6
ELI
Dawn breaks cold and sharp when I load the truck for Finn's compound.
My phone buzzes. Text from Zeke:
Early morning departure confirmed. Rhys running counter-surveillance from town. I'll monitor the northern route. Helena will follow a few minutes after you. Staggered timing.
I respond:
Understood.
Traci emerges from the cabin wearing layers—thermal base, fleece, the oversized sweatshirt that's become her armor. Backpack slung over one shoulder, notebook tucked inside where she can reach it. Ready to move because moving is what keeps you alive.
Helena's vehicle pulls into the drive right on schedule. Briggs thinks we're cooperating with federal transport to the Anchorage safe house. By the time he figures out we ghosted him, we'll belocked down at Finn's place with enough defensive position to hold against whatever the network sends.
Helena climbs out dressed in tactical pants, boots, and a fleece jacket that fits well enough to show her frame. In her medical career she must be used to uncertain situations where things need to be practical.
She's professional. Competent. And watching her scan the perimeter with the kind of awareness most civilians never develop sends heat up my spine I don't have time for.
"Morning," she says. Meets my eyes directly. "Ready?"
"Yeah." I gesture to my truck. "Traci rides with me. You follow. Rhys is running counter-surveillance from town, Zeke's monitoring the northern route. Anyone tails us, we'll know."
"Understood."
No questions. No hesitation. Just acceptance of tactical protocol like she's done these operations before.
Focus on the drive. Not on how her competence is as attractive as the rest of her.
Traci watches this exchange without pulling out her notebook. Taking in the coordination, the tactical language, the way Helena doesn't question the security measures. Learning that the adults around her operate with competence.
I open the passenger door. "Let's move."
Traci climbs in, settles with her backpack on her lap. Watching the trees like threats might materialize from the shadows.
We pull out onto the road heading north. Helena's vehicle will follow after five minutes. I wonder how she is taking this so easily and that wonder irritates me because it means I'm thinking about her instead of running threat scenarios. I need to focus on the drive, not on the woman following behind.
The drive takes us deeper into wilderness. Paved road gives way to gravel, then dirt track barely wide enough for onevehicle. Mountains rise on both sides, forest pressing close, isolation thickening with every mile. This is terrain I understand instinctively—limited access, defensible choke points, natural barriers that funnel threats into kill zones.
Finn chose well.
Deep into the drive, the compound appears through the trees. Main structure built from logs and reinforced concrete, positioned on high ground with clear sight lines in every direction. Two smaller buildings flank it—a cabin and what looks like workshop space. Solar panels on the roofs, satellite dish for communications, perimeter sensors I can spot from the access road because I know what to look for.
Zeke mentioned Finn had expanded the place significantly since getting with Cara. He wasn't exaggerating. If this was just a cabin it isn’t any more. It's a hardened position.
I park near the main building. Helena pulls in beside me a few moments later. Traci doesn't move immediately, just stares at the compound through the windshield.
"Defensible," I tell her. "Good sight lines, limited access, reinforced structure. Safer than the cabin in town."
She nods once. Accepts the tactical assessment because it's something concrete she can process.
A man who must be Finn emerges from the main building. He's lean and controlled. From what I know of his history he’s moving like someone who hasn't forgotten flight training even though nerve damage grounded him years back. Behind him comes a woman—dark hair pulled back, alert eyes that catalog me and Helena in seconds. Must be Cara. Zeke's briefing last night mentioned former FBI, framed by corrupt agents, now working with Finn against the same trafficking network hunting Traci.
She's another person caught in the Marshal's machinery.
"Eli Vance." Finn extends a hand. "Zeke's told me about you. Delta Force background."
