Page 27 of Huck Frasier (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #5)

Frasier

T he table looked like a war room.

Satellite maps. Reina’s audio recordings. Three sets of gear, one loaded duffel, and a half-empty coffee pot none of us had touched in hours.

Axel leaned against the wall, arms crossed, scowling at the printout of the warehouse. “Only two guards showing on external loops, but thermal picked up six more inside. That’s not including whoever’s moving the kids.”

Lark nodded from behind her laptop. “There’s a private transport van scheduled to arrive at midnight. If we wait until they load the kids, we lose them.”

“So we don’t wait,” I said.

Reina, still jumpy as hell, sat at the far end of the table. Hoodie up. Eyes darting like every noise might be her last. “They won’t hold them long. After tonight, they go underground. You won’t find them again.”

Marley stood beside me, arms folded across her chest. She hadn’t said much yet—but I could feel the tension in her body, the hum of a storm waiting to break.

“We move at 10:45,” I said. “Axel and I take the main entrance. Distraction and firepower. Lark, you and Reina run the side perimeter and get the back loading dock open.”

I turned to Marley. “You stay here.”

The words fell flat in the room.

She didn’t even blink. “No.”

“Marley— sweetheart, you are injured.”

“I’m not staying behind.”

“You’re injured.”

“I can still move. I can still shoot. I can still save those kids.”

I stared at her. The fire in her eyes. The stubborn lift of her chin. She wasn’t being reckless—she was being her .

“You’re not bait,” I said quietly. “You’re not expendable.”

“Then treat me like a teammate. Not someone you have to protect from herself.”

Axel whistled low. “She’s got you there.”

I gritted my teeth. “Fine. But you go in with Reina and Lark. Keep your distance. Don’t engage unless you have to.”

Marley gave a sharp nod, relief softening her expression for a heartbeat. “Got it.”

The team ran through details. Entry points. Signal timings. Emergency exfil. Reina stuttered through what she knew—locations of the storage rooms, which guards carried keys, which ones might talk instead of shoot.

By the time the sun dipped below the ridge, we were ready.

I walked Marley outside while Axel packed the gear and Lark briefed Reina one last time.

She leaned against the door frame, the wind catching her hair, her face painted in gold and shadows.

“I meant what I said,” I told her. “If it gets bad in there— you run. ”

“And leave you?”

“If it’s the only way to save yourself? Yes.”

Her jaw flexed. “You’re asking me to be something I’m not going to do.”

“I’m asking you to stay alive.”

She stepped close. “You always carry everyone else’s weight. Let me carry yours for once.”

I reached out, brushed my knuckles across her cheek. “I love you, Marley. Reckless heart and all.”

She smiled. “I love you too, control-freak soldier man.”

I bent down and kissed her. Soft. Fierce. Final.

The kind of kiss that said just in case.

Because we both knew…

Not everyone walked away from nights like this.