Chapter 23 Revelations – Belle #3
We make our way to the motel office with the others. David has converted it into a makeshift command center. Maps of Shark Bay cover every surface. Photos of network members are pinned to a corkboard. Laptops show surveillance feeds and communication logs.
Agent Smith stands at the front. David is beside her. Two other agents flank them.
“Gather round,” Smith says once everyone’s present. “We’re going to walk through tomorrow’s operation. Every detail. Every contingency. I need everyone on the same page.”
She pulls up a digital map of the academy on a laptop. “The Harvest begins at twenty hundred hours in the main hall. Network members will start arriving by boat and helicopter around seventeen hundred hours. We hit at exactly eighteen hundred hours.”
“Why not hit earlier?” I ask. “Get the island under control before the guests arrive?”
“Because we need to catch them in the act. Need them assembled and identifiable.” Smith zooms in on different sections of the map.
“Team Alpha enters through the main gates. Team Bravo comes from the north shore via boat. Team Charlie uses the tunnels. Team Delta provides air support and evacuation.”
She points to different locations. “The primary objective is securing all network members. Secondary objective is student safety. Tertiary objective is finding Erik Stone.”
Luna makes a noise of protest. David’s hand on her shoulder silences her.
“I know that’s not what you want to hear,” Smith continues. “But we have to prioritize based on numbers. Two hundred students at risk versus one missing person. It’s basic triage.”
“Erik is not a missing person,” Luna’s voice shakes. “He’s the reason you have any of this evidence. He risked everything.”
“Which is why finding him is still an objective. Not the primary one.” Smith’s expression softens slightly. “I understand this is personal for all of you. But emotion doesn’t win battles. Strategy does.”
The irony of her echoing my earlier words isn’t lost on me.
Smith continues outlining the plan. Entry points. Communication protocols. Extraction procedures. It’s thorough. Professional. Exactly what I’d expect from federal agents.
But there’s one problem.
“You’re assuming Selena will be in the main hall,” I say. “What if she’s not?”
Smith looks at me. “Based on the evidence Erik gathered, she always attends The Harvest. It’s her event.”
“Yes, but she also always has an escape route.” I move to the map, pointing to the administrative building.
“Her private quarters are here. If something goes wrong, if she suspects a raid, she’ll run.
And there’s a private dock on the east side of the island that only staff know about.
She could be gone before you even breach the main hall. ”
David leans forward. “How do you know about the private dock?”
“I’ve been watching. It’s what I was trained to do.” I trace the route on the map. “Someone needs to secure her quarters and the east dock simultaneously with the main raid. Cut off her escape before she can use it.”
Agent Smith studies the map. “That would require splitting our forces even more. We’re already stretched thin.”
“Then let me go.” I meet her gaze directly. “I know the layout. I know Selena’s patterns. Put me with Team Charlie through the tunnels. I can guide them to her quarters while the main teams secure The Harvest.”
“Belle, no.” Max grabs my arm.
“It’s the best option.” I don’t look at him. Can’t let myself see the fear in his eyes. “You want to end this? You want to make sure Selena doesn’t escape? You need someone who knows her. Who thinks like her.”
“She’s right.” David’s voice is reluctant. “Much as I hate to admit it, Belle has insight none of us do.”
“Then I’m going too,” Luna says immediately.
“No.” My response is sharp. “You’re too emotional. You’ll compromise the mission.”
“And you won’t? Max will go too. If something happens to him—”
“I won’t let it compromise the mission.” I finally look at Max. At the fear and love and resignation in his expression. “I can’t. Too much is riding on this.”
The room falls silent. Everyone is staring at me like I’m some kind of monster for being able to separate emotion from necessity.
Maybe I am.
“I don’t care,” Luna says, her eyes burning with determination. “I’m going.”
“Fine.” Agent Smith makes the decision. “Belle Gallagher joins Team Charlie. Max Brooks, Team Alpha, and Luna Queen, Team Beta. You’ll be assigned an agent partner. You follow orders. You don’t engage unless absolutely necessary. You provide intelligence and guidance, nothing more. Understood?”
“Understood.”
“Then we’re set. Everyone get some rest. We move at seventeen hundred hours.” Smith starts gathering the maps. “Dismissed.”
The others file out. Luna shoots me a look that’s pure venom before leaving. Max and I leave the office together. Max’s hand finds mine in the darkness of the parking lot.
“You didn’t have to do that,” I say.
“Yes, I did.” He pulls me close, pressing a kiss to my temple. “We survive together, remember?”
“Together,” I agree.
Even though I’m terrified that in less than fourteen hours, one or both of us won’t survive at all.