Chapter 5
CHAPTER FIVE
Eight days.
Eight long, exhausting days, and Coulter still felt as if he’d been run over by a truck, or maybe yanked out of the path of an inbound missile a fraction too late.
Being trapped in the bunker hadn’t helped his disposition any.
The constant hum of the HVAC, the underlying scent of disinfectant and stale coffee.
How voices carried down the concrete corridors, not loud enough to make out any words, but enough to know he was never alone.
He’d only ventured beyond the medical wing a few days ago, and he had to admit, the place was impressive — reinforced doors, CCTV, with security systems and lock redundancies.
The general had carved out a comms room, storage areas, and a weapons’ locker that rivaled any armory Coulter had seen.
But the lack of windows gnawed at the man beneath the uniform.
How every hallway felt like another dead end.
He closed his eyes, memories still lingering in the back of his mind. Troy’s message. The way Neve’s face had appeared out of the fog. Her looking him in the eyes, saying they’d talk.
He took a soothing breath, shoving the thoughts aside as he ran through his daily check — ribs bound as much as Darwin would allow — the pain still fresh, still like a jolt to his system if he breathed too deeply.
The graze on his thigh burned, the shrapnel dressings tugging whenever he moved, and his torso was a patchwork of colors, but he was upright.
Alive.
Which was more than he’d expected when he’d crawled into that tree root. And all because of Neve.
His chest tightened, a stabbing ache hampering his next breath. The kind the meds didn’t touch.
The kind that ran soul deep.
She’d explained. The attack, the retreat. How they’d barely made it out dragging Kane with them. What Darwin had discovered inside Hyperion, and how General Esposito had given them all refuge and a choice — join or flee.
Of course, they’d chosen to stay. To fight. Exactly what he’d expect from a group of highly skilled warriors. From soldiers who’d become more than teammates — who’d become family. But it had come at a cost, and he’d been one of the line items she’d seemingly crossed off the ledger.
Not that he thought it had been an easy decision, but he couldn’t deny that it stung. More than stung. The kind of wound that never quite healed. That she hadn’t trusted him enough to ask him to be part of the team. To want him to help shoulder the load.
That maybe, she didn’t love him the way he loved her.
He leaned against the counter, coffee mug in hand, dressed in clothes the guy they all called Shepherd had picked up for him.
Coulter hadn’t quite figured the man out, yet, unsure if he was more of an Alfred-type soul, or if he simply hid his skills beneath a welcoming facade of fatherly warmth and easy compassion.
If he’d shift from butler into a ninja-level fighter given the right motivation.
Coulter grinned at the thought, fairly certain Shepherd had a six-pack and a set of throwing knives hidden beneath his sweaters and endless cups of coffee.
A throat cleared off to his left, and he turned.
The sight of her stole his breath, hitting him straight in the heart like it had every time he’d opened his eyes over the past week.
Neve.
Dressed in low-riding cargo pants and a form-fitting hoodie, her long brown hair pulled into a pony, those cool blue eyes assessing everything with a single glance. Her teammates flanked her, looking at him as if they weren’t sure whether to give him a hug or kick him in the nuts.
He’d met them all a few times before Neve had joined his unit.
When they’d been part of a joint task force.
Skilled, disciplined, with loyalty Coulter knew couldn’t be bought.
Being offered the position as their team leader had been the one consolation when Neve had given up her spot on his unit because she’d wanted more between the two of them than just wishful thinking.
Hell, he’d wanted that, too. Had promised they’d find a way to take the next step — cross the line they’d been dancing around. Yet, here they were, one year later, and he hadn’t managed more than a few days off to give it an honest try.
Scout hitched one hip out to the side. “Glad I got a photo before you noticed us because you were actually smiling. Guess it really is the end of days.”
Coulter scoffed. “Hilarious. You should do standup.” He raked his fingers through his hair, pursing his lips so Neve didn’t notice the way the simple action pulsed pain through his ribs. “Well? Any sign of Ramsey? Those enhanced motherfuckers?”
They’d told him about that, too. How Darwin’s former partner had stolen his work, weaponized it.
That Coulter had been lucky to escape the facility alive considering the number of enhanced men Ramsey had on his payroll.
