Chapter 69
HARLAN - UNTIL SHE IS SAFE
If I thought the drive to the Dawnbreakers clubhouse was tense, I wouldn't be able to describe the feeling now as we rushed back blind to Ava and Gray.
Twenty minutes.
That’s how long it had been since the alarms sounded.
Since Kane told us the approaching vehicles were ten minutes out from the cabin.
The cabin where Ava and Gray were meant to be safe.
Twenty minutes since we lost comms with Gray.
Since the pit in my stomach turned to something worse, something I couldn’t outrun.
I slammed my palm against the wheel, pushing the SUV harder up the dirt road, gravel spitting behind us like shrapnel. Jack held on to the “oh shit” handle while Remi braced herself between the seats, her eyes flicking to her phone, then to me, then back again.
“C’mon, c’mon, pick up...” I barked, one hand tight on the wheel as the other jammed at my phone’s screen. Finally, Kane’s voice broke through. “Harlan...”
“Tell me you’ve got eyes.”
A beat. Then static. Then...
“I’ve got satellite. Zoomed in on the cabin perimeter. You’re not going to like it.”
My chest constricted. “How bad?”
“There are at least 12… maybe fifteen men. Moving on two fronts. No uniforms. The pattern looks familiar. They are trained. I guess that this is Erin’s last move. Your comms blackout wasn’t a glitch. It was a coordinated strike. Premeditated.”
Jack cursed under his breath.
Remi leaned forward. “Where’s Gray?”
“No visual,” Kane answered. “He might’ve gone dark on purpose. Could be sweeping the surroundings. Could be down. I don’t know. But the cabin…” Another pause. “Harlan...”
My chest constricted, "Fucking say it, Kane."
It was quiet for a minute, and then he said it, "The cabin is on fire."
I didn’t hear the rest. My pulse drowned out the sound. The cabin. Ava.
She was in there.
“Fuck,” I whispered. “She’s in there.”
Remi’s voice cut through like a blade. “What weapons do you have?”
I kept my eyes on the road, trying to focus. Trying to keep us on the road so we could get back to... to what I wasn't sure. “Check the back.”
Jack twisted, looking between us. “You’re not serious. What are you planning to do with all that?”
Remi didn’t hesitate. “Whatever it takes.”
Jack's voice cracked, "Rem... seriously, what do you actually think you can do in this situation?"
Remi reached behind her and then hauled back my go bag, only stopping to glare at Jack for a moment. "When I say whatever it takes, that is exactly what I mean. Ava is in trouble; she is being hunted... So, I will not stop until she is safe and all those fuckers are put down."
She snapped the bag open and started pulling weapons like she knew exactly what she was looking for.
Kane chuckled, "I look forward to the day we meet Thelma."
Remi made a confused face and scrunched up her nose. "I don't know if the sentiment is shared, big guy."
Kane laughed harder.
Jack swore again, softer now. Like maybe he finally understood the storm we were driving into.
Then every phone in the car started buzzing at once.
Not calls.
Alerts.
Notifications. Explosions of messages. Ping after ping after ping.
Media tags, social shares...
Jack looked at his screen first and went pale.
Remi’s eyes widened.
I grabbed mine and nearly swerved off the road.
Ava sent it.
Every file. Every encrypted folder. Every backup Gray had prepped. It was already live.
To the FBI. To IA. To the press. To every inbox that mattered.
My name was on half of them. So was Jack’s.
“Holy shit,” Jack whispered. “She did it.”
“She wasn’t waiting,” Remi said. Her voice cracked. “Oh god, that means she felt like she had no other choice." and then on a whisper, "She doesn't think she's making it out of this.”
We crested the ridge, and that’s when we saw it.
The smoke.
Thick, black, rising in a twisted column from behind the trees. It stained the sky like ink in water. The ridge dipped just enough to reveal the clearing, and the nightmare we were too late to stop
The cabin.
Burning.
And we had no idea where Ava or Gray was.
The brakes squealed as I veered off the main path. My fingers clenched tighter around the wheel. I needed to park out of sight and approach behind Erin's crew.
“Kane...” I snapped, my voice hoarse. “We need eyes on the escape routes. If she ran, where would she go?”
“I’ve got one drone coming online,” he answered. “I’ll track movement in the tree line. But you need to get to her. Now.”
I didn’t need to be told.
Remi handed Jack a handgun, and he stared at it. There wasn’t time to question if he’d shoot. None of us had the luxury of hesitating anymore.
'What am I supposed to do with this?" he asked.
She looked like she might punch him, and then she replied, "You aim it and shoot, Jack. You know, shoot the bad guys. If that is too difficult, hold the barrel and use the handle to hit someone." Then she jumped out of the SUV. I don't even think I had come to a complete stop yet.
Remi had a gun in one hand, a flashlight in her back pocket and a knife in the other.
I grabbed what I needed and ran after her, Jack not far behind.