Page 37 of Jason Bourne (Seals on Fraiser Mountain #7)

Lane

G unfire tore through the trees, ripping bark and lighting the night with muzzle flashes.

“Contact left!” Nate shouted, firing controlled bursts.

Jason shoved Marcie into Forest’s arms. “Get her out!”

“I’ve got her,” Forest barked, pulling her low and moving fast toward the ridge.

Another round cracked past my ear. I dropped, returned fire, and saw a shadow crumple into the brush. My heart hammered, but my hands were steady.

Rush slid in beside me, grinning like a wolf. “You always fight this mean, deputy?”

“Only when I’m pissed.”

“Good. Keep it up.” He popped up, fired, and dropped back down. “Two down.”

Jason moved like liquid death through the chaos, every shot precise, every step calculated. Fraiser covered his flank, while Nate kept the rest pinned from the ridge line.

A round smacked into the ground inches from my knee. I rolled, sighted, and dropped the shooter before he could realign. Adrenaline surged through me, sharp and hot. I wasn’t just surviving—I was in it.

Jason’s voice cut through the chaos. “Lane! Right side!”

I pivoted just as another man broke from the trees, charging me with a knife glinting in his fist. He was fast, but I was faster. I caught his wrist, twisted hard, and slammed him to the ground with his own momentum. My boot pinned his chest, Glock aimed between his eyes.

“Game over,” I snarled.

Jason was suddenly there, rifle sweeping the treeline. “Nice work, deputy.”

Minutes later, the gunfire tapered off. Silence reclaimed the ridge, broken only by the ringing in my ears and the groans of Harris’s men bleeding in the dirt.

Nate called it first. “All clear.”

Forest emerged from the shadows with Marcie clinging to his arm, wide-eyed but alive. Relief swept through me so hard my knees nearly buckled.

Jason reached me, his hand brushing mine briefly, grounding me. His voice was low, meant for me alone. “You were fire out there, Lane. Absolute fire.”

I didn’t answer because my throat was too tight.

But I knew this—Jason’s world wasn’t something I had to fight to fit into anymore. Tonight, I realized his world was just like mine.