Chapter 24 Havoc
Havoc
By mid-morning, the plan is already in motion.
Ace and Blaze secure the perimeter.
Wolf runs intel.
Saint starts building a case from Tank’s files.
But one thing is clear.
We’re not waiting for this to come to us again.
We’re taking control.
I step out onto the porch.
The Texas air is warm already.
The kind of heat that settles into your bones.
Aspen is standing near the fence.
Watching Dylan throw a ball for Buddy.
For a moment…
It looks normal.
Peaceful.
But I know better.
I walk up beside her.
“We’re going to need to move you.”
She stiffens.
My chest tightens.
Move?
Again?
Dylan just started settling here.
Just started smiling again.
Sleeping through the night.
Feeling safe.
And now—
“We’re not leaving,” I say.
Because I can’t do that to him again.
Not when he’s just starting to feel like he belongs somewhere.
“It’s not safe here.”
“This is my home now. We are not running.”
Her voice doesn’t waver.
I respect that.
But it doesn’t change the situation.
“They came once,” I say.
“They’ll come again.”
She turns to face me.
Eyes steady.
“I’m not running.”
There it is.
The strength Tank saw.
The strength I see now.
I nod slowly.
“Then we don’t run.”
Her breath catches slightly.
“We fortify.”
Her eyes search mine.
“And you’ll stay?”
The question is simple.
But the answer isn’t.
Because staying means something.
Something I’m not ready to name yet.
“Yeah,” I say finally.
“I’ll stay.”
Buddy barks like he approves.
Aspen exhales slowly.
And I realize something I probably shouldn’t—
This just stopped being a mission.
And started becoming something else.