For a second, no one moves.
Seth’s pulse kicks hard in his throat. He steps toward her.
She flinches, back hitting the wall.
“I was just bringing this to—” Her voice trembles. “They told me to log it, but I thought—”
Seth doesn’t answer.
He takes the bag from her hands. His fingers tear the plastic open. The thin hospital seal snaps. He pulls the necklace free.
The chain is cold against his skin as he loops it over his head. The vial settles against his sternum, right over the bloody bandage.
He looks at the nurse. She is staring at the bodies again, shock overtaking her training. Her hands shake. She looks like she might drop.
Seth doesn’t offer reassurance. He doesn’t threaten her either. He simply walks past her.
The intruder follows, stepping over another agent without breaking pace.
Behind them, the nurse slides down the wall slowly, still clutching the torn plastic bag, staring at the blood pooling across the sterile floor.
Seth doesn’t look back.
They enter the stairwell. The intruder clears each landing with methodical precision. Seth stays quiet, conserving strength for violence.
When they reach the bottom exit, he pushes the door open and guides Seth into the cold night air.
A dark SUV idles near the curb. Travis is in the driver’s seat, wide-eyed, gripping the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turn white.
“Shit—Seth—get in—quick,” Travis shouts, voice cracking.
The intruder eases Seth into the backseat. Seth collapses against the upholstery with a sharp hiss of pain.
Travis looks back at Seth. “Is he okay? Is he—”
“He’ll live,” the intruder closes the passenger door. “Drive.”
Travis hits the gas so hard the tires screech.
The intruder leans back, finally letting the tension leave his shoulders. He looks back at Seth, whose eyes are half-lidded but still burning with purpose.
“You’re welcome,” the intruder says.
Seth hisses as he adjusts in the seat.
“Thanks, Beau.”
Beau nods once.
Seth watches Beau reassemble his pistol with effortless precision and feels a cold, focused clarity settle in his chest.
They had once turned entire operations into rubble when they worked side by side. They had once wiped out threats their commanding officers swore were “unmanageable.”
There were reports that never made it past internal review. Photos that were sealed. Debriefs that grew quiet when certain details came up.
Men left gutted in alleyways after refusing to talk.
One insurgent found without his scalp because Beau needed the others to understand he was done negotiating.
