Page 33 of Silent Target

“Why?”

“Because I realized whoever wrote the file didn’t know you.”

He looks at me for the first time since we left the safehouse.

“What makes you think you do?”

“I don’t. Not yet.”

The last two words change something in his expression.

I continue before I lose my courage.

“But files describe statistics. Training. Operations. Confirmed kills. They don’t tell me why you stayed behind.”

His attention returns to the road.

“To make sure everyone else got out.”

The answer is so quiet I almost miss it.

“That should have been in the file.”

“No.”

“It should.”

For several seconds, only the tires humming against wet pavement fill the truck.

Then his encrypted phone vibrates.

He glances at the message, and the softness vanishes from his face.

“What is it?”

“Fathom picked up movement. Graves deployed another team.”

“How many?”

“Twelve.”

“Heading toward us?”

“Heading west.”

Caleb presses harder on the accelerator.

The old pickup surges forward with surprising strength.

I check the side mirror.

At first, there is nothing.

Then two black SUVs crest the hill behind us.

Far away.

But gaining.