Chapter 21
THE FIRST THING SHE noticed when she woke up was that the warmth beside her was gone.
She stirred slowly, her senses easing into consciousness before her eyes did, a lazy smile curving her lips before her fingers stretched across the mattress and found only cool sheets.
Her smile faltered as she opened her eyes to an empty space where Callen should’ve been.
Still, she didn’t panic, assuming he was merely awake and getting coffee, and didn’t want to wake her.
She lay there for a moment, letting the remnants of sleep slip away as she remembered the feel of his arms wrapped tight around her during the night.
The safety she’d felt. The way his breath had slowed only after hers did, like he couldn’t rest unless she did first. The weight of his arm slung protectively over her waist, as if even in sleep, he was guarding her.
For the first time in days, she’d slept without one eye open, without dread sitting like a boulder on her chest. Her heart ached in a way that was both new and familiar, perhaps even something that felt close to home.
She rolled to her side, pressing her cheek into the pillow that still carried his scent: wood smoke, leather, and something uniquely Callen. A quiet strength, a man trying to bear the weight of the world without complaint. She hated how well he did it, but counted on it as well.
Eventually, the craving for coffee outweighed the yearning to stay curled up in a place where he wasn’t. She sat up, glancing around, but he wasn’t even in the room. Nor were his keys, his boots, or the clothes he stripped out of last night. How had she not even heard him get dressed?
With a shake of her head at how dead to the world she must have been last night, she slipped from the bed and pulled on her jeans and one of the T-shirts Callen had lent her the day before, black, soft, and far too big. It smelled like him too.
Still barefoot, she padded to the kitchen, hoping to find him pouring coffee, brooding like usual.
However, when she stepped into the kitchen, she found Elvis leaning against the counter, a mug already in hand, his sunglasses tucked into his collar.
Gage stood beside him, nursing his own cup, both of them still and quiet in a way that made Meaghan’s stomach tighten.
They looked up at once, neither one of them smiling.
She paused just inside the doorway, her brow furrowed as she glanced around the kitchen. There was no Callen.
“Where is he?” she asked instantly alert.
Elvis hesitated, while Gage didn’t even look up.
“Elvis,” she repeated, taking another step further into the room, the chill in her voice catching his attention. “Where’s Callen?”
He rubbed a hand down his face. “He left about an hour ago. Took an SUV and… just left.”
She froze. “Left? As in gone? What do you mean he left? Where did he go?”
Gage glanced at Elvis, letting the other man take the lead. Elvis sighed, straightening up. “To confront your father. Alone.”
The floor dropped out from beneath her. “He what?” She moved to the counter, falling back on it as she dropped her gaze to the floor. “And you let him go?”
“I tried to stop him,” Elvis said, his tone gentler than she’d ever heard it. “Told him it was a stupid idea. That he should talk to you first. That you’d want to be there.”
“But he went anyway? Just left me behind?”
“Told him he was being a stubborn, pigheaded ass, but Wraith—well, you know how he is. You grew up with him. He said you’d be safer here. That this was something he had to do without you. Said he wanted you safe here with us.”
Her brow furrowed as she glanced up at him. “Wraith? What is that?”
Gage finally looked up, eyes flickering between the two of them. “Wraith. His nickname, call sign. Like mine is Gage, and his is Elvis. We all have them.”
“I’ve never heard it before.”
“Well, you haven’t talked to each other in a decade or better,” Elvis said. “I was a SEAL and him a Ranger, so we didn’t really serve together, but from what I heard, he earned the name in some of the worst places he’d ever been. Back when he signed on with nothing but rage and a rifle.”
Meaghan folded her arms. “Why Wraith?”
“Because he moved like a ghost,” Elvis whispered.
“Dead behind the eyes. Like he didn’t care if he came back.
He took missions no one else wanted. Deep infiltrations.
No backup. His team would blink and he’d be gone, deep in enemy territory doing shit none of the rest of them could wrap their heads around.
Ghosted in and out. Never left a trace. So Wraith stuck.
He got the job done, but he left a piece of himself behind every time. ”
“He doesn’t use the name anymore,” Gage added. “Didn’t want his past to define him. But every once in a while, he resurfaces when we need him.”
Elvis nodded. “Some guys wear the war like a badge. Callen wore it like a penance.”
She could hear the awe and fear in their voices. “And now?” Her stomach twisted, fear of their answer making her nauseous. “Now he’s back to being that?”
Elvis winced. “Now he’s protecting you the only way he knows how—alone.”
“Bullshit,” she snapped as she braced her hands on the counter to keep from shaking.
Rage. Hurt. Fear. They all tangled in her chest like wires sparking off each other.
“He doesn’t get to decide that for me. We talked about this.
We’re supposed to face this together. I’m not some helpless woman in a tower waiting to be rescued. ”
“No one said you were,” Gage assured her.
Elvis nodded solemnly. “Told him you wouldn’t be all right with it.”
“Damn right I’m not all right with it. He left without me. That’s what he said he wouldn’t do again.”
Elvis nodded, guilt tightening his jaw. “He asked me to take care of you until he got back.” He leaned forward, casting a quick glance at Gage.
