Page 152 of Operation: Defiance

“Mm?”

“What’s your last name?”

She doesn’t look up. “Calder.”

I nod even though she can’t see it. “Thank you.”

Back in the room, I repeat it to the phone.

“Raine Calder.”

There’s a pause.

“Pretty name,” Inara says. “What do you need to know about her?”

“Not her, exactly. Her apartment. Her accounts. Any evidence someone’s been systematically erasing her from existence.”

Inara whistles. “You’re protecting her.” It’s not a question.

“Yes.”

“You don’t usually sound like this when you’re on a job.”

“I know. And I don’t care.”

After a beat, Inara lets out a sigh. “How much…resistance am I likely to find on this fishing expedition?”

“Could be none. Could be a goddamn armada.”

“I’ll call you back in the morning. If I don’t do this quietly, the SEAL’s going to get involved and it’ll be a whole thing.”

When I emerge from the bedroom, Raine looks hollow.

Paler. Eyes glassy. Hands shaking.

She closes the laptop, and the sound is too loud over the light music playing through the speaker.

“I need a break,” she says.

“Let’s take one.”

I keep my hands to myself. At my sides. Where she can see them. That thread is too thin to risk overstepping now.

She stands slowly, her legs only shaking a little as she moves to the couch.

I make tea. Because it gives me something to do. Because she needs something warm to wrap her hands around, and she won’t see it as being managed.

We sit side by side on the couch, listening to the music, drinking chamomile with extra honey, but not talking. Not yet. She’s not ready.

We sit in silence until the worst of the tremor leaves her hands.

Her focus settles—not back into the logs, but into the room, the light, the music.

Real things.

When she finally exhales without bracing for what comes next, I take it as the sign I’ve been waiting for.

“Come on,” I say quietly. “Let’s get you something solid. The day’s done enough damage.”

Her eyes lift, unsure, but she nods.

Not agreement—permission.

She follows, her steps slow but steady. She’s done fighting alone. At least for tonight.

God help me, I don’t want her to ever fight alone again.