Page 268 of Broken Oath

From the doorway, Sam Cutter lifted his mug.

“You’re buying me a new one.”

A few smiles appeared.

Brief.

Small.

Gone almost immediately.

But we needed them.

The mountain on the screen looked like a grave.

And we were preparing to walk back into it.

Falcon had been silent for nearly an hour, studying the terrain and possible approach routes.

Finally, he spoke.

“What if we’re already too late?”

The question hit the room hard.

No one answered.

Because no one knew.

Sarah stared at Wade’s photograph.

Her eyes shone, but no tears fell.

“We’re not.”

Everyone looked at her.

The determination in her face was fierce enough to cut through steel.

She stepped toward the screen and placed her fingers against the image of the mountain.

“We’re bringing him home.”

Her father closed his eyes.

The old warrior looked as if he had been waiting five years to hear those words and was terrified to believe them.

I nodded once.

A promise.

A vow.

A mission.

“We bring them all home.”

Sarah looked at me.