Chapter 27 #2
“Finnish authorities have issued international warrants for armed assault. Europol is coordinating the manhunt. Innovixus is making noise about corporate espionage and kidnapping.” He paused, his gaze touching each of us.
“Under normal circumstances, this would be the end. We’d scatter, use our emergency protocols, and spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders. ”
“But these aren’t normal circumstances,” Flynn guessed, leaning forward.
Ethan’s mouth quirked in what might have been the ghost of a smile. “No. They’re not.” He straightened, shoulders squaring. “I’ve been authorized to offer you something else. A new Edge Ops unit. Completely off-books. No official connection to any government agency.”
The room went still. This wasn’t what any of us had expected.
“Funded by who?” Leo asked, voice rough from the bruising across his chest.
“Tucker Quentin.”
The name fell like a stone in still water. Everyone knew Quentin: billionaire, former Army Ranger, founder of several private military companies. The man had resources that rivaled most countries.
“He’s been watching our work,” Ethan continued. “Approached me six months ago about potentially funding an autonomous unit that could operate without the constraints of government oversight. Helsinki convinced him we’re the right team.”
“What exactly would we be doing?” Rafe asked, fingers absently testing the edge of his bandage.
“The same work. Tracking emerging technologies, preventing their misuse, protecting people who need protecting.” Ethan’s eyes flicked to Sophia. “But without red tape. Without bureaucracy telling us which threats are politically convenient to address.”
“And the catch?” I asked, because there’s always a catch.
Ethan didn’t sugarcoat it. “We live in the shadows. No recognition, no backup if things go wrong. If you’re captured on foreign soil, there’s no diplomatic intervention. No extraction team. You’d face whatever punishment that country’s laws dictate.”
“So basically what just happened in Helsinki,” Flynn said, “but as a permanent career choice.”
“There’s more,” Kate spoke up from the tablet. “Once we take this step, there’s no going back to legitimate operations. No returning to government work. This becomes who we are.”
The weight of that settled across the room. Who we are. Not just what we do.
“I’m in,” Leo said without hesitation.
“Same,” Rafe nodded, grimacing as the movement pulled at his wound.
Flynn looked around at each of us, then shrugged. “We already crossed the line. Might as well keep walking.”
From the tablet, Kate’s voice came clear: “Ozzy and I are in. He’s already started setting up the secure networks.”
Gage shifted in his chair, the movement catching everyone’s attention. His jaw clenched as another tremor ran through him. “Count me in. For whatever time I’ve got left.”
The room went quiet. Alistair’s hand moved to Gage’s shoulder, steadying.
“We’ll find a cure,” Ethan said firmly. “Quentin has access to research facilities. Private labs. We’ll figure this out.”
Gage’s bitter laugh was barely audible. “Sure.”
I wasn’t surprised by their immediate acceptance. We’d formed the kind of bonds that only came from shared risk and mutual trust. We’d chosen each other over rules and regulations. Over careers and safety nets. The decision had already been made on that highway in Finland.
“What about you, Bricks?” Ethan asked.
All eyes turned to me. I felt Evelyn tense beside me, her arm tightening around Sophia.
“You know my answer,” I said simply.
Ethan nodded, then turned his attention to Evelyn. “Which brings me to you.”
She straightened, wariness crossing her face. “Me?”
“I’d like you to join the unit as an intelligence analyst.”
The request clearly blindsided her. “I don’t have any training. I’m a bookstore clerk.”
“You’re a survivor,” Ethan countered. “You’ve lived through situations that would break most people.
An abusive marriage to an arms dealer. A dangerous cult.
Being hunted across multiple states.” His gaze was direct, unflinching.
“You have skills we need. The ability to read people, understand manipulation, recognize patterns of control.”
“I’m not a soldier,” she protested, though I caught the flicker of something in her eyes. Interest, maybe. Or purpose.
“We don’t need another soldier,” Ethan said. “We need someone who sees what others miss. Someone who’s been on the receiving end of the kind of control we’re fighting against.”
Sophia stirred against Evelyn’s shoulder, small fingers clutching at her mother’s shirt even in sleep. Evelyn stroked her back automatically, soothing her without waking her.
“And what about Sophia?” she asked, voice low. “I won’t put her in danger. Not again.”
“That’s part of the offer,” Ethan said. “Staying with the team means protection for her. Resources to keep her safe from the next Innovixus, the next threat. We’d be looking out for her together.”
Evelyn’s eyes sought mine, questioning. I kept my expression neutral. This had to be her choice, not influenced by what I wanted.
“You’ve thought this through?” she asked Ethan. “The practicalities?”
He nodded. “Seattle safehouse with secure identities. Homeschooling supplemented by carefully vetted tutors. Medical care through private channels. The team as extended family providing support and protection.”
“It wouldn’t be normal,” Flynn added. “But normal ended in Garnett.”
Evelyn’s gaze drifted to the window, where rain streaked the glass like tears. “And if I say no? If I want to take Sophia and try for something... quieter?”
“Then we set you up with new identities, financial support, security protocols,” Ethan said without hesitation. “We protect our own, whether they stay or go.”
The offer hung in the air between us. I watched Evelyn’s face, saw her weighing options, calculating risks, putting Sophia first as she always did.
“When would we leave for Seattle?” she asked finally.
“Tomorrow evening,” Kate answered from the tablet. “Private flight from Tallinn to a small airfield outside Seattle. Custom clearance, no immigration.”
Evelyn nodded slowly, her fingers still tracing circles on Sophia’s back. “And this new unit... what would you call it?”
“Still Edge Ops,” Ethan said. “Just a different edge now.”
She looked down at Sophia, studied her sleeping face for a long moment. The little girl had stopped whimpering in her sleep since the extraction, but her fingers still clutched at Evelyn’s shirt with desperate strength, as if afraid her mother might vanish again.
“I need to think about it,” she said finally, looking back at Ethan. “I need to be sure this is the right choice for her.”
He nodded, understanding in his eyes. “Take the time you need. But we move tomorrow regardless.”
The meeting broke apart, each person drifting to separate corners of the farmhouse to process what had just been offered, what had just changed. Gage didn’t move from his chair, his breathing labored, hands still trembling. Alistair murmured something to him too quiet for me to hear.
I stayed beside Evelyn, close enough that she could feel my presence but not so close as to pressure her decision.
“Will you help me put her to bed?” she asked quietly.
I nodded, standing to lead the way back to the small room where they’d been resting.
As we walked, I felt the weight of the future pressing on my shoulders.
Not just my future now, but potentially theirs too.
A new life in Seattle. A new purpose. A new family formed from the ashes of what we’d all lost.
If she said yes.