“Yep,” Rocco said, looking back at Dante’s sister. Sofia sat beneath a pine tree wrapped in a blanket, sipping water while she tried to remember everything she could about the compound. “We just need Sophia’s help. Do you think that she’ll be able to remember more about the compound?” he asked.
“I can ask her to try,” Dante said. That was all Rocco could ask, really. She had already been a big help. Sophia sketched the underground layout from memory. It wasn't perfect, but it didn't have to be. It was enough to get them into the compound. He just had no idea where to go from there.
“I have an idea,” Rocco said. “Can I see your mother’s journal?” Lark handed it to him, and he turned to the page with Isabella’s hand-drawn map. If he were correct, the two might just match up and give them a full picture of the compound. Rocco spread Sophia’s drawing beside Isabella's journal and found that the two matched almost perfectly. He smiled despite himself.
"Your mother was incredible,” he breathed.
Lark looked down at the journal. "I wish I'd known her."
"You’re getting to know her,” Rocco said.
She frowned. "What do you mean?"
"Every page of that journal tells me exactly who she was." He tapped the book carefully. "She wasn't writing for herself." He looked at Lark. "She was writing this for you."
Lark swallowed hard. "So I could finish what she started."
"Exactly,” Rocco agreed. “So, let’s finish this.” Lark smiled at him and nearly took his damn breath away. She had no idea what she did to him, every time she glanced his way, but he planned on making sure she knew it once this whole mess was over. He felt like the luckiest bastard on the planet because Larkchose both him and Dante, and there was no way he’d let her go now.
Dante knelt beside Sofia. "You sure you're up for this?"
She looked at her brother with tired eyes. "I don't think I'll ever be ready."
He smiled sadly. "That’s fair."
"But I'm going to do this anyway,” she insisted, looking around the group. Rocco wasn’t sure how the poor girl was still standing after everything that she had been through. Being held captive for three years and living to tell the tale was hard enough. But Sophia was helping them to bring Keller down, and in his eyes, that made her one of the strongest women he’d ever known.
"I know,” Dante said.
"I spent three years waiting for someone to come." She looked toward the mission. "I'm not leaving those people behind."
Rocco watched her and felt pride settle quietly in his chest that he had no business feeling. Strength ran in Dante’s family—he could see that every time he looked at the two of them together. They were unbreakable. He glanced toward Lark and saw that she was watching Sofia with tears in her eyes because she saw it too.
A vibration buzzed inside Rocco's pocket, and he pulled his satellite phone from his jacket. Only three people had the number. He answered quietly. "Bertoni." Static filled the line, followed by a familiar voice—Avery. Relief washed through him.
"Hey,” she said.
“You alive?” he asked.
"Barely,” she admitted.
He smiled. "I'll take barely."
Gunfire echoed faintly through the call. "We've been busy."
"Status?" Rocco asked.
"We found something." His expression became serious.
"What did you find?” he asked.
"Keller moved his servers,” she said.
Rocco looked toward the mission. "Where did he move them to?”
"They're already inside."
"Inside where?” he asked.
