Chapter 45
Ace
The road narrows as we head north.
Gravel replaces pavement. Trees close in. Less traffic. Less visibility.
Exactly where I’d go if I wanted to disappear.
Or set a trap.
“Signal’s stronger,” Blaze says from the back, eyes locked on his tablet. “Whoever called? They didn’t go far.”
“Or they want us close,” Trigger mutters.
Yeah. That.
I ease off the gas, scanning the treeline.
Nothing.
No movement. No vehicles.
Doesn’t mean a damn thing.
“Kill the lights,” I say.
Darkness drops over us. Moonlight barely cuts through the branches above.
I bring the SUV to a stop.
“We go on foot.”
No one argues.
Doors open. Quiet. Controlled.
The second my boots hit the ground, I feel it.
Wrong.
The air is colder. Damp. The faint rush of the river somewhere ahead.
Everything else?
Too quiet.
Tessa steps up beside me.
I take her hand without thinking. Firm. Grounding.
“You good?” I ask low.
“Yeah.”
She squeezes once.
I don’t let go.
We move.
Trigger left. Beast right. Blaze just behind, tracking.
Tessa stays at my side.
Exactly where she’s staying.
The ground dips as we move deeper into the trees. The smell hits next—water, rot, old wood.
“There,” Blaze whispers.
I follow his line of sight.
A structure takes shape through the trees. Half-collapsed. Old.
Dead space.
Perfect for hiding.
Or watching.
“Perimeter,” I murmur.
Trigger and Beast peel off without a sound.
I pull Tessa in tighter.
“Stay on me.”
“I am.”
We move forward.
Slow. Controlled.
And then she speaks.
“Someone’s been inside.”
I glance at her. “You sure?”
She nods toward the door. “It’s off. Not settled. Recently moved.”
I study it.
She’s right.
“Good catch.”
I feel the shift in her beside me. Small—but it matters.
We approach the door.
I pause. Listen.
Nothing.
Too clean.
I push it open.
The smell hits first—dust, damp… and something metallic.
Old.
The inside is dark but not empty. Crates. Broken shelving. A table in the center.
And on it—
A laptop.
Open.
Waiting.
Every instinct I have screams trap.
“That’s not normal,” Tessa whispers.
No. It’s not.
I move, clearing corners, checking angles.
“Clear,” Trigger calls from the back.
“Left side clear,” Beast adds.
But it doesn’t feel clear.
It feels staged.
I approach the table slowly.
“Blaze.”
“On it.”
He steps in beside me, scanning without touching. “Remote connection,” he mutters. “Someone’s watching through this.”
Of course they are.
“Trace it.”
“Trying—”
The screen flickers.
Every muscle in my body locks.
Text appears.
YOU’RE TOO LATE.
Tessa stiffens beside me.
“Blaze—”
“Working it!”
The screen glitches again.
TURN AROUND.
Every instinct I have detonates.
“OUT!” I bark.
I grab Tessa and haul her toward the door—
And then I hear it.
A click.
Low.
Behind us.
Damn it.
The explosion hits.
Not big—but enough.
Enough to throw us forward. Enough to rattle the structure.
I hit the ground hard, rolling, dragging Tessa with me, covering her as debris rains down.
Gun up. Eyes scanning through the smoke.
“Sound off!” I shout.
“Good!” Trigger.
“Up!” Beast.
“Alive!” Blaze coughs.
I push up, checking Tessa. “You hit?”
“No—” she coughs. “I’m okay—”
Good.
Because we’re not done.
Not even close.
I help her up, my hand staying on her longer than it should.
Grounding.
Checking.
Alive.
“Trap,” she says.
“Yeah.”
I scan the room.
The laptop still flickers through the smoke.
“They knew we’d come,” she adds.
“They’re staying one step ahead.”
I don’t like that.
Not one bit.
“They’re watching us now,” she says quietly.
Yeah.
They are.
A branch snaps outside.
Every head turns.
Weapons up.
Because this time—
It’s not just a message.