"Missed you too." He pulled back to look at her. "You look good. Really good."
"I feel better. Kira's been force-feeding me. Winter won't let me do anything strenuous. Nadia keeps checking on me every hour like I might disappear." Mara smiled. "It's annoying and also kind of nice."
"They care about you."
"They do. And they want to meet you. Fair warning, they're going to grill you. Ask uncomfortable questions. Possibly threaten you if you hurt me."
"I can handle it."
They drove out of Lafayette into the bayou. The landscape changed from commercial development to wetlands and cypress trees. The roads got narrower. The houses got fewer. Finally, Mara turned onto a gravel road marked only by a small wooden post. No signs. No identification.
"This is it?" Logan asked.
"This is it. L'Abri Sûr. Safe Haven." Mara drove down the gravel road for another quarter mile before the compound came into view. "Home."
Logan had expected something military. Something tactical and fortified. What he saw was more like a small college campus. Main house with wraparound porches. Several smaller buildings scattered across the property. Gardens and walking paths. A dock extending into the bayou. It looked peaceful. Welcoming. Not at all like the headquarters of a rescue operation that had saved hundreds of lives.
"Sixty-three acres," Mara said as she parked. "Main house has living quarters, kitchen, common areas. That building there is the ops center. Medical wing is attached to the main house.Training facility behind the ops center. We've got capacity for about thirty residents at a time, plus the eight of us who run operations."
"It's beautiful."
"It's what I always wanted. A place where people could feel safe. Where they could heal. Where they could rebuild their lives." Mara looked at the compound with obvious pride. "Took years to put together. To find the right people. To build the infrastructure. But it works."
The front door of the main house opened and women started emerging. Logan recognized Sloane from the rescue operation. She approached with a slight smile.
"Steele. Good to see you vertical and not covered in tactical gear."
"Good to see you too, Sloane." Logan shook her hand. "Thanks again for coordinating the rescue."
"Thank Mara for assembling a team worth rescuing her for." Sloane stepped aside as the others came forward. "You've met most of us in passing. But let me do proper introductions."
Nadia was first. Athletic build, assessing eyes, the kind of presence that suggested she could kill you six different ways and was choosing not to. "You're the one who carried Mara out of that compound. Risk told me she couldn't walk. Thanks for not leaving her behind."
"Wasn't an option," Logan said.
Winter was next. Tall, broad-shouldered, looked like she could bench-press a car. "I'm Winter. I handle equipment and logistics. Also sometimes I cook but everyone complains about it." She looked Logan up and down. "You're smaller than I expected for someone in Delta Force."
"Winter," Mara said warningly.
"What? I'm just saying. I thought special forces guys were all huge." Winter grinned. "But I guess if you can carry Mara's stubborn ass out of an enemy compound, you're strong enough."
Kira stepped forward with a medical professional's calm demeanor. "I'm Kira. I handle medical operations. I was the one treating Mara when you brought her to Erbil. You did good work with the field care. The IV probably saved her from going into shock."
"That was Risk. Our medic."
"Risk is excellent. We coordinated well." Kira smiled. "Mara's healing properly. No permanent damage. She'll have some scars but she'll be fine."
Quinn was next, holding a tablet like it was an extension of her arm. "I'm Quinn. I run intelligence and tech operations. I'm also the one who connected you to us through Beth and Ghost. Small world."
"Very small world." Logan shook her hand. "Your intelligence was solid. Made the operation possible."
Reese came over from where she'd been working on something near the dock. Oil on her hands, grease smudged on her face. "I'm Reese. I fly the planes. Also fix the planes when they break. Also fix basically anything with an engine." She wiped her hand on her jeans before offering it. "You're the one Mara kept smiling about for three months."
"Reese," Mara said, face reddening.
"It's true. Every time your phone buzzed you'd get this look. Like someone gave you a present." Reese grinned. "Nice to finally meet the guy behind the look."
Harper was last, quieter than the others but with kind eyes. "I'm Harper. I run the medical wing and coordinate residential care. I make sure the women who come here have what they need to heal. Both physically and mentally."
