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“No.”
I rise.
“Sean.”
“No.”
“I’m the reason Daniel found the connection.”
“You were bait once already.”
“And now I know it.”
“That doesn’t make you safe.”
“It makes me useful.”
Sage reaches for my hand.
“I don’t want you to go.”
The words decide everything.
I sit beside her again.
“I won’t.”
Sean’s expression softens.
Not much.
Enough.
“We work with Vega,” I say. “But quietly.”
He nods.
Taylor makes the call.
The sheriff in New Mexico agrees to send one plainclothes deputy to observe the ranch from the road.
We wait.
Ten minutes.
Twenty.
No one leaves the security room.
Sage holds my hand.
Sean stands behind us.
Kane, Trent, Holt, Arthur, and Will fill the doorway and hall.
At thirty-two minutes, the secure line sounds.
Taylor answers.
