As they crested a low ridge, the drizzle thickened into rain, tapping steady against the windshield. The wipers kept time with her heartbeat, quick and uneasy, as they drove deeper into the gray.
The rain kept falling, a steady curtain against the windshield. They had been on the road for almost an hour when Avery finally broke the silence.
“There hasn’t been much time to catch up,” she said, her voice soft. “How have you been, Jackson?”
He didn’t take his eyes off the road. “Fine.”
It sounded automatic, practiced. Then he gave a low breath, like he was reconsidering. “Fine until the mission where I got hurt.”
She turned toward him. “What happened?”
He hesitated, then said, “It was supposed to be a quick extraction. Something went sideways. One of our men got pinned down, and I went after him. We made it out, but not before a piece of shrapnel tore through my leg.” His jaw tightened. “I got lucky, though. Could’ve been a lot worse.”
Avery frowned. “Is that why you’re on leave?”
“Yeah. They said take time off. Heal. So here I am.” He looked at her briefly, then back to the road. “What about you? How have you been?”
She gave a small, humorless laugh. “Definitely not fine.”
He didn’t respond, waiting her out the way he always had when she needed to talk.
“It’s a lonely life,” Avery finally said. “I have to lie to everyone I meet, watch every word, every move. Always wondering if someone’s watching me back. It’s exhausting.”
Jackson’s hands stayed steady on the wheel, but his expression softened.
“I’m so tired of living in fear,” she said, staring out at the rain-blurred horizon. “Because it’s not really living. I’m ready for a showdown with the Brotherhood, ready to end this, but…”
He glanced at her. “But what?”
She hesitated. “I’m worried about you getting caught up in it.”
His answer came without hesitation. “I’m already caught up.”
Avery looked at him then, really looked. The hard lines of his face, the steadiness in his eyes. He wasn’t just saying it for her. He meant it.
And that realization scared her more than anything else.
They turned off the main road onto a long stretch of gravel lined with scrub oak and mesquite. The rain had eased to a mist, but the sky stayed heavy and gray, the kind that made everything look washed out and lonely.
Jackson slowed the SUV and pulled to the side. “This should be the road,” he said, scanning the GPS. “You sure this is the place?”
Avery nodded. “Yeah. Keep going straight about half a mile. You’ll see the turnoff.”
He reached for a small handheld scanner from the console. Lights flickered across the screen as he swept it over the area. “No heat signatures around the property. Just one inside the house. Looks like he’s alone.”
Her stomach tightened. “That fits. He likes his privacy.”
Jackson gave her a sidelong glance. “How’d he end up living out here anyway?”
“It used to be his family’s hunting place,” she said. “He moved out here a few years ago. Said he liked the quiet, but I think he just didn’t want people too close.”
Jackson grunted. “Guess that worked in his favor until now.”
He started the SUV again and drove up the narrow drive, tires crunching over wet gravel. The trees opened into a clearing, and Warren’s house came into view. A low, single-story cabin with a wide porch and a rusted pickup parked out front. Smoke drifted from the chimney, faint against the gray sky.
Jackson slowed to a crawl, eyes scanning the area again. Everything looked still. Too still.
Before he could pull up to a full stop, the front door opened.
