Page 11 of Dozer

"There you are," I murmur.

"What?"

"It’s hard to make you laugh like that, but I always try."

"You succeed more often than you realize."

I’m not sure why that surprises me. Maybe because Hunter always carries the weight of everyone around him and always has. His team, their families, his missions, the impossible decisions he has to make, and now Spartan Elite. I've sometimes wondered who carries Hunter. Maybe nobody, maybe that's the price of leadership. But now at least he has Amber and she can help balance some of his seriousness with joy.

"I'll see you tomorrow," he says. "And, Kenzi."

"Yeah?"

His voice loses every trace of humor.

"This mission is bigger than anyone outside a very small circle realizes."

I wait.

"The body you're escorting belonged to a man who spent years gathering evidence against people no one thought could be touched. Important people with a lot of power."

A chill works its way down my spine.

"The evidence died with him?"

"No. It died because someone believes it did."

I frown.

"I'm not following."

"The autopsy will prove otherwise."

Silence settles between us. Hunter finally speaks.

"Some people bury bodies to hide the truth." His next words land like stones. "This time... They buried the truth inside the body, and they absolutely do not want an autopsy to be performed."

I slowly lower myself onto the edge of my bed. For someone who's spent her career listening to what the dead have to say...That sentence carries a terrifying kind of poetry.

"You really think people will kill to stop an autopsy from occurring?"

"I know they will."

His certainty leaves no room for doubt. I turn when Dexter jumps onto the dresser next to Ryan’s photograph. My brother is grinning at the camera in dusty camouflage, one arm thrown around a younger Hunter after some long-forgotten deployment.

Ryan always believed the truth mattered. Hunter still does.

So, do I.

Some stories deserve to be told, especially if someone has tried to bury them forever. My answer comes easier than I expected.

"Then we'd better make sure the dead get the last word."

Hunter is quiet for a long moment. When he speaks again, pride threads through his voice. "Ryan would've said the same thing."

Emotion catches unexpectedly in my throat. "I know."

"I'll see you tomorrow."