Chapter 28 Mila
Mila
Location: Forest Road — Compromised Zone
Ford steps out of the shadows like he owns them.
Calm.
Controlled.
Untouched by the chaos around him.
Like the crash behind me means nothing.
Like the bodies on the ground are just—
collateral.
I keep my weapon trained on him.
Steady.
Unwavering.
“End of the road,” he says.
Almost conversational.
I tilt my head slightly.
“Funny,” I reply.
“I don’t remember asking for directions.”
His lips twitch.
Not quite a smile.
More like recognition.
“You’ve always had a mouth on you,” he says.
“And you’ve always talked too much,” I fire back.
But my mind?
Already moving.
Tracking.
Counting.
Two men to his left.
One to the right.
Another behind the vehicle.
Weapons up.
Angles covered.
No clean exit.
Good.
I shift my stance just slightly.
Enough to move.
Not enough to warn.
“You took something very valuable,” Ford continues.
“And now… people are going to die because of it.”
My grip tightens.
“They were already dying,” I say.
My voice drops.
Cold.
“I just made sure the truth followed them.”
That lands.
I see it.
Just for a second—
his eyes sharpen.
“You think exposing it changes anything?” he asks.
“No,” I say.
Honest.
Flat.
“I think it burns everything down.”
Silence.
Then—
he exhales slowly.
“That list,” he says, voice lowering, “is bigger than you understand.”
“I understand enough,” I fire back.
“Judges. Supply chains. Military contracts.”
I take a step forward.
Just one.
“Children disappearing under ‘relocation programs.’”
One of the men shifts.
Uneasy.
Good.
Ford doesn’t.
“They’re necessary,” he says.
That—
That hits something deep.
Dark.
Violent.
“Necessary?” I repeat.
A quiet laugh escapes me.
Sharp.
Broken.
“You don’t even believe that.”
His gaze locks onto mine.
“I believe in order,” he says.
“And sometimes… order requires sacrifice.”
My finger tightens on the trigger.
“Then you go first.”
I fire.
Everything explodes.
Gunfire erupts from both sides.
Trees splinter.
Bullets rip through the air.
I move.
Fast.
Low.
Controlled.
Two shots—left.
One drops.
Pivot—right.
Fire.
Another down.
But they’re closing in.
Too many.
Too fast.
A shot grazes my arm.
Pain flares.
Hot.
Sharp.
I grit my teeth.
Keep moving.
Another shot—
Closer this time.
I drop behind the wrecked SUV.
Breathing hard.
Calculating.
No clean way out.
And Ford?
Still standing.
Still watching.
Like he’s waiting.
That’s when I realize—
This was never about killing me.
It was about taking me alive.
My stomach drops.
“No,” I whisper.
Too late.
A hand grabs my arm—
yanks me back hard.
My weapon is ripped from my grip.
I twist.
Fight.
Drive my elbow back—
connect with bone.
A grunt.
But not enough.
Another set of hands.
Stronger.
A needle flashes.
My heart slams.
“No—”
Pain hits.
Sharp.
Burning.
My vision blurs.
Ford steps closer.
“I told you,” he says quietly.
“You don’t understand what you took.”
I force my eyes to stay open.
Force myself to focus.
“Go to hell,” I whisper.
His gaze hardens.
“You already opened the door.”
Darkness crashes in.
The last thing I feel—
is the fight leaving my body.
Jase
Location: Forest Perimeter — Arrival
Time: 02:52
The moment we hit the tree line—
I know.
Something’s wrong.
The air feels off.
Heavy.
“Stop the vehicle,” I snap.
Cal doesn’t argue.
Brakes hit hard.
I’m out before we fully stop.
Pain screaming.
Vision flashing.
I ignore all of it.
Because I feel it.
Deep in my chest.
Mila.
Gone.
Gunfire echoes faintly in the distance.
Then—
silence.
Too much silence.
Ethan moves beside me.
“Jase—”
I take off into the trees.
Fast.
Relentless.
Branches tear at me.
Ground uneven.
Breathing rough.
I don’t stop.
I break through the clearing—
And everything inside me—
stops.
Wreckage.
Burned rubber.
Blood on the ground.
Bodies.
But no Mila.
“No.”
The word rips out of me.
Raw.
Uncontrolled.
I drop to one knee.
Hand hitting the dirt.
Still warm.
She was here.
“She fought,” Ronan says behind me.
Voice low.
Controlled.
I already know.
I can feel it.
In every broken branch.
Every shell casing.
Every drop of blood.
My chest tightens.
Hard.
“She didn’t run,” I say.
“No,” Cal agrees.
“She didn’t.”
My hands curl into fists.
Shaking.
Because I know what this means.
“She was taken.”
The words taste like fire.
Like war.
Silence falls over the team.
Heavy.
Deadly.
Then—
something inside me snaps.
I surge to my feet.
“No.”
The word isn’t denial.
It’s a promise.
My voice drops.
Low.
Cold.
Lethal.
“They don’t get to keep her.”
The team straightens.
Every single one of them.
Because they hear it.
This isn’t a mission anymore.
This is personal.
I look out into the darkness.
Toward wherever they took her.
“They just started a war.”