No.
Not even close.
But I stepped toward her anyway.
Always toward her.
My hand slid gently along her jaw.
Warm skin trembling beneath my fingers.
“They touched your life twice,” I said quietly.
Her eyes shimmered instantly.
Once sixteen years ago.
Again at the cabin.
And God help anyone involved because I finally understood something now:
This was never just about silencing a witness.
This was about taking her from me.
Again.
Behind us, Avaexhaled slowly.
“If the senator has someone inside the system, we have a serious problem.”
“We already had a serious problem,” Trigger muttered. “Now we got a hunting list.”
Wolf nodded once.
“Question is how long they’ve been watching Eagle River.”
Silence.
Then—
Vaughn smiled.
That ugly little smile again.
“Long enough.”
Every Ranger in the room went still.
I turned back toward him slowly.
“What does that mean?”
Vaughn leaned his head back against the floorboards.
“Took you long enough to figure it out.”
Ava stepped forward sharply now. “Figure out what?”
