Chapter 12 #2
I'm running before he finishes speaking. The corridors blur past. My boots slip on stone but I don't slow down. The operations center door is open when I arrive, and I stumble through it expecting the worst.
Kane's alive.
He's standing at the main console with Stryker and Mercer, all three of them covered in dirt and what might be blood. His eyes find me immediately, and I see relief flash across his face before the commander's mask slides back into place.
"What happened?" I demand. "Tommy said...”
"We're fine." Kane's voice is steady. "But we've got a problem."
Tommy pulls up new intel on the main screen. Personnel files. Photographs. Deployment records.
"The Committee's not just sending random assets," Tommy says. "They're activating Protocol Seven's enforcement division. These aren't contractors or hired guns. These are former special operations—Delta, SEALs, SAS. The best they've got."
"How do we know this?" Kane asks.
"Victoria Cross." Tommy pulls up a communication log. "She's an intelligence broker we've used before. Sold us the intel an hour ago. Said it was worth the risk to warn us."
"Cross is reliable," Stryker confirms. "Expensive, but she doesn't deal in bad information."
"How many?" I ask.
"Twenty-three confirmed operatives deployed to Montana in the last twelve hours." Tommy switches screens. "And they're all being coordinated by one person."
A photograph loads. Cold eyes. Angular features. A face I've seen before in surveillance photos and intelligence briefings.
"Victor Kessler," Tommy says. "He's not just hunting you for revenge. He's running the entire operation to eliminate Protocol Seven targets. And Willa, you're his primary focus."
The room goes silent. Everyone's looking at me, waiting for my reaction. Waiting to see if I'll finally break. Finally realize that staying here means dying here.
Instead, I feel something settle into place. A decision made.
"Good," I say. "Let him come."
Kane's eyes narrow. "Willa...”
"No." I cut him off. "I'm done running. Done hiding.
Done letting other people fight my battles.
" I look at each of them—Kane, Stryker, Mercer, Tommy, Sarah.
"Kessler wants me because of my father. Because Dad saw something in Yemen that the Committee couldn't afford to let surface.
Well, I'm going to make sure what he died protecting doesn't die with him. "
"This isn't your fight," Kane says quietly.
"It became my fight the second I saved that dog.
" I move closer to him, letting him see the determination in my eyes.
"It became my fight when you came for me in that blizzard. When you brought me here. When you...” I stop, aware of the audience.
"You don't get to claim me one minute and push me away the next.
I'm in this. Whether you like it or not. "
Pride wars with fear across Kane's features. I can see the battle happening behind his eyes—the part of him that wants to lock me in the safest room in the base versus the part that recognizes I'm not someone who can be protected by being hidden away.
"You don't know what you're asking for," he says.
"I know exactly what I'm asking for." I don't look away. Don't back down. "I'm asking to stand beside you. To fight this war you've been fighting alone. To be part of this team instead of something you have to protect."
"She's good in a firefight," Stryker offers. "Took out two tangos without hesitation. Kept her head when most civilians would've frozen."
"She's got steady hands," Mercer adds. "Medical training we could use."
"She's standing right here," I say. "And she's not changing her mind."
Kane stares at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nods.
"Okay." His voice is rough. "But you follow orders. You don't take unnecessary risks. And if I tell you to run...”
"I'll consider it," I interrupt. "Same as before. I'm not promising blind obedience."
Stryker laughs. "She's got your number, boss."
Kane ignores him, his eyes still locked on mine. "This changes everything. You understand that? The Committee will come at us harder. Kessler will escalate. There's no going back from this decision."
"I know." And I do. I know that choosing to stay means choosing to fight. Means accepting that I might die here. But it also means choosing Kane. Choosing this strange family of broken warriors who've decided I'm worth protecting. "I'm not going back. Only forward."
Tommy clears his throat. "Hate to interrupt, but we've got incoming intel. The Committee's pulling assets from three states. They're not just searching anymore. They're preparing for an assault."
"On what?" Kane asks.
"Unknown. But based on the force concentration, they're planning something big. Within seventy-two hours."
Seventy-two hours. Three days. Protocol Seven's deadline.
Kane's jaw tightens. "Then we have three days to figure out what they're planning and stop it." He looks at me. "You sure about this?"
I think about my father. About the secrets he kept. About the years of living in fear that the Committee would come for him or for me. About dying before his time from stress because he couldn't tell anyone what he knew.
I think about the dog I saved who knows where chemical weapons are hidden. About surveillance photos documenting my life like I'm already dead. About Kessler out there somewhere, coordinating twenty-three trained killers, all focused on eliminating me.
And I think about Kane. About the way he came for me when he didn't have to. About his hands on my skin, his voice in my ear, his promise that I'm not alone anymore.
"I'm sure," I say.
Kane steps closer, his hand finding mine. His thumb traces across my knuckles—a small gesture, but in front of his team, it means everything.
"Then welcome to Echo Ridge," he says quietly. "For real this time."
Stryker grins. Mercer nods approval. Even Sarah manages a small smile.
Tommy's screen flashes red before anyone can say more.
"Kane." His voice is tight with urgency. "We've got a breach. Someone just tried to access the auxiliary entrance. The one near your cabin."
Everyone moves at once. Weapons drawn. Combat mode engaged. But Kane keeps hold of my hand for one more second.
"Stay close," he says. "And Willa? Don't make me regret believing you could handle this."
"I won't."
He releases me and moves to the tactical display. Tommy's pulling up security feeds from the auxiliary entrance. The cameras show a figure in tactical gear working on the access panel.
But it's not a Committee operative.
It's a woman. Late twenties, dark hair, moving with professional efficiency as she bypasses the security system.
"Who the hell is that?" Stryker asks.
Tommy works his keyboards, pulling up data. "Facial recognition running... Got her. Karina Miles. Former CIA. Went dark two years ago after accusing her superiors of running illegal operations."
"She's on Protocol Seven's list," Sarah says quietly, pulling up the file. "Number eight. The Committee's been hunting her since she disappeared."
Kane stares at the screen. "How did she find us?"
"Same way Kessler did, probably." Tommy zooms in on the woman's equipment. "She's good. Really good. And Kane? She just got through the first security layer. She'll be inside the base in about ninety seconds."
"Do we engage?" Mercer asks.
Kane watches the screen, calculating. Then: "No. If she's on the Protocol Seven list, she's running from the same people we are. Let her in. But weapons ready. If this is a trick, we end it fast."
The woman clears the second security layer. Then the third. She's moving deeper into the tunnels now, following the access corridor with the confidence of someone who knows exactly where she's going.
Sixty seconds later, she rounds the corner into the operations center.
And stops dead when she sees six weapons pointed at her head.
She raises her hands slowly. "I'm not here to fight. I'm here because I need help. And because you need what I know."
"Talk fast," Kane says, rifle steady on center mass.
She meets his eyes without flinching. "My name is Karina Miles.
I'm number eight on Protocol Seven's termination list. And I know where the Committee's staging their chemical weapons cache.
The one your dog can lead us to. The one they're planning to deploy in seventy-two hours against a civilian target. "
The room goes absolutely silent.
"What target?" Kane asks.
Karina's smile is cold. Bitter. "The one that will give them everything they want. The one that will let them reshape American policy for the next fifty years."
She pauses, letting the weight of that sink in.
"They're going to attack the Capitol."