Page 29 of Raven’s Claw (Raven’s Cliff #2)

She looked over at him. Memorized his face. Let the love gleaming back at her burn into her psyche. “I…”

What could she say? That she wasn’t close to being okay? That a part of her wanted them to let her do this alone? To die while he still looked at her like he was right now. As if she wasn’t the person who might destroy his family.

Instead, she glanced at Becca. “I know you’ve already got those coordinates locked down. How screwed are we?”

Becca frowned. “I do, but… I honestly don’t know. It looks like it’s in the middle of nowhere about half an hour south of here along to the coast. I’m just not sure what I’m looking at.”

Foster cursed. “I think I know where the bastard’s hiding. Can you put the map up on the monitor?”

Becca hit a few keys, then the map popped up.

“Damn it. There are a series of interlocking caves and lava tubes all along that stretch of coastline. My dad used to take me and my cousin, Keaton, there to explore when we were kids. But the constant punishment from the Pacific Ocean eventually causes the roofs to cave in. A couple kids were killed farther south, and the forestry service pretty much buried their existence. Locals know but… I had no idea any of them were still useable.”

Jordan nodded. “Can you get us there?”

“Getting there’s easy. Landing…” He raked his hand through his hair. “Since Rook’s expecting us, I can plant the skids on that stretch of rocky shore. But there’s no way I could get a backup crew anywhere close without him knowing with how sounds get amplified by all the rocks.”

Zain edged forward, tapping his chin as he studied the landscape. “You know what that reminds me of? The shoreline by Cascade Head where Striker had Mac and Kash held hostage.”

Foster turned to Zain. “Is that your subtle way of suggesting we call a friend?”

“It wasn’t subtle, and if anyone could pilot a boat amidst those rocks and shoals without getting us all killed, it’s Saylor.”

“No.” Jordan took a few steps their way.

“We’ve already got Greer over there, itching to call in her old friends from the Bureau.

Cannon, Jericho and Miller looking as if they’ve got a plan they haven’t told us about trying to claw it’s way free, and all of you signing up to be Rook’s next casualties.

We don’t need to add anyone else to his hit list.”

“I realize we haven’t worked out all the logistics.

How we’ll concede to Rook’s demands without leaving you hanging.

But regardless of what we decide, it’ll involve getting a team in close that Rook isn’t aware of.

And the only way to do that is by boat. Which means, we’ll need Saylor.

” Zain stopped her from interrupting. “She’s ex-Coast Guard. She can handle herself.”

“I don’t care if she’s an ex-assassin. This is crazy.

I should go. Alone.” She turned to Kash.

“I know. That’s not how teams work but… Damn it, Kash.

Rook’s the ghost operative. Practically wrote the book on modern shadow ops.

He’ll know all of your team’s background, and he’ll be prepared to fight you .

Not some arbitrary people I might have roped into helping me.

You. Specifically. And the men helping him will reflect that. ”

Jordan looked him in the eyes. “Please don’t ask me to send you all there to die.”

Kash glanced at his buddies, including the others, then slowly made his way over to her.

He didn’t take her hand, just stood there.

Calm. Determined. “We really need to work on your team-building skills. Ah,” he placed a single finger over her lips, “my turn. We don’t care how many men Rook has or how skilled they are.

We’ve all humped our way through missions to hell and back, and we’re still here.

So, this is what we’re gonna do. We’re going to take a breath, then hash out a plan that provides you with a ridiculous amount of backup while hopefully keeping everyone alive.

You heard Rook. You need Foster or Mac to get you there. And we’d just follow, anyways, so…”

She leaned into his hand. “You do realize I’ll kill any of you if you don’t come back.”

“I’d expect nothing less.”

She sighed, wishing she had the strength to push past them and figure it out on her own. But she’d be lying if she didn’t admit she wanted the help. That for once in her life, she knew she couldn’t complete the mission alone.

“Fine. But I mean it. Die, and I’ll kill you.” She turned to Cannon, Jericho and Miller. “Before we start calling people and readying boats and helicopters, I want to know what your angle is. Because it’s obvious you have one.”

Jericho grinned. “I like her. And you’re right.

Rook’s undertakings have gotten the attention of a few high-level players inside the Department of Justice.

They’d really love to have a chat with him so, if possible, we’re here to take him in.

Alive. Along with all that intel. Make sure he doesn’t slip through the cracks and end up reinventing himself for another agency. ”

Jordan eyed them. “You can have the intel if it survives the meeting. But I can’t make any promises about him not dying. He’s not likely to give us many options.”

Becca cleared her throat, drawing their attention.

“I can’t help you regarding Rook, but with respect to the intel…

I think I can tweak the coding on the drive so it sends all the information back to my server when Rook tries to access it while erasing what we give him.

A version of what’s already embedded, so to speak.

Unfortunately, that won’t solve the issue if he decides to simply destroy the thumb drive. ”

“It’s better than what we have now.”

“I’ll get started, while you all work your strategizing magic.”

Jordan grabbed Kash’s hand. “Fine. We can talk it over. See if there’s a way to beat Rook at his own game. Just know this. I meant what I said. Whatever it takes. Whatever the price. It ends here.”