Neve.
Dressed in low-riding cargo pants and a form-fitting hoodie, her long brown hair pulled into a pony, those cool blue eyes assessing everything with a single glance. Her teammates flanked her, looking at him as if they weren’t sure whether to give him a hug or kick him in the nuts.
He’d met them all a few times before Neve had joined his unit. When they’d been part of a joint task force. Skilled, disciplined, with loyalty Coulter knew couldn’t be bought. Being offered the position as their team leader had been the one consolation when Neve had given up her spot on his unit because she’d wanted more between the two of them than just wishful thinking.
Hell, he’d wanted that, too. Had promised they’d find a way to take the next step — cross the line they’d been dancing around. Yet, here they were, one year later, and he hadn’t managed more than a few days off to give it an honest try.
Scout hitched one hip out to the side. “Glad I got a photo before you noticed us because you were actually smiling. Guess it really is the end of days.”
Coulter scoffed. “Hilarious. You should do standup.” He raked his fingers through his hair, pursing his lips so Neve didn’t notice the way the simple action pulsed pain through his ribs. “Well? Any sign of Ramsey? Those enhanced motherfuckers?”
They’d told him about that, too. How Darwin’s former partner had stolen his work, weaponized it. That Coulter had been lucky to escape the facility alive considering the number of enhanced men Ramsey had on his payroll. The only consolation was that Ramsey wasn’t currently one of them. At least, that’s what Darwin believed based on the information Coulter had copied from the Bralorne files — something about Ramsey’s vitals. How they didn’t match the other men. Had been annoyingly stable. Whether he’d forgone the drugs because of the deadly side effects or just through pure arrogance, Coulter wasn’t sure, but it evened the field a bit.
Made apprehending the guy a possibly, and god knew Coulter wasn’t giving up until Ramsey was either rotting in a cell or six-feet under. The fact he and his company were the only leads they’d connected to Finch gave Coulter a hint of moral high ground.
Neve stared a bit longer, gaze raking up and down him before she visibly shoved everything down like he’d been doing the past week. “Security’s been radically upscaled at Blackridge, but no sign of them venturing onto the forest service roads. We’re hopeful they thought it was simply a tactical maneuver and not because we have a hideout an hour west of them.”
“We both know he won’t stay local for long. The man’s a hunter. Sooner or later, he’ll pick up the scent — search every RV, cabin, and shack between Hope and Harrison Lake.” He shifted on his feet, the weight of her stare eating up all the available oxygen in the room. “What about all those files I copied? Have you uncovered anything useful, yet? Because if we can get Ramsey, break him, he can give us Finch.”
Neve glanced at Zadie, then back to him. “Why don’t we take this into the comms room. Probably easier for Zadie to show you what she’s been working on.”
Coulter gestured them ahead, trailing behind Neve, his gaze drawn to the hypnotic sway of her hips. How her thigh holster clung to her pants, highlighting her ass a bit more than she’d probably realized. She must have felt him staring because she stopped at the door, glancing over her shoulder at him.
He schooled his features. They’d been dancing around each other since he’d been strong enough to stumble out of bed. He knew it was only a matter of time before one of them broke their fragile truce — demanded the kind of answers he’d been afraid to hear. But seeing her every day…
It gnawed at his resolve. Tested all the training he’d had beaten into him over the past twenty years. And he knew, he’d never be free until she looked him in the eyes and told him he hadn’t been worth fighting for.
Zadie headed straight for one of the computers in the center of the room, tapping in her password before images and maps appeared on the string of monitors, pages from the files he’d copied from Blackridge’s mainframe.
She motioned them all closer, highlighting a few of the photos. “So, these are from the unencrypted section of the files you grabbed. They’re mostly surveillance images of our team starting six weeks before Fraser turned on us and shot Kane. It looks like Fraser was relaying tactical plans, communication frequencies, map coordinates and exfil sites — everything Ramsey needed to plan the perfect ambush. And with the mission being deemed a training exercise with the occasional “friendly” encounter doubling as enemy forces, he knew we’d all be packing dummy rounds. That the few seconds it took for us to switch out our mags would be enough to wing Kane, put Ramsey’s whole sordid test into motion.”
Coulter leaned in closer, his left arm brushing across Neve’s hip. He ignored the kick of his heart, nodding at the profiles Zadie had lined down one side. “Are those the assholes who attacked you?”
Zadie sighed. “They’re the ones we eliminated. Well, the ones Neve eliminated. Or who I suppose got caught up in the explosion. I don’t think they expected the blast to collapse the entire mineshaft.”
“Which suggests they were his expendable troops. That he’s got another squad’s worth he didn’t want to risk.” Coulter pointed to the stats. “Was that asshole’s heart rate really only seventy when he was running full out?”
“It’s not the heart rate that’s the issue.”
Coulter looked over his shoulder as Darwin’s voice sounded behind him. The man leaned against the doorway, looking calm and haggard all at the same time.
Darwin stepped inside. “Look at his temperature.”
Coulter studied more of the numbers. “They run hot.”
“That was one of the issues I hadn’t overcome. Why TITAN wasn’t fit for testing. I hadn’t found a way for the two compounds to coexist without some of the toxins being left behind. Over time, they poison the cellular structure, leading to paranoia, aggression, then death. And with how unstable some of these men’s vitals are, I’d say Finch is just guessing at the dosage. Playing god with them until he finds something that works long enough for the men to be viable for whatever end game he has in mind.”
Coulter nodded. “Could you solve it?”
Darwin ran his hand through his hair, adjusting his glasses as he looked at Wynn, then back to Coulter. “With time, I could probably find a stable synthesis. But I honestly didn’t think it was worth the potential loss. That’s why I shelved it.”
Coulter sighed, meeting Neve’s gaze for a moment, his breath stalling as he watched her watch him before she blinked, looked away. “So, you’re telling me all I did was gather some evidence that implicates Ramsey and Blackridge, but considering how I obtained it, nothing would stand up in court. And definitely nothing we can tie back to Oliver Finch.”
Zadie tapped on the keyboard, launched another window. “Not exactly. A few of the files you pulled over were highly encrypted. I’m talking DoD-level sophistication. Took me a week to break into them. And this…” She motioned to the new window. “This was worth having Ramsey put you on the top of his shit list.”
Coulter stared at the seemingly blank window. “Are you going to tell me what it is?”
“It’s a window into his dark web comms link via his shadow server. How we think Finch or other associates contact him with upcoming missions. So far, there’s been chatter about a possible UAV retrieval, but he hasn’t verified the target yet and if he’s sending a team or taking care of the issue, personally. But when he does…”
