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“Not sure,” I say, sliding my laptop toward me and opening a case file. “She’s acting cagey about it. Don’t think Stede knows, so keep it on the down low. Guy doesn’t need any more stress.”
Wyatt’s head tips back to look at me, a sudden storm in his eyes. “I don’t know what the hell that girl thinks she’s doing,” he grumbles.“She’s gotta ride in the rough stock days, and she’s gonna be out of shape. And when she comes crawling back next year, I’m gonna have a hell of a time whipping her ass into gear.”
I snort, side-eyeing him.
Wyatt and Fallon’s petty rivalry might fool all of Resurrection, but they can’t fool me. I’ve been the fucking idiot keeping his mouth shut. I know where it got me, and if Wyatt continues down this stubborn path of denial, I know where it’ll get him.
Absolutely nothing.
Wyatt fidgets in his chair. “How can you sit here, man? Makes me itch.”
I rasp out a laugh, seeing that little rough and tumble ten-year-old I used to boss around on the ranch back in Georgia. “Patience, brother. It’s called patience.”
Wyatt has to be constantly on the move, on the back of a horse knocking his front teeth out or training his cowboys, but for me, the quiet, watchful chase is in my blood.
Stakeouts don’t bother me. Whether it’s taking up post in the dusty desert or in a small-town police station, the objective is always the same—to serve and protect.
This time, it’s someone I care about. The mission can’t go wrong. Not like the last time.
The void in my stomach opens. My jaw tightens. Shame flickers.
I’m alive. Breathing. I should be grateful. But all I can think of is Sully. My team. The night the earth opened up and swallowed everyone alive. The way I left a piece of me behind in that desert.
I fucked up. And it cost me everything.
It’s hard to remember that day. A special-ops mission only my team and my lieutenant knew about. It comes in fragments. Bright colors as loud as the explosion that knocked me away from my team. Panic. Blood. Chaos.
Adrenaline made me move. I crawled through dust and debris to get back to them. I found Sully first.
“They fucking shot me, man,” he gasped.
“Oh fuck.” Horrified, I took in the four bullets peppered across Sully’s chest. “Fuck.”
Sully wheezed a laugh. “That’s what I said, Captain.”
I hunkered next to him, trying to keep my brother’s blood in his body. “I know. Hang in there. Just fucking stay with me.” I looked to the sky for a chopper. But there was nothing, only that black shadow of helplessness growing inside of me.
Sully swallowed. “Must be a hell of a shot.”
“Don’t talk,” I told him, voice tremulous. I gripped his hand. Squeezed. “Save your energy.”
“Save your…speech, Montgomery…” Sully’s eyes dimmed. His voice thinned like a thread. “Say your goddamn prayers.”
“Fuck. You’ll be okay. You’ll make it.”
But he didn’t. Later, I found Ferraro, hunkered down in an old building. We were the only survivors.
That day, the shadow inside me took root.
And it followed me all the way to Resurrection.
“D?” Wyatt’s voice hammers like a drill in my head. He gives me a sideways glance. “You okay, man?”
Mustering as much composure as I can, I rise from my chair and move to the window. My heart pounds in my chest. I will it down to a normal level Ruby would approve of.
“Fine,” I grit out, curling one hand around my nape.
I can feel Wyatt’s questioning gaze burning a hole in my back.
