Chapter 17 Julia
Julia
The storm had finally broken by morning. Mist hung low across the valley, blurring the trees into pale silhouettes. The cabin smelled of coffee and bacon, that strange combination that always meant one thing—breakfast.
Hawk was already geared up when I came downstairs, wearing black fatigues and a rifle slung across his back, his expression composed but not cold.
He glanced up from tightening a strap, and the faintest trace of last night flickered across his face.
Not a smile exactly—just the quiet acknowledgment that something between us had shifted for good.
I poured coffee mostly to keep my hands busy, and took a couple of pieces of bacon. “You sleep?”
“Little.”
“Me neither.”
Our eyes met for a heartbeat, the kind that carried everything neither of us could say in front of the others. Then Aaron entered, breaking the spell with the scrape of boots and mission talk.
“Convoy leaves in ten,” he said. “Mile’s pulled satellite coverage over D.C.—Halcyon’s assets are moving into the city under private security. We’ll rendezvous with our contacts at Andrews and go dark from there.”
“Extraction plan?” Hawk asked.
Aaron smirked. “You mean after we blow a hole through a multimillion-dollar defense front and half of Washington wants our heads? Working on it.”
Boone laughed under his breath. “Sounds like old times.”
I set my cup down. “What’s our angle once we hit the ground?”
Aaron’s tone turned clipped. “Reese is meeting a contact at a Halcyon facility near the river. Officially, it’s a logistics site. Unofficially—it’s where the money moves. We intercept him, secure the data, and make sure he doesn’t vanish into another black file.”
“Simple,” Hawk said.
“Always is,” Aaron replied.
An hour later, the rotor wash from the helicopter kicked up the remnants of the storm, scattering leaves and fog across the clearing. I climbed in before Hawk, headset crackling to life as Aaron gave coordinates to the pilot.
Below, Copper Cove disappeared under a blanket of mist. Ahead, the sky burned with the first touch of sun, gold bleeding into gray.
Hawk leaned close so I could hear him over the blades. “You sure you’re ready for this?”
I turned my head, our helmets almost brushing. “You really want to ask that after last night?”
For a moment, his grin cut through the noise—quick, private, dangerous. “That’s not what I meant.”
“I know,” I said, voice barely audible. “But it’s my answer anyway.”
He stared at me a second longer, something fierce and unguarded flashing in his eyes before he nodded. “Then we finish this.”
They set us down just outside D.C., the city skyline jagged against a washed-out morning. Delta Five moved like shadows through the loading zone—silent, deliberate, efficient. Every doorway, every rooftop felt like a potential threat.
Aaron’s voice came through the comm. “Remember—this isn’t just a bust. If we get that data and Reese in custody, it exposes every dirty hand tied to Halcyon’s funding. We’ll have the President’s green light to shut them down for good.”
Boone took a position by the gate, scanning the perimeter. “And if it goes sideways?”
Hawk’s reply was quiet, but it carried. “Then we burn it all down.”
He turned to me, hand brushing mine for the briefest second—a promise, a tether. My pulse jumped despite the armor and the weapon and the gravity of what we were walking into. All it took was one touch from him, and I wanted his hands and mouth on my body again.
“Julia,” he said softly, “you stay behind me until I say otherwise.”
“Not a chance,” I said, and saw the corner of his mouth twitch.
“Didn’t think so.”
Inside the compound, fluorescent lights hummed over rows of crates stamped with Halcyon’s insignia. The smell of ozone and machine oil filled the air. Miles patched into a terminal while Aaron covered the east corridor.
I crouched beside Hawk, both of us watching the entryway. My shoulder brushed his as I adjusted my aim; even through body armor, the contact sent a shiver through me. He noticed. His gaze flicked toward me, a ghost of our love making burning between us.
Focus, I told myself. But the truth was—he was part of my focus now.
Mile’s voice came through the comm. “Got it. Reese’s meeting is confirmed—Conference Room B, second floor. Two guards posted. Feeds show three additional heat signatures inside.”
Aaron’s reply: “That’s our window. We move.”
Hawk looked at me one last time. “Stay sharp, Detective.”
“Always,” I said, sliding the safety off my rifle.
And as we moved through the steel corridors toward the heart of Halcyon’s operation, I knew whatever waited on the other side of that door—truth, betrayal, or hell itself—he and I would face it together.