Page 93 of Beautiful Scars: Unshakeable

"How many cameras identified?" I ask Wolf.

"Twelve so far. Creating a map now. There’s a pattern—they overlap, but it looks like there's a gap between sweeps on the northwest approach."

"Time it," I order. "We may need that gap."

Levi exhales sharply beside me. I can feel him getting impatient.

"Team Two, status on the underground readings?"

"Concrete reinforced with steel," Rex replies. "Picking up electrical signatures consistent with security doors. Multiple rooms. Temperature controlled."

A fucking prison.

Jade was right. Garrett built this. For her.

"Z," Rex’s voice cuts through my darkness. "We found an access point. Maintenance tunnel. Looks like it connects to the main structure. Camera coverage is minimal. But it’s small."

Finally. "Hold position. Wolf?"

"Almost got the loop ready. Give me two minutes."

I check my watch. We’ve been here forty minutes.

"All teams, prepare to move on my mark. Rex, you take point on the tunnel. Chase, you’re our eyes. Team four, maintain perimeter control. If Garrett has reinforcements coming, I want to know."

This whole set-up is making me nervous. There should be more here. I mean, he has the area locked down tight, but that's it. Where are his men? We shouldn't be able to get this close this quickly or easily. We need to be expecting anything

"What about us?" Levi asks, his voice raw.

"We’re going through the front."

Garrett will be expecting us. He’ll want to face us himself.

The comms crackle with acknowledgments. I do one final equipment check, feeling the familiar weight of my weapons, the extra magazines, the knife at my ankle.

"Camera loop is live," Wolf announces. "You’ve got eight minutes before the system auto-resets."

"Teams, move now." I rise into a crouch, Levi mirroring my movement. "Remember—Garrett is ours."

We advance through the marked safe zones, every step through a field of unseen threats. The house is just ahead, a modern fortress disguised as a well-designed home. No lights visible, but thermal imaging shows one heat signature below ground.

One.

It doesn’t make sense.

It can’t be this easy. There’s no way he left her alone.

IgrabLevi’sarmas he starts to move. "Wait. Something’s wrong."

"What?" His voice is tight with barely contained rage.

"There's only one heat signature down below. It's most likely Sunny. Where’s Garrett?"

I scan the thermal readouts again. The house above shows cold—too cold. No bodies. No equipment running hot. Just that single heat source underground.

"Could be shielded areas we can’t see," Levi suggests, but I hear the doubt in his voice.

I key my comm. "Rex, hold position in the tunnel. Do not proceed further until my mark."