“I’ll admit our team seems to have blinders on when it comes to their ladies, like they’re there to protect them, and not treat them as partners in whatever chaos is exploding around them. ”
“That’s exactly the problem,” she said. “I’m done being protected. I want my life back, Elvis. And if he thinks he’s going to take on my father without me, he’s got another thing coming.”
Gage glanced over, brow raised. “He’s already gone, though.”
She shrugged, pushing herself off the counter and turning for a cup of coffee. “And I’m going after him.”
Elvis pushed himself off the counter, moving over to grab the coffeepot before she could. “That’s not what he wanted.” He poured her a cup, and she gripped the handle tighter to keep her hand from shaking.
She gave him a curt nod and then moved to the table on wobbly legs, easing herself down into a chair. The truth was catching up to her. All the quiet moments, the dark looks, the way he always seemed to hesitate like he didn’t think he deserved something good, like her.
“But why now? Why go to my father now? And by himself?”
Elvis gave a weary shrug. “He’s trying to protect you. He thinks if he gets answers, if he faces the senator alone, it’ll end this before you get dragged in deeper.”
“Seems it’s too late for that,” she whispered.
Elvis dropped back down into a chair across from her, folding his hands on the table. “So. What do you want to do?”
Meaghan didn’t even hesitate. “I already told you. I’m going after him.”
Gage, leaning back in his chair, hands in his lap, let out a quiet sigh. “I don’t think that’s a good idea. Callen told us to keep you safe here. That he’d be back.”
“I don’t give a damn what he wanted or what he said,” she snapped, eyes flashing.
“I refuse to sit here like some weakling and wait for another man to decide how my story ends. Now, you can either help me or get out of my way. I’ll find my own transportation if I have to.
” She took a deep breath, leaning back in her chair.
“Now, are you going to help me or what?”
Elvis gave Gage a long look, silence stretching between them. After a moment, he nodded. “We’ll leave in thirty minutes.” He rubbed a hand down his face. “After we get you geared up. And for the record, I still think this is a bad idea.”
She exhaled sharply, tension easing just a fraction. “Thank you.” She shifted in her chair slightly. “And I need something else. I need clothes. Something that doesn’t smell like sweat and motel soap. I’m not facing my father wearing three days of grunge.”
Elvis smiled, giving a slow bob of his head. “We’ll swing by a store on the way out. Get you some proper clothes and shoes.”
“And a phone,” she added, leveling him with a look. “I want my own damn phone. I’m tired of being cut off like a child.”
Elvis gave a reluctant grin. “Whatever you want.”
Gage saluted her with his coffee. “Remind me never to piss you off.”
Meaghan didn’t smile back. She simply lifted her cup to her lips and took a slow sip. Rubbing her lips together, she eased out of her chair, knowing there wasn’t much to pack, but just needing to be alone in her room anyway.
She paused at the doorway, glancing back over her shoulder. “And if either of you even think about letting Callen out of your sight again, I swear to God I’ll hunt you down myself.”
Elvis chuckled, low and gruff. “Wraith picked a hell of a woman.”
Meaghan didn’t respond, choosing instead to hide in her room until it was time to go.
She turned on her heel and disappeared into the bedroom, already plotting what she would say to Callen when she saw him next.
If he thought she was going to forgive him with a kiss and a thank-you, he didn’t know her nearly as well as he thought.
This wasn’t about love anymore.
It was about respect.
And she had already earned it—on her own damn terms too.
As she entered her room, the one she shared with Callen last night, inside, a storm was building. One that had nothing to do with politics or mercenaries or corrupt land deals.
This time, it was personal.
And she was through with letting other people fight her battles.
The sun had barely burned through the morning haze when they pulled away from the safe house, its camouflaged structure disappearing behind a wall of trees. Gravel crunched beneath the SUV’s tires, the dense canopy overhead filtering early light into shards of gold and green.
Meaghan settled into the backseat, her borrowed hoodie soft against her cheek as she leaned against the window.
Elvis drove, one hand on the wheel, the other nursing a thermal mug that promised strong coffee.
Gage rode shotgun, tapping at his phone, occasionally glancing at the rearview mirror to check on her.
The winding dirt path finally gave way to pavement, and the SUV picked up speed as they merged onto a narrow county road. Ahead, the route would link with the interstate, and from there, it was a straight shot into Georgia. After stopping for clothes and a new phone, that is.
They spoke little at first, the air inside the vehicle thick with the unspoken weight of what they were doing. Leaving the safe zone. Heading straight toward the man who had been both protector and deceiver. Her father.
Meaghan stared out the window at the trees whipping past, but her mind was on the road ahead.
On Callen. She could still smell him on her skin, could feel the ghost of his arms around her from the night before.
Part of her still couldn’t believe he’d gone without her. Another part knew exactly why he had.
She didn’t ask how far ahead he had gotten or if they could catch up with him. She just watched the trees fall away, replaced by open stretches of farmland and the occasional rusted-out barn leaning into the wind. Her heart ached, but her spine stayed straight.
“He thinks he’s saving me,” she murmured, mostly to herself. “That’s why he left me behind.” She was through with being the one left behind, however.
And as the miles stretched on, so did her resolve. This time, she would face the truth head-on, even if it shattered everything.
Gage turned slightly in his seat, lifting his phone in offering. “You want to call him? Let him know we’re on the way.”
Meaghan blinked, lips curving slightly at the corners. “Let him be surprised.”