Chapter 3 #2
Three weeks later, the seismic weapon was deployed, triggering a 7.
2-magnitude earthquake. Hundreds dead, my teammate Maya among them.
Rafe still walked with a limp. Leo needed surgery on his shoulder.
Gage nearly died—he would have if not for his super-human healing ability, courtesy of the bio-engineering experiments he’d been subjected to in the military.
And I’d spent every day since wondering if I’d made the right call, leaving Evelyn and Sophia alone while I chased a weapon I never found in time anyway.
Through the thermal imager, I watched as Evelyn bent down, presumably to hug her daughter. The two heat signatures merged briefly, then separated as the smaller one left the kitchen. Bedtime routine starting.
I shifted my position, stretching stiff muscles. Six months of staying away, telling myself they were safer without me around. Six months of mission after mission, trying not to think about the woman with watchful eyes and her serious little daughter with the stuffed rabbit.
Then, Flynn and Lyric’s mission to infiltrate a black market weapons auction had brought back a file with Evelyn’s name on it. Someone had used her real name—Evelyn Winslow—to buy mind control tech.
It couldn’t be anything but a message.
A warning.
A threat.
I’d been on a plane to Montana within the hour.
I switched on the directional microphone, pointing it at the bedroom window where a soft glow filtered through the curtains. Sophia’s room. I adjusted the gain, catching the distant murmur of Evelyn’s voice. Reading a bedtime story, probably the knight one that Sophia loved so much.
Something twisted in my chest. A feeling I couldn’t name, wouldn’t name.
The voice faded as Evelyn presumably left the room, and I tracked her heat signature moving through the house. Alone now, her silhouette paused in the hallway. Her posture changed, shoulders dropping slightly. Letting down her guard, just for a moment, when no one was watching.
Except me.
I pulled back from the eyepiece, uncomfortable with witnessing this private moment of vulnerability.
Who was I to watch her like this, to invade the life she’d built without me?
But someone had used her name at that auction, and I needed to be sure they were safe, that her ex-husband hadn’t found them.
The thought of her ex-husband sent a wave of cold anger through me.
Langston Winslow. A man who treated his wife and child as possessions.
A man who wouldn’t stop looking for what he considered his property.
During my time at the compound, Evelyn had never talked about him directly.
She’d never talked about much of anything directly, keeping herself carefully distant from everyone except her daughter. But I’d pieced together enough.
Langston was dangerous. Wealthy. Connected.
And still out there.
I checked the perimeter sensors, confirming they were active and linked to my phone. If anyone approached Evelyn’s house tonight from any direction, I’d know about it. I’d be there before they reached the door.
Setting up the rest of the equipment took less than ten minutes. Solar chargers. Backup batteries. Remote triggers. The routine was familiar, calming. This I understood—the technical aspects of protection, the physics of keeping someone safe from a distance.
What I didn’t understand was why my chest felt hollow when I thought about leaving again once the threat was neutralized.
Through the thermal imager, Evelyn moved through the house, checking windows and doors—her own security routine. I watched as she finally settled in the kitchen with a cup of coffee or tea, a solitary orange glow against the blue-green backdrop of the structure.
I’d give anything to know what went through her mind during these quiet moments. If she ever thought about me. If she hated me for dropping them here and disappearing.
If she’d understand why I’d stayed away.
In the quiet darkness of the rimrocks, I settled in for a long night of watching. Of protecting from a distance. It was what I was good at. What I was trained for.
But for the first time in my career, it didn’t feel like enough.
Evelyn’s heat signature finally settled in her bedroom at 0217. She’d spent the last hour pacing, checking windows, peering out into the darkness as if she sensed someone watching. Smart woman. Always vigilant. I wondered if she ever really slept, or if she just rested with one eye open, like me.
Time to check in with the team.
I pulled the compact satellite uplink from my duffel, extending its small dish antenna and orienting it toward the southern sky. The tech was Kate’s latest design—portable, secure, and virtually undetectable. A far cry from the bulky comms equipment I’d used in my early military days.
The connection was established with three soft beeps, and I slipped in my encrypted earpiece. “Dalton checking in.”
A moment of static, then Ethan’s voice filled my ear. “Good to hear from you, Bricks. Status?”
“In position. Sight lines established. Targets secure.” I kept my voice low, though there was no one around to hear me for miles. Old habits.
“Any signs of hostile activity?” Ethan asked. I could hear keyboards clicking in the background, the familiar sounds of Edge Ops headquarters at night.
“Nothing yet. Town appears normal.” I adjusted my position against the rock shelf, easing pressure on my lower back. “The motel owner was asking a lot of questions, but I think that’s more out of boredom and a desire for gossip than malicious intent.”
More typing, then Ethan said, “Bringing in the tech team. They’ve got updates on NeuroLink.”
The line clicked, and Kate’s voice came through, crisp and direct. “Hey, Bricks. Ozzy and I have been researching the tech since you left. You’re not going to like what we found.”
“When do I ever?” I watched as the lights in Evelyn’s house finally went dark.
“It’s a two-part system,” Kate continued. “Neither component works without the other, which means it takes time to implement. So point for us. Maybe we’re earlier enough to stop whatever the buyer has planned.”
We thought we were early enough to stop Tectra-X, too. But I didn’t point that out.
Ozzy’s voice cut in, his British accent clipped and exact.
“First part: receptor-priming compounds introduced through water supply or food. Colorless, odorless, builds up in the neural tissue. Second part: electromagnetic signals broadcast through modified cell towers. Together, they create a neural network override.”
I processed this, connecting the dots. “If they were going to test on the town, they’d need access to the water treatment facility.”
