Page 19 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“Have you tested him?”

“Every Christmas.”

I looked over. “What?”

“Never mind.”

I laughed and returned to the timeline. We went through Hungary next. The Budapest operation was different enough that I initially thought it might break the pattern.

ARC had been assigned a farmhouse outside the city believed to be connected to a Cerberus financial intermediary. Their planned departure from the staging site was 2:15.

Hawk reported two unidentified vehicles south of the target shortly after one in the morning, and Wolf moved the team thirty-five minutes ahead of schedule without informing anyone outside ARC.

The farmhouse was still empty when they reached it. Hawk’s reconstruction put the departure of the occupants somewhere between fifteen and twenty minutes before ARC arrived.

I read the times twice.

“Wait.”

Raven glanced over.

“You left at 1:40?”

“Approximately.”

“And joint command still thought you were leaving at 2:15.”

“Yes.”

“Nobody outside the unit knew Wolf moved the timeline?”

“No.”

“Then whoever left the farmhouse couldn’t have been reacting to the schedule ARC submitted.”

Raven’s expression shifted.

“They were already gone.”

“Exactly.”

Wolf’s voice came from behind us.

“The departure window was an estimate.”

I turned in my chair.

He had approached quietly enough that I hadn’t noticed, which seemed impossible considering I could usually hear his boots before I saw him. He stood behind Raven’s chair with a folder tucked beneath one arm.

I looked back at the screen. “Hawk’s estimate?”

“Yes.”

“How accurate is he?”

Wolf’s stare made the answer obvious.

“Right. Stupid question.”