Page 89 of Oath

Somewhere in the middle of that absurd little exchange, I started breathing again. Really breathing.

“I didn’t expect it to hit like that,” I admitted, voice raw.

“You’ve been holding it together with duct tape and spite,” AB said. “Don’t be shocked when the tape gives out.”

Bones shifted back slightly so he could look at me, brushing a thumb under my eye to wipe away the tears. “Next time, tell us it’s building up. We’ll help you bleed it out before it breaks loose.”

I nodded. “Okay.” Then, after a pause, “Thank you. Both of you.”

“And Goblin,” AB added. “He’s the MVP.”

Goblin woofed softly as if in agreement.

I gave his ears another scratch and finally straightened, the ache in my chest dulling. It wasn’t gone. But it wasn’t going to drown me now.

The guys gave me a few more minutes. Then Bones helped me out of the SUV, and Goblin hopped down to follow us. We were here. We were doing this.

And no matter how badly I wanted to fall apart again—I wasn’t alone.

Not anymore.

Chapter

Twenty-Six

ALPHABET

The safehouse was decent. Not our best, but far from our worst. Suburban, quiet, middle-of-the-road in that Virginia cookie-cutter way, with just enough space to spread out and not feel boxed in while also close enough to the neighbors that screaming would draw attention.

Which was great—unless you needed to do something messy. That made this a base of operations only. If we had to take prisoners or wage a war, we’d need to move. Still, we could do worse—at least they got food delivery here.

Speaking of which…

Me:Get pizza. Do we know Gracie’s favorite? Maybe grab some cinnamon roll stuffs or the pretzel bread sticks.

Lunchbox:She okay?

Me:She will be. Mild panic attack. Hit her with inhaler, and hydration. She’s showering. She needs food and comfort.

Voodoo:Check her pulse 30 minutes post shower, and keep it easy. This isn’t her first one…

No, it wasn’t. But it was her worst, at least in my opinion.

Me:We have her. Goblin has her.

Of all of the backup we had on this mission, Goblin was the best.

Lunchbox:We’ll be there in under an hour. Two more stops. Make it 90 to get the pizza.

It was growing dark outside, so that would work. Between the time change and the flight, we’d spent most of the day in the air. For once, I was glad that flying east cost us time. It meant it was too late to dive in to that meeting immediately and gave her time to recover.

I set up in the dining room, which we were absolutelynotusing to eat. The big, cheap table gave me space to fan out my gear. Three laptops, each running off separate VPNs, one hardline connected through a buried signal repeater out back. Took me thirty minutes to get everything linked up and encrypted, and another five to push the deadbolt firewall layers I liked to have humming in the background while I poked around places I had no business being.

Bones hovered just long enough to install a few hidden cameras inside and out, check the windows, the basement egress, and stash a gun behind the pantry shelving. We had motion alerts set, two separate wireless feeds, and a panic protocol if anything went sideways. Goblin wandered through once, gave me a sniff like he needed to confirm I was still doing my job, then plopped himself under the table near my feet. He was loyal. Probably smarter than half the analysts I used to work with, too.

The shower turned on upstairs. Grace. She hadn’t said much since the panic attack, but the shell-shocked look in her eyes had eased. Some. She was quiet, but not numb. Alert, but not twitchy.

Still—every sound from up there? Pretty sure all three of us clocked it. Not because we didn’t trust her. Because wedid.