Chapter 7 The Refuge—New Mexico #3
“All roads lead to him.” Jupiter's lips pressed into a thin line. “We had two comms before we got here, and then this last one. All on a secure, one-time-use server. He won’t talk directly to me. Not even over the most encrypted line I’ve got.”
“Wait.” Kawan crossed his arms. “If he won’t talk directly, why is he bothering to contact us at all?”
“Because he wants to see Lark. Implied it was critical. Says he’ll meet with all of us if he must—but he needs to talk to her. In person. When pushed for identifying information, he said I’d have to trust the information in front of me.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Pipe asked.
“Encrypted code. Messages inside his message suggesting that it’s him,” Jupiter said.
Brick exchanged a glance with Tonka. “Did he give a location?”
“No,” Jupiter said. “He knew trust was a commodity that was running thin and was willing to roll the dice and let me pick the place.”
Smart move. Or a desperate one. Kawan wasn't sure which yet.
Pipe leaned forward, tapping a finger on the table. “Then let’s do it right. Let’s control all aspects. We can take this on the far west side of the property, by the ravine. No guests wander out that far. It’s quiet, private. Open terrain. No angles for an ambush. We’ll have eyes on all sides.”
“No weapons,” Brick added. “That’s non-negotiable. He agrees to our terms, or it doesn’t happen.”
“And he comes alone,” Tonka said. “You don’t bring a dog to a peace meeting unless you plan on ordering it to bite.”
Jupiter nodded. “I’ll make contact. He’ll get the parameters by tonight.”
Kawan ran a hand down his face. “How the hell did we get here?”
“Doesn’t matter.” Thor shut the file. “But now we’re part of the committee.”
“What committee?” Kawan asked.
“The one tasked with recovering the missing AI software.” Thor looked between them. “Joint task force. Navy oversight. Two agents from Homeland Security and us.”
“A SEAL team? Working on US soil?” Pipe asked, incredulous. “To locate something a black ops task force lost in South America during… never mind.” Pipe shook his head.
“I’m just glad it’s my unit, giving us some leeway on how we do things,” Thor said. “They’re calling it military continuity presence—whatever the fuck that means.”
Kawan snorted. “I’ll give you the translation. Fall guys if shit hits the fan.”
“Well, that’s always the given,” Thor said with a grim smile.
Brick stood. “You’ve got us as backup.”
The room emptied slowly. Brick and Tonka headed out the back, Pipe drifting after them, Thor at his side as they discussed… something.
Meeting Grady felt like walking into a trap—even if they controlled the location. But they needed answers. And right now, Grady was their only lead.
Kawan followed Jupiter toward the cabins. The grass squished underfoot as they moved beneath a cloudless sky. Sunlight filtered through cottonwoods, the breeze sharp with the promise of rain that hadn’t come yet.
Too many variables. Too many unknowns. He didn't like any of it.
“You’re sprinting.” Kawan had to practically jog to keep up with his buddy.
“I’m worried about Specs.” Jupiter sighed.
“She’s looping like a corrupted algorithm.
When she’s not focused on the footage, she’s trying to get back on the darknet boards—hoping to find anything that might connect the dots.
I locked down access, but she’s smart enough to find a workaround, especially if I’m not around to stop her. ”
“While I know she needs to take a breath,” Kawan said. “She might be the only one who recognizes the clue we need to dig out of the haystack.”
“True, but that’s not even the point.”
“You seem to have taken a shine to Specs.”
“I understand her.” Jupiter slowed his pace.
“She’s stuck between the tech world that makes sense.
That gives her order. That she can somewhat control, and this ridiculous world that we live in, that’s filled with chaos.
She managed to bridge both worlds by being on the fringe.
That just blew up—literally. Until she can reconcile that she didn’t do anything wrong.
That it wasn’t her or her skills that caused the mission to implode, she’s never going to get out of her own head.
I’ve been where she is, and it’s not easy to crawl out of. ”
“We’ve all been there.” Kawan stopped just short of Jupiter’s cabin. “Lark thinks acceptance is balance. That naming the loss and pushing forward means she’s handling it.”
“Yeah, but naming and feeling it are two different things. That shit catches you in the end.”
“It sure does,” Kawan said. “I’ve seen her bleed and never blink. But watching her silently fall apart … It’s worse. She thinks softening is weakness. That letting me in—hell, letting anyone in—means surrender.”
Jupiter studied him. “But she’s here, and she hasn’t shut you out.”
“For now.” Kawan exhaled. “But this isn’t over.
The mission failed. The AI’s gone. And now, we’re expected to pick up the broken pieces and chase ghosts while the people who betrayed us vanish into the shadows.
” He peered inside the wooden structure, and a dim light glowed behind the curtain. Specs hunched over something.
“I'd better get in there,” Jupiter said. “Before she finds herself in a black hole she can’t get out of.”
“Call if you need anything.”
“Same goes for you.” Jupiter slapped him on the back.
Kawan turned and strolled toward his cabin with his heart in his throat. He knew Lark, and he had maybe twenty-four hours to get her to face some of her emotions before they both went back out into battle.