Chapter 13 Hawk
Hawk
The world looked different after a night like that.
Dawn crawled over the ridges in pale streaks of gold, lighting the fog that clung to Copper Cove like a secret it didn’t want to tell. The cabin sat quiet except for the low hum of Delta Five’s equipment and the steady click of Miles’s keyboard.
Julia was asleep in my bed—curled up to my pillow, hair loose across her face.
She hadn’t meant to fall asleep; she actually told me she would go to her own bed as her eyes closed, and she fell asleep.
Exhaustion had finally won. I’d tried to straighten up the pillows once; she’d mumbled something about “don’t touch my evidence” and kept right on sleeping.
I watched her for a moment before walking out of the room.
Aaron stood at the table, eyes on the monitor, coffee in one hand. “We decrypted the first batch,” he said quietly. “Torres wasn’t lying. These transfers go straight to a defense-tech firm called Halcyon Systems.”
“Never heard of it.”
“You wouldn’t,” Aaron said. “They exist to not exist. Contracts through shell corps, all funded by a committee that answers to no one. And they’re moving money through Colombian accounts linked to the same cartel you and Julia stumbled into.”
I felt the slow burn start in my chest. “So this isn’t just drugs. It’s national.”
“It’s both,” he said. “Cartel gets protection, Halcyon gets product routes and test sites. It’s a symbiotic little nightmare.”
“Does the President know?”
Aaron hesitated. “He suspects. That’s why we’re here. But the name that keeps showing up on these transfers…” He tapped the screen. “Used to work in the White House. Chief of Intelligence Coordination.”
I stared at the name—Adrian Reese.
I hadn’t seen that name in years, but it hit like a hammer. “He was my CO’s handler during the War Games Initiative.”
Aaron nodded slowly. “Looks like he got promoted from the shadows.”
The air in the cabin thickened. I wanted to punch something, or maybe throw up. “How many people’s lives did we wreck overseas for men like him?”
Aaron met my eyes. “That’s the question the President wants answered before this leaks.”
Behind us, the floorboards creaked. Julia stirred, sitting up, blinking against the light. “What leaks?”
“Morning,” I said, trying to sound calmer than I felt. “You shouldn’t be up yet.”
“I wasn’t planning to sleep through treason.” She rubbed her eyes, voice rough. “Tell me.”
Aaron looked to me, then back at her. “Halcyon Systems. D.C. shell company funding the cartel’s stateside operations. Your deputy’s files were part of their money trail.”
Julia’s jaw tightened. “So Copper Cove was just a test run.”
“Exactly,” Aaron said. “They wanted a remote area to move shipments under the radar. If it worked here, they’d expand.”
Her gaze flicked to me. “You said this went higher.”
“Yeah,” I said quietly. “It goes all the way to Washington.”
She exhaled, steadying herself. “Then we take it there.”
Aaron gave a dry laugh. “Not so fast. We can’t move until we verify this data chain. If we hit too soon, the guy in charge, we believe his name is Reese. He will bury everything and make us ghosts before lunch.”
Julia crossed her arms. “So we just sit here?”
“For now,” Aaron said. “But when we move, it’ll be loud.”
She didn’t like it—I could see it in the twitch of her jaw—but she nodded. “Then I’ll help however I can. Torres was my friend. I believed him when he said he was tricked. When she left to wash up, Aaron looked back at me. “You should talk to her.”
“About what?”
He gave me a look. “You know what.”
I poured another cup of coffee, not meeting his eyes. “We’ve talked. Besides, there’s a war starting. It’s no one's business, but we’re fine.”
“There’s always a war starting,” he said. “Doesn’t mean you get to wait forever.”
He walked off, leaving me alone with the soft clatter of keys and the sound of Julia moving in the next room.
An hour later, she stepped out onto the porch, hair still damp, the morning sun glinting off the badge clipped to her belt. She looked tired, beautiful, and determined—everything that had always been trouble for me.
I joined her, coffee in hand. “You planning to run headfirst into D.C. corruption today or wait for breakfast?”
“Depends who’s cooking,” she said lightly, then sighed. “They really think they can hide this forever?”
“They’ve been doing it for years, but not anymore. We have to take our time and make sure we shut everything down. We’ll destroy the cartel and whoever is behind this in Washington.”
She leaned against the railing, staring out at the fog-drenched trees. “I used to think justice meant following the rules. Doing things the right way. But maybe the rules were written by the wrong people.”
“They usually are.”
She looked at me then—really looked—and for once, didn’t pull away.
“You think we actually have a chance?”
“Yeah,” I said. “Because I’ve got you. And you don’t quit.”
Her lips parted, maybe to argue, maybe to say something that would have changed everything. But the radio on my belt crackled before she could speak.
Miles’s voice cut through. “Hawk, we’ve got movement—unmarked vehicles leaving Halcyon’s local warehouse. Looks like a convoy.”
Aaron’s voice followed. “All units, gear up. We move now.”
Julia straightened. “Guess that answers our question.”
I tossed my coffee aside, chambered a round, and met her eyes. “Ready, Detective?”
She smiled, that fierce edge I loved. “Always.” I pulled her to me and kissed her right there for anyone to see. When I stepped back, she swayed toward me. I put my arm out to steady her. I have to admit I was grinning.
We moved back inside, into the whirl of motion—gear, weapons, orders shouted in clipped tones. Delta Five loading up for a hit that would echo all the way to D.C. That’s when I saw Aaron twirling his finger in the air, and we all loaded up.
And as I caught one last look at Julia before we rolled out, I realized something I’d been avoiding since the moment she walked back into my life.
This wasn’t just a mission anymore.
It was personal.
And I wasn’t sure either of us would come out the same.