mission changed.
NORTHERN NIGER – BRAVO SAFEHOUSE – 20:58 LOCAL
The back of Ford’s head hit the dirt floor so hard, the impact punched the air out of him in a sound that was half rage, half agony. Paulsen was on him immediately, both forearms braced across Ford’s shoulders, his weight locked down with cold precision. Red and Bone dropped to either side, pinning Ford’s arms and legs.
Ford bucked like a man on fire. “GET OFF ME!” he roared, voice splintering. “LET ME GO BACK THERE!”
Paulsen grunted as Ford surged upward with terrifying strength. “Cox… STOP.”
“They took him!” Ford screamed, the words breaking apart. “They took Dante. THEY HAVE HIM!” He shook violently—not just fury, but grief so raw, it tore through him like shrapnel.
Paulsen leaned closer, pressing Ford deeper into the dirt. “Listen to me!” he barked. “You go back out there, you die. They want you too. They want the damn device. You go back now, and you hand it to them wrapped in a bow.”
Ford kicked against the ground, breath ripping out of him. “He saved my life,” he choked. “He saved all of us. And WE LEFT HIM! I LEFT HIM!”
Red’s voice went low, solid. “You secured the nuke. That was the mission. Dante knew the stakes going in. Your primary was the package. His primary was you.”
“I don’t give a damn about the mission!” Ford snarled, arching beneath their weight.
Paulsen slammed a palm to Ford’s chest. “Then give a damn about Shannon.”
Ford froze, breathing like a drowning man.
Paulsen’s voice softened, but the steel stayed. “If you die tonight, she loses Dante and you. She survives one heartbreak… maybe. Not two.”
Ford’s eyes filled with silent, brutal tears he couldn’t blink away. His head dropped back into the dirt. His whole body shuddered, then sagged under their hands, broken enough to stop fighting.
A strained, wrecked whisper: “I heard him scream.”
Paulsen closed his eyes, jaw tightening. “All of us did. He yelled, ‘Ford, go.’ If Dante’s alive, he’s fighting to stay that way. And we’re going to fight like hell to bring him home.”
Sean straightened, voice switching to command. “Bone, Twee, Rocket, Roadie.”
Four heads snapped up.
“You are wheels-up on your arrivals. Get the device to Air Base 201 and hand it directly to Crescent Command. You do NOT deviate, you do NOT wait, and you do NOT look back.”
Bone started to protest, but Sean cut him off, “I will NOT jeopardize that nuke. Not for anything. Not even this.”
Roadie nodded once. Twee placed a hand briefly on Ford’s boot as she got up, silent solidarity before she picked up the nuke in its cradle wrap.
“Eat something, hydrate, and move,” Sean ordered. “You don’t get sloppy on this handoff. We lose that device, everything Dante bled for is worthless.”
They four scattered with grief in their stares. The room quieted. Sean eased off Ford’s chest but stayed crouched beside him. Ford lay flat on his back, staring at the ceiling, tears sliding unaided into the dust.
“We’re going after him,” Sean said. “But we do it smart. We do it with a plan.”