“Exactly,” Kate confirmed. “They need to seed the compounds first, then activate with the signal. Without both, nothing happens.”
“Timeline?” I asked, my eyes never leaving Evelyn’s house.
“Compound needs five to seven days to reach useful levels in brain tissue,” Ozzy explained. “After that, the EM signal can trigger immediate effects.”
Kate jumped back in. “We’ve mapped the progression. It starts small—people using the same phrases repeatedly, moving in sync without realizing it, eyes slightly unfocused. Then it escalates to collective behavior modification. Following commands, acting against their normal patterns.”
“Complete behavioral control is the end goal,” Ozzy added. “A town full of people who’ll do exactly what they’re told, with no memory of it afterward.”
My jaw clenched. I thought of Evelyn, of Sophia. Of a town where everyone became puppets. The idea hit too close to what Evelyn had already survived at Hope’s Embrace—the slow, insidious control, the loss of autonomy.
“Any way to detect the compound?” I asked.
“Not in the field,” Kate said, frustration evident in her voice. “We need lab equipment. But we’ve modified your sat phone to detect the EM signals. If they’ve set up a transmitter, it’ll register.”
“I’ll sweep the town tomorrow,” I said. “And check the local water facility.”
Ethan’s voice returned. “What’s your assessment of Evelyn Phillips and the child? Any signs they’ve been affected?”
I thought of Evelyn’s careful movements, the watchful way she’d scanned her surroundings earlier that day. Nothing seemed off about her behavior. She’d always been cautious. Vigilant.
“Negative. Behavior appears normal.” I paused, considering my next words carefully. “They don’t know I’m here yet.”
A beat of silence.
“Your call on contact,” Ethan finally said in a carefully neutral tone, but I’d known him long enough and could tell he didn’t approve. “You know the situation better than we do.”
I did know. Knew that showing up unannounced might scare Evelyn, might trigger her fight-or-flight response. Knew that Sophia might not even remember me after six months, or worse, might remember too well and give away my presence to others. Small towns talked. And we needed quiet for this.
“I’ll maintain distance for now,” I decided. “Less complicated.”
Kate snorted. “Yeah, because nothing says ‘uncomplicated’ like lurking in the rocks with thermal imaging equipment.”
I didn’t respond to that.
“Listen, Bricks.” Ethan’s tone stayed neutral, but again, I knew the man, and I wasn’t going to like what he had to say next. “Some of the team still has questions about the auction purchase. About whether Phillips might actually be involved.”
My hand tightened on the sat phone. “She’s not.”
“You sure about that? Her real name shows up on a black market weapons auction for mind control tech, and you don’t think that’s worth questioning?”
“I’m sure. Someone’s using her name as a message. A threat. She’s the target, not the buyer.”
“How can you be certain?”
Because I knew her. Because I’d spent two years watching her try to protect her daughter from a cult’s twisted plans. Because she’d run into the night without looking back when I’d offered her freedom. Because everything about Evelyn Phillips screamed survival, not conspiracy.
“I know her,” I said. “She wouldn’t touch this tech. Wouldn’t go anywhere near it.”
More silence on the line.
Then Ethan said, “Alright. But stay sharp. If you’re wrong—”
“I’m not.”
Another pause. “The rest of the team is a day out if you need backup, but we’ve got a safehouse prepped in Missoula if extraction becomes necessary.”
Extraction.
Taking Evelyn and Sophia away from the life they’d built here, disrupting the fragile peace they’d found. I wasn’t ready to make that call.
Not yet.
“I’ll monitor for a few days,” I said. “If I detect either component of the NeuroLink system, I’ll reassess.”
“Understood,” Ethan replied. “Daily check-ins, same time. Immediate alert if situation changes.”
“Copy that.”
Ozzy’s voice returned, oddly hesitant for him. “Trent. The NeuroLink compound... it targets the limbic system first. Affects emotional centers before higher reasoning. If they’ve been exposed, you might see... attachment behaviors change first.”
My grip tightened on the satellite phone. “Meaning?”
“People they trust could become people they fear. People they love could become strangers.”
So if Evelyn and Sophia had already been exposed, they might not recognize me. Might not trust me, even if they needed my help.
Not that I expected a warm welcome anyway. Six months of silence had likely done that damage already.
“Understood. Anything else?” I asked.
“Just... be careful,” Kate said. “This tech is nasty stuff. Alistair’s helping us work on a neutralizing agent, but we can’t guarantee we’ll have one ready if the shit hits the fan there.”
“Check in tomorrow,” Ethan concluded. “Edge Ops out.”
The connection closed with a soft click, leaving me alone with the night sounds and the faint glow of thermal images on my screen.
Evelyn’s heat signature remained still in her bedroom.
Sleeping, finally. Sophia’s smaller form hadn’t moved since she’d gone to bed, deep in the untroubled sleep of childhood.
I settled back against the rock, eyes fixed on the monitors. Five to seven days of exposure before the mind control took effect. If whoever bought that NeuroLink tech had already contaminated the water supply, the clock was ticking. If not, I had a narrow window to prevent it from happening.
Either way, I wasn’t leaving.
Not until I knew for certain they were safe.
The night air grew colder as the hours passed, but I barely noticed. I’d spent more nights like this than I could count—watching, waiting, protecting people who didn’t know they were being protected—but this felt different. This wasn’t just another mission. This was Evelyn and Sophia.
This was the closest thing to family I’d ever known.
And I’d kill whoever was behind this before I let them turn Evelyn into a puppet again. Before they got anywhere near Sophia.
Some lines shouldn’t be crossed, but this one already had my boot print on it.