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There was another long stretch of silence. Eventually Dakota stepped forward, to stand beside Sammara. He folded his arms as well.

“Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.”

It was two against two. Kyle would side with Sammara, I was guessing. I thought about Markus, showing up out of nowhere in Anbar. Finding me. Bringing me to where to Briggs was being held.

No matter how you looked at it, we owed him now. Big time.

“I guess I’m with them,” I said, scratching my beard. My eyes shifted to Sammara, and I let my gaze soften. “Second chances and all that.”

She returned a smile, and suddenly we were all staring at Briggs. He heaved a formidable sigh.

“Fine. But we’re going with.”

“Where?”

“To upstate New York,” he replied.

New York was my old stomping grounds. Or at least Brooklyn, anyway. But upstate… Upstate was wild. Wilderness. I knew very little about it.

“You realize if Goddard sees us move it’s all over,” I said. “He watching you for sure. And Kyle’s leg…”

“Then the two of you go,” he said simply. I could tell it would pain him to stay back, but Briggs was practical. And he wasn’t about to let his company go without precautions.

“I’m all in,” said Dakota, rubbing his hands.

I nodded. “Me too.”

Sarge barked, which was uncanny because it was almost like he was volunteering himself. Dakota laughed.

“You’re definitely not going,” said Sammara, reaching down to pat the puppy on the head. “But I am.”

Her words didn’t register at first. By the time they did, we were all shaking our heads.

“Oh yes I am,” she insisted. “This is it, right? The last thing we need to do to finally be free?”

Briggs and I looked at each other and shrugged. “Yes.”

“Then I’m going,” she reiterated. “I’m through sitting at home, hoping for the best. Waiting on bad news.”

“But you’ll have Kyle,” Dakota pointed out. “And Briggs—”

“I don’t care. I want to know everything went well. I want to understand where you are, what you’re doing. And I need to be there to stare Markus in the face, just in case he double-crosses us.”

The stars were out in full force now. There were thousands of them. It made me think about how wonderful this place was. How I just wanted this to all be over, so we could come home and enjoy it.

“Besides,” Sammara said. “You’re not going anywhere near Goddard when he meets with Markus. Right?”

Dakota rubbed at his chin. “Well, sorta near. But not in plain sight.”

“Then there’s only one thing left to know,” Sammara said, scooping up Sarge. He yelped adorably as he settled into her arms. “When do we leave?”

Forty-Eight

SAMMARA

We left almost a week later, after receiving second-hand word of the meeting. Our departure happened on a busy night, in the heart of the city. Half of us slipping out the side door of the packed restaurant, and into the most nondescript, unassuming car available.

The precautions were necessary because we were definitely being watched. Ever since Di Spatia had been handed back to him, Markus Ladrone had been extremely busy. The company’s accounts were in constant motion, with all new monies being moved. A good chunk of the team quit immediately, right after Jason announced the ex-mercenary captain was back in charge. The ones that stayed, stayed begrudgingly.