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The side of his mouth hitched into some weird half-smile. “The answer has been in front of you all this—this tuh-time.” The life vanished from his eyes, and his head fell to the side.
“What was he talking about?” Mason asked, on guard behind me.
I went to secure a hold of the M4 slung across my body and stand, only to be pushed down in one fast movement, narrowly missing headbutting Stef in the process.
It took me a beat to register we were being fired at, and it was my father who’d saved me from getting shot. He shouldn’t have come back for me, but I was grateful he had. Otherwise, I might be bleeding out alongside Stef Soren.
“This is Bravo Four. Sniper at your nine o’clock. He’s down. You’re clear to move again.” Liam Evans’s words in my ear meant?—
“Comms are back up,” Mason said, finishing my thoughts for me as I knocked my NVGs back in place and my dad helped me to my feet.
“This is Alpha One,” Carter announced in our ears. “We may be back online, but we’ve yet to make contact with TOC.”
When my father had bravely, but stupidly, chanced his life to come back for me, he’d reassured me Wyatt had already taken Mya and Gwen into the water, and they’d made it safely off the island.
“Must’ve been Gwen’s doing to get us back online.” Which means they really are safe.
I heaved out a deep breath, looking back and forth between Mason and my father, then set a hand to my ear to share the bad news with the others. “The Sorens are all dead. Mission is over.”
Our only hope for answers was now the Vanzettis. With any luck, they were who Stef had been alluding to before he died. “Do we know if the other packages were delivered?”
“This is Charlie Two, and yes, they left the island as planned.”
Good. At least that part of the mission was a success. The Sorens may not have been able to answer questions, but at least they were dead after everything they’d put us through.
“Looks like Echo One kicked things into the emergency phase, but regardless, heads on a swivel. A few missiles may still slip through.” Gray hadn’t identified himself, but I knew his voice, and yeah, based on the fireworks in the sky, the Air Force pilots were somewhere up there, out of sight, handling business so we could make our exit.
“Before you head to your extraction points, I need confirmation everyone is good,” Carter transmitted, and I damn near held my breath as I listened to everyone sound off with their call signs. Starting with Sydney, then Sebastian Renaud, everyone went down the line confirming they were alive and good.
Mason’s shoulders visibly fell the second his brother chimed in that he was all right. The last thing I wanted was for that man to experience the hell of losing a sibling.
But could I count on luck really being on our side despite the fact this night went off the rails? I wasn’t sure if I was ready to let go of the metaphorical breath of relief I was holding.
“Let’s do this.” Dad shifted up the pair of NVGs I’d given him earlier, reached into his pocket, then looped Tucker’s tags around his neck. “Ready?” Night vision back in place, he turned my way, and damn was I grateful the man really was in my corner tonight from start to finish.
“This is Alpha Three,” Griffin came into our ears as I went for the rifle hanging around my bare chest. I felt a bit like a movie character in a bad action flick, wearing only shorts, boots, dirt and my own blood. “Bravo Four and I are going to stay on overwatch until everyone is clear.”
“This is Bravo One,” Luke Scott answered. “That’s a good copy.”
I looked around at the area we were in, knowing we had to travel to the other side of the island to exfil. In my head, I’d dubbed our location the Kill Zone. So many of Soren’s men had already been butchered there before we’d arrived at that spot. From the looks of it, it’d been a slaughterfest, and I had to assume it was The Collective’s doing.
After Mason had shielded Jesse and me from the blast post-fight—and thankfully not been injured himself—I’d taken out one of Soren’s men who’d caught up with us, then “borrowed” his boots so we could meet up with the team where we’d stashed our weapons. Carter had drawn the same conclusion as us that someone had turned on the Sorens, and his guess was that someone was Raymond Pecker, playing both sides and secretly also working for The Collective.
The three of us began advancing toward our exfil position, meeting up with the rest of Falcon en route to the water. We’d parted ways with Jesse earlier when he’d teamed up with Sydney and Jack, and based on the bodies we passed with arrows in their backs, she’d been busy.
At the sight of the water, safety felt within reach, and I could practically feel Mya in my arms.
But I should’ve known better than to assume we’d all make a clean escape.
Seconds later, an explosion rocked the ground beneath our feet. A missile had broken through our angel defense system, evading the Air Force flying overhead, and static cut over the comms as a voice I recognized as Mason’s brother cut through and shared the horrific news.
Michael Maddox was more than likely killed when the missile took out a building he’d been using for cover. He was buried under rubble. The chance of surviving that . . .
I let go of my rifle and faced the island. Shock powered through me, rendering me nearly immobile. Stuck in place.
I swallowed down the bile rising in the back of my throat as I stared at the building on fire off in the distance.
At the feel of someone reaching for my arm, I forced myself to turn. My father stood there, urging me to look at him.
