Cap had screamed the order before I was even through the gate—Track the van. Now.Ranger took off toward the tech room. Doc was tending to the guards. Ghost had his rifle slung over his shoulder and murder in his eyes.
But me?
I was frozen.
I stood in the middle of the hallway, fists clenched, heart hammering behind my ribs like it was trying to escape. Blood stained the floor. Amanda’s scent still hung in the air. My shampoo, her sweat, that faint sweetness that always hit me right behind the sternum.
Forty fucking minutes.
Forty minutes since I decided I was being paranoid.
Forty minutes since I told myself one sweep wouldn’t hurt.
Forty minutes since I walked away from the one thing I should’ve stayed glued to.
I’d trained men out of worse mistakes.
I’d buried people for less.
And now I was standing in a hallway that still smelled like her, trying not to choke on it.
Smoke growled low in his throat, pressing his body closer to the baseboard like he could track her through fucking drywall.
“I know, boy,” I whispered, crouching down beside him. My hand found his scruff, grounding us both. “We’re gonna get her back.”
My voice didn’t sound like mine.
Smoke’s ears flicked, sharp and alert, like he understood every word. His nose dragged along the floor again, deeper this time, following a line only he could see.
His body went rigid.
That low whine shifted into something else.
Certainty.
My pulse kicked harder.
“Yeah,” I murmured. “You’ve got something.”
Cap’s boots echoed behind me. “They had inside intel,” he said. “They knew her route, the weak spot in the rotation. They planned this.”
No shit.
My jaw locked as I rose to my feet.
“This was surgical,” I said. “They knew exactly how long Ariel would be distracted. They knew the timing of the guard rotation. And they knew Amanda would follow Smoke without hesitation.”
Cap gave a grim nod. “Means they’ve been watching longer than we thought.”
“Which means they’re close,” I said. “Still close.”
Close meant confidence.
Close meant arrogance.
Close meant they didn’t think we’d react fast enough to matter.
The rage that had been boiling in my gut all morning finally snapped into something sharper. Colder. Focused.
