Page 58 of The ARC Unit: Breach

Jackal raised both hands. “That wasn’t even my joke.”

“I know.”

“Hers was good, though.”

“Jackal.”

“Done.”

Wolf looked back at me. “No.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Great argument. Very persuasive.”

“Wasn’t trying to persuade you.”

“You don’t get to keep saying I’m not useful in the field and then reject the one field job that actually matches what I do.”

His arms unfolded.

“I don’t need to prove you aren’t useful. I need to decide whether putting you inside improves the operation enough to justify the risk.”

“It does.”

“You don’t make that call.”

“Then make the right one.”

Raven exhaled through his nose and pushed his chair back a few inches. Wolf turned on him immediately.

“Something?”

Raven looked like a man who had spent twenty-four years building a survival instinct only to discover it had failed him at the worst possible moment.

“Operationally?”

“That’s generally what we’re discussing.”

Raven glanced at me, then back to Wolf. “She’s right about the access problem.”

I almost smiled and decided I valued Raven’s life too much.

Wolf stared at him.

Raven kept going with the expression of a man who regretted every word before it finished leaving his mouth.

“I can monitor the perimeter. Hawk can see most of the exterior. Jackal and Viper can give us movement, Bear gives us extraction options, and you can control all of it. None of that gives me a microphone next to Bellandi if he starts talking to somebody useful. Mercer does.”

“If her cover holds.”

“Yes.”

“If she follows the route.”

Raven’s mouth tightened. “Also yes.”