Page 26 of Rescuing Ally: Part 2

I close my eyes briefly, letting the technical details cascade through my consciousness. Drone specifications. Flight paths. Oceanic currents. Vessel traffic. Satellite blind spots.

Harrison is good. But I’m better.

He might understand security systems, but I understand destruction. The precise application of force. The exact pressure needed to break things—or people.

When I open my eyes, I catch Hank watching me. That glacier-cold assessment that says he’s thinking exactly what I am.

Harrison made one critical mistake.

He took what’s ours.

And there is nowhere on this earth—or under its oceans—that will protect him from what’s coming.

NINE

Cold Fury

HANK

“What we’re seeing here isunprecedented,” Forest says, standing at the head of the conference table. Dark circles rim his eyes—he hasn’t slept since the abduction. None of us have.

The command center thrums with restrained fury. Charlie team occupies the left flank of the room—Ethan, Rigel, Walt, Blake, Carter, Gabe, and I. Seven men with one shared purpose. Max and Brady, team leaders from Alpha and Bravo teams, stand along the back wall. Their expressions range from grim solidarity to barely concealed tension.

Forty-two hours since the women were taken. Forty-two hours of nothing but dead ends and false starts.

I catch Ethan’s eye across the room. As Charlie team leader, he maintains his composure, but I see what others miss—the microscopic tremor in his right hand, the way his jaw pulses every few seconds. Rebel’s absence cuts into him like a blade.

Blake stands motionless, face carved from stone, but his usual easy demeanor has vanished. Walt’s restlessness manifests in controlled micro-movements—his fingers tapping silent rhythms against his thigh, his eyes constantly scanning the displays. Rigel’s stillness is more pronounced than usual,a predator conserving energy before the hunt. And Carter—the newest, official addition to our ranks—radiates cold fury.

His place is well-earned. I’ve watched him during training. He processes differently than we do, but his dedication to finding Jenna matches our own.

Gabe paces along the outer edge of the gathering, unable to remain still. I recognize the restraint in his movements—the explosive energy he’s banking for when it’s needed. It mirrors the cold burn in my chest, though our expressions differ.

“We need to consider all possibilities,” Forest continues. “Guardian HQ has never been breached. Not in its entire operational history. Yet someone walked in, took six women, and walked out—without triggering a single alarm.”

“It’s been breached once before.” Blake’s voice cuts through the room like broken glass.

The silence that follows is immediate. Heavy. Every man in the room knows exactly what he’s referring to.

Who he means.

Blake’s jaw works, muscles ticking beneath the skin. His hands are steady, but his breathing changes—shallow, controlled. The cost of saying it aloud.

“Malfor used Luke against Sophia,” Forest says quietly, his voice carrying the weight of command decisions that haunt leaders. “She did what any mother would.”

Blake’s throat works, but he doesn’t speak. Doesn’t need to. Forest just said what Blake couldn’t—the defense of the woman he loves coming from the man who had to make the call to trust her again.

The room stays silent. We all remember. The betrayal that wasn’t really betrayal. The way Sophia had to look us in the eye, work alongside us, earn our trust—all while systematically dismantling our security from the inside. How she cried whenconfessing. How Blake held her while she broke apart from the guilt.

“Different circumstances,” Ethan says finally, but his voice is gentler now. Understanding. Rebel went through something similar—the impossible choice between loyalty and survival.

Blake’s hands curl into fists, then deliberately relax. The silence stretches, heavy with shared memory and understanding.

“He had inside help. Had to.” Gabe stops his pacing to lock eyes with Sam. “We already know Harrison betrayed Collins. Who’s to say he’s the only one?”

“What’s Malfor’s endgame here?” Brady from Bravo asks. “Taking Charlie team’s women is tactical. Deliberate.”

“It’s a trap,” Ethan states flatly. “He’s using them as bait.”