“Stable,” Lucas answers. “Shaken, but they’ll make it.”
Good.
That’s something.
“What about Hannah and Stephen?”
“Being worked on.”
Another nod.
Then silence again.
Heavy.
Because we all know what’s next.
“We go back,” Miles says.
Not a question.
A fact.
I meet his gaze.
“Yeah.”
Lucas exhales. “With or without Russ?”
That’s the problem.
Because Russ isn’t leaving her.
Not like this.
Not when she’s barely holding on.
I run a hand over my jaw.
“He won’t go.”
“No,” Miles agrees. “He won’t.”
“Then we don’t wait.”
That settles it.
We move.
We finish what we started.
And we bring the rest of those kids home.
41
Russ
The clock on the wall reads 2:17 a.m.
