Page 21

21

Raven

By the time we touched down in Germany to refuel, I was already moving.

While the others hit the showers or stretched out for a few hours of sleep, I called Sean, our team coordinator back home. The second he picked up, I didn’t waste time.

“I need a flight back. Now.”

Sean grunted. “Thought you were scheduled to stay on until the handoff.”

“Can you change it.”

There was a pause on the line. “Raven, what’s going on?”

I hesitated—because I didn’t have hard proof, just that cold-blooded certainty that something was off . “It’s Beatrice. Something’s not right. I haven’t heard from her in a week, and she’s got someone at that firehouse I don’t trust. Fire Marshal, Katherine something.”

“Katherine Laurent?”

“That’s the one.”

Another pause. “You want me to run her?”

“Quietly. She’s smart. She’s got a temper wrapped in sugar, and Beatrice thinks she’s hiding something. I think so too.”

Sean exhaled. “You think she’s dirty?”

“I think she’s dangerous.”

I rubbed the back of my neck, watching the sunrise burn red through the windows of the airfield.

“I’ve seen what that look on Beatrice’s face means,” I said. “She’s scared. She won’t say it, but she is. And if I’m not there to watch her back…”

“You’ll hate yourself,” he finished quietly.

I didn’t answer. I didn’t have to.

“Alright,” Sean said, already typing. “You’ll be wheels up in an hour. I’m pulling favors to move your schedule.”

“I appreciate it.”

“One more thing,” he added. “I’ll get the Golden Team on standby. If this gets messy, I want someone watching your back.”

“Copy that.”

As I hung up, I caught my reflection in the dark glass. Tired eyes. Jaw clenched. A man trying not to panic.

But if anything happened to Beatrice before I got back…

God help whoever was responsible.