That wasn’t good.
“Shepherd,” Rook repeated coldly. “Still hiding behind other men?”
The silence outside stretched.
Then:
“And you’re still protecting people you can’t save.”
Jesus.
These two knew each other.
Wolf looked toward Rook slowly.
“You want to explain that?”
Rook ignored him too.
His attention stayed fixed on thedarkness outside.
“Shepherd worked private black operations after Afghanistan,” he said flatly. “Until entire teams started disappearing around him.”
The voice outside chuckled.
“Selective version of events.”
“You murdered civilians.”
“They were liabilities.”
The words landed in the barn like poison.
No emotion.
No hesitation.
Flick’s fingers tightened against my shirt.
I could feel her shaking now.
Not weakness.
Pure adrenaline.
Because suddenly this wasn’t faceless evil anymore.
This was a man standing outside in the dark discussing murder like business paperwork.
Rook stepped slightly forward.
“What do you want?”
“You already know.”
“The ledger.”
“And the girl.”
