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Oliver

T he house was too quiet.

Olly was at school. The dishes were done. The dog had finally stopped barking at the neighbor’s cat, which kept coming into the yard to make Duke bark.

And I had run out of reasons to pretend I didn’t miss working with my buddies.

I stood in the kitchen, sipping coffee that had gone cold twenty minutes ago, staring out the window like something out there might change.

But it didn’t.

The ocean looked the same, high up here looking down.

Just stillness.

It should’ve felt peaceful.

But all I felt was restless.

I’d built this life—brick by brick—after the last mission nearly ended me.

And then Dana showed up and said I had a son, and she was dying.

I decided to care for her. After all she was once my wife, and my son’s mother, even if Olly was four when she told me about him.

I couldn’t let her go into a place and die with nobody there for her.

After the funeral, I took Olly to Disney World. We stayed three weeks, traveling everywhere on a whim—just my son and I. That was last year. Now, I was ready to go back to work.

Sometimes, I felt like a lion pacing in a cage.

The phone buzzed on the counter.

I glanced at the screen and stopped pacing.

CYCLONE.

I answered without thinking. “Yeah.”

His voice was tight. Focused. No greeting. Just mission-mode.

“I need you on a plane.”

“Where?”

“Southern Europe. Off-grid training facility. Female target extraction. Name’s Emery Blake. You did say you were ready to get back to work.”

I frowned. “Yes, are you talking about the swimmer?”

“Yeah. Gold medals and magazine covers she vanished three days ago. No ransom. No demands. Not a single goddamn trace.”

“Why me?”

“She’s got fight. And she’s scared. She needs someone who can calm a fire without putting it out.”

Emery Blake: Olympic royalty. America’s Golden swimmer. And now... missing.

Cyclone’s voice dropped lower. “Oliver—whoever has her? They’re not amateurs. If she’s still alive, it’s only because they want something.”

I straightened.

Coffee forgotten. Mind already racing.

“I’m ready right now.”

“Wheels up in two hours. I’ll meet you there.”

I hung up and looked around the kitchen. I needed to tell Olly goodbye. I walked next door to Lyon’s home and took Olly’s suitcase to Niki.

“Are you sure you're up to babysitting a five-year-old boy? He has so much energy.”

I love Olly, of course, I am up for watching him. How long will you be gone?”

“I don’t know,” I said, explaining everything about Emery Blake and how she had disappeared without a trace.

I hope you find her. Are you going to the school to tell Olly goodbye?”

“Yes, I’m headed there right now. Thank you, Niki. I’m so glad Olly has you living this close. I'd better get going.”