“Reconnaissance primary, but we go in ready for contact. If Brennan’s people are there, we handle it.” Dom’s gaze swept the room. “Blaze, you’re staying behind with Val.”
Blaze nodded immediately, shifting closer to Valeria. “Got it, boss.”
“I’ll monitor comms and coordinate from here,” Valeria added, her ex-cop instincts already working. “Keep the channel open, and I’ll track your positions.”
“Gear up,” Dom commanded. “We roll in fifteen.”
The room erupted into controlled chaos. Brie found herself swept into the preparation, Hunter’s hands sure and steady as he helped her into a tactical vest.
“This feels heavy,” she said, adjusting the weight across her shoulders.
“It’s supposed to.” He checked every strap, every buckle, his fingers lingering over each connection point. “Level III armor. It’ll stop most rounds.”
Most. Not all. She pushed the thought away.
Siren checked magazines. Axel tested radio frequencies. Ryder loaded cases of electronic equipment into the vehicles.
“Comm check,” Valeria’s voice came through the earpiece Hunter had given Brie.
“Lead vehicle, clear,” Dom responded.
“Vehicle two, clear,” Siren’s cool voice followed.
Hunter’s hands came to rest on Brie’s shoulders, turning her to face him. This close, she could see the fear he was trying to hide.
“You don’t leave my side,” he said, voice low enough that only she could hear. “Not for a second.”
Moments later, the SUVs pulled out from the parking lot and moved through Fate Mountain’s morning traffic. Brie sat between Hunter and Dom, her heart rate already elevated.
The landscape changed as they entered the industrial district. Warehouses sprawled in every direction, some active with morning deliveries, others standing empty with boarded windows. The November sky hung gray and heavy above them, threatening rain.
“The lumber mill,” Brie said, recognizing the building ahead. “I remember passing that. Then there was a food processing plant.”
“Brennan would need isolation,” Hunter said, scanning the buildings. “But not so remote that chemical deliveries would stand out.”
They drove deeper into the district, Brie’s bear stirring restlessly as familiar scents began to filter through the vehicle’s ventilation. Diesel exhaust. Rust. Industrial decay.
“Turn right at the next intersection,” Brie said, but her voice carried uncertainty now.
They’d been driving for twenty minutes through the industrial district, each warehouse looking identical to the last. Gray metal buildings stretched in every direction, some with faded company names, others completely unmarked. Hunter watched Brie’s growing frustration as she tried to match her panicked memory to the maze of structures.
“I think... no, wait.” She pressed her fingers to her temples. “There was a yellow building. Or maybe tan? Everything looked different that day.”
Dom drove slowly, letting her process. The second car followed patiently behind them.
“This doesn’t look right,” she said for the third time. “But I was so lost that day. The GPS had failed, I was just taking random turns...”
They took another turn, then another.
Chapter
Seventeen
Another fifteen minutes crawled by.She’d been so confident she could find it, but trauma memory wasn’t very accurate.
“There should be a chain-link fence with razor wire,” she muttered. “And a road that curves... no, that’s not right either.”
They passed another cluster of warehouses, all looking weathered and semi-abandoned. Ryder’s voice crackled over comms: “This district is huge. We could be at this all day.”