The only consolation was that Ramsey wasn’t currently one of them.
At least, that’s what Darwin believed based on the information Coulter had copied from the Bralorne files — something about Ramsey’s vitals.
How they didn’t match the other men. Had been annoyingly stable.
Whether he’d forgone the drugs because of the deadly side effects or just through pure arrogance, Coulter wasn’t sure, but it evened the field a bit.
Made apprehending the guy a possibly, and god knew Coulter wasn’t giving up until Ramsey was either rotting in a cell or six-feet under. The fact he and his company were the only leads they’d connected to Finch gave Coulter a hint of moral high ground.
Neve stared a bit longer, gaze raking up and down him before she visibly shoved everything down like he’d been doing the past week.
“Security’s been radically upscaled at Blackridge, but no sign of them venturing onto the forest service roads.
We’re hopeful they thought it was simply a tactical maneuver and not because we have a hideout an hour west of them. ”
“We both know he won’t stay local for long.
The man’s a hunter. Sooner or later, he’ll pick up the scent — search every RV, cabin, and shack between Hope and Harrison Lake.
” He shifted on his feet, the weight of her stare eating up all the available oxygen in the room.
“What about all those files I copied? Have you uncovered anything useful, yet? Because if we can get Ramsey, break him, he can give us Finch.”
Neve glanced at Zadie, then back to him. “Why don’t we take this into the comms room. Probably easier for Zadie to show you what she’s been working on.”
Coulter gestured them ahead, trailing behind Neve, his gaze drawn to the hypnotic sway of her hips.
How her thigh holster clung to her pants, highlighting her ass a bit more than she’d probably realized.
She must have felt him staring because she stopped at the door, glancing over her shoulder at him.
He schooled his features. They’d been dancing around each other since he’d been strong enough to stumble out of bed. He knew it was only a matter of time before one of them broke their fragile truce — demanded the kind of answers he’d been afraid to hear. But seeing her every day…
It gnawed at his resolve. Tested all the training he’d had beaten into him over the past twenty years. And he knew, he’d never be free until she looked him in the eyes and told him he hadn’t been worth fighting for.
Zadie headed straight for one of the computers in the center of the room, tapping in her password before images and maps appeared on the string of monitors, pages from the files he’d copied from Blackridge’s mainframe.
She motioned them all closer, highlighting a few of the photos.
“So, these are from the unencrypted section of the files you grabbed. They’re mostly surveillance images of our team starting six weeks before Fraser turned on us and shot Kane.
It looks like Fraser was relaying tactical plans, communication frequencies, map coordinates and exfil sites — everything Ramsey needed to plan the perfect ambush.
And with the mission being deemed a training exercise with the occasional “friendly” encounter doubling as enemy forces, he knew we’d all be packing dummy rounds.
That the few seconds it took for us to switch out our mags would be enough to wing Kane, put Ramsey’s whole sordid test into motion. ”
Coulter leaned in closer, his left arm brushing across Neve’s hip. He ignored the kick of his heart, nodding at the profiles Zadie had lined down one side. “Are those the assholes who attacked you?”
Zadie sighed. “They’re the ones we eliminated. Well, the ones Neve eliminated. Or who I suppose got caught up in the explosion. I don’t think they expected the blast to collapse the entire mineshaft.”
“Which suggests they were his expendable troops. That he’s got another squad’s worth he didn’t want to risk.” Coulter pointed to the stats. “Was that asshole’s heart rate really only seventy when he was running full out?”
“It’s not the heart rate that’s the issue.”
Coulter looked over his shoulder as Darwin’s voice sounded behind him. The man leaned against the doorway, looking calm and haggard all at the same time.
Darwin stepped inside. “Look at his temperature.”
Coulter studied more of the numbers. “They run hot.”
“That was one of the issues I hadn’t overcome.
Why TITAN wasn’t fit for testing. I hadn’t found a way for the two compounds to coexist without some of the toxins being left behind.
Over time, they poison the cellular structure, leading to paranoia, aggression, then death.
And with how unstable some of these men’s vitals are, I’d say Finch is just guessing at the dosage.
Playing god with them until he finds something that works long enough for the men to be viable for whatever end game he has in mind. ”
Coulter nodded. “Could you solve it?”