Page 41 of Rogue Hope (Hope Landing: New Recruits #4)

The revelation hit Zara like a physical blow.

She stared at the data scrolling across her screen, disbelief giving way to cold certainty as patterns emerged from the chaos.

Her fingers cramped painfully as she typed, joints swollen and aching from the flare that had steadily worsened throughout the day.

“Not kill us,” she whispered in confirmation of what they’d already suspected as she scanned the forensic report on the Phoenix explosion. “But capture us.”

The bomb placement, the timing, the blast radius—all deliberately calculated. A high-concussion, low-lethality device designed to incapacitate, not eliminate. The shrapnel pattern wasn’t random but designed to funnel targets toward a specific extraction point.

She scrolled through more data, ignoring the fire crawling through her wrists, up her forearms.

The timestamp inconsistencies she’d discovered weren’t minor errors—they were impossible contradictions. Reports supposedly created while Reynolds was “on the run” contained metadata proving they’d been fabricated hours after he claimed to be compromised.

Then there were the server access logs showing activity during scheduled maintenance windows when those systems should have been offline. No random hacker would know those precise vulnerabilities—only someone intimately familiar with the network architecture.

Zara traced the digital breadcrumbs backward, dread freezing her with each new revelation. The mining complex coordinates matched a documented CIA training exercise from three years ago—information only someone with Reynolds’ clearance level would possess.

Who had better access to plant such evidence than her own mentor, the man who’d taught her how to detect digital manipulation in the first place?

Why didn’t I see it before?

Reynolds had masterfully pitted her against Finn, using their history to blind them both. While they’d been locked in their personal standoff, carefully circling each other with suspicion and wounded pride, Reynolds had been implementing his true plan.

The mining complex coordinates matched a documented CIA training exercise from three years ago—information only someone with Reynolds’ clearance level would possess.

Her screen flickered, the security dashboard showing cascading system failures.

Zara froze.

Perimeter breach in progress.

But the warnings never triggered. Whoever had entered the facility knew exactly how to bypass them.

The emergency lights blinked once, then bathed the room in steady crimson. Security protocols failing in precise sequence—the same sequence Reynolds had designed when consulting on Knight Tactical’s security architecture.

She lunged for her sidearm. The realization crystallized with devastating clarity—Harrison hadn’t called for extraction because he needed help. He’d orchestrated this entire scenario to draw her team away while he infiltrated their headquarters personally.

Not just coming. Already inside.

Heart hammering against her ribs, she bolted for the detention level. Finn might be her only ally against the enemy she’d trusted implicitly for years.

The detention center door stood ajar, the security panel dark. Zara pressed her back to the wall, breathing controlled despite the fear clawing at her throat. She pivoted smoothly into the doorway, weapon raised.

The cell door gaped open.

“No,” she whispered, sweeping the room with her gaze.

Kenji lay crumpled on the floor inside the cell, a bruise visible on his neck. No blood, but his breathing was shallow, pulse steady when she pressed trembling fingers to his throat.

“Kenji?” She gently shook his shoulder. “Kenji, wake up.”

He groaned, eyelids fluttering.

The implication was inescapable. Finn had escaped—overpowered Kenji and fled. Betrayed them. Betrayed her . Again.

She activated her comm device. “Ronan, come in.” Nothing but static responded. “Axel? Griffin? Anyone copy?”

Each channel yielded the same hollow silence. She recognized the pattern—an electromagnetic pulse targeted at their specific frequencies. Reynolds’ signature.

Hot anger flooded her veins. Had Finn been working with Harrison all along? Had she been played yet again, falling for his earnest declarations, his apparent concern for her wellbeing?

Kenji coughed, struggling to sit up. “Zara? What—” His hand went reflexively to his throat, wincing at the tenderness.

“Finn’s escaped.” She helped him lean against the cell wall. “Reynolds must be?—”

A soft scrape behind her cut the words short. She whirled, weapon up and aimed.

Finn stood in the doorway, Kenji’s sidearm gripped in his hand. His expression was grim, determined, but his eyes widened at the sight of her gun pointed directly at his chest.

“I should have known,” she spat, ice in her voice. “All that talk about redemption. About trust. You’re still the same lying manipulator you always were.”

Finn didn’t move, didn’t raise the weapon. “Zara, listen to me?—”

Her aim never wavered. “Drop the gun. Now.”

“Reynolds is here,” Finn said, his voice low and urgent. “Inside the facility. He’s sent the team into a trap and cut all communications.”

“And I’m supposed to believe you had nothing to do with that?” She gestured toward Kenji with a sharp jerk of her head. “After you attacked one of my team?”

Finn’s jaw tightened. “I needed to get out. To warn you. Kenji wouldn’t listen.”

“So you choked him out?” The betrayal cut deeper than she wanted to admit.

“He’ll be fine,” Finn said, an edge of impatience creeping into his tone. “Which is more than I can say for either of us if we waste time arguing.”

Kenji struggled to his feet, one hand braced against the wall, and glared at Finn.

“Sorry about the chokehold,” Finn muttered, never taking his eyes off Zara. “You can pay me back later, but now we need to jet.”

A sound from the corridor—boots on polished floors. Multiple sets.

“We’re out of time. Shoot me later if you want, but right now, we need to move.”

Kenji looked between them, confusion evident. “Zara?”

She hesitated for only a second before making her decision. “If this is another betrayal?—”

Harrison was deep into this. She believed that now. But that didn’t mean Finn wasn’t involved, too.

The footsteps were closer now, methodical and unhurried. Confident.

“Reynolds thinks he’s won.” Finn offered Kenji back his weapon. “Let’s prove him wrong.”

Kenji stepped forward and retrieved his Glock.

Zara lowered her gun, not holstering it, but no longer aiming at Finn’s heart. This wasn’t about trust—not yet—but about survival. About stopping a traitor who had used them both.

“Three exits,” she said crisply. “Service corridor, main hall, or ventilation shaft.”

Finn scanned the detention center, his eyes calculating. “Ventilation’s our best shot, but they’ll figure that out in a heartbeat, too.” His gaze settled on the security console. “We need a diversion.”

Kenji rubbed his throat, giving Finn a look that promised future reckoning. “The biomedical lab on level three has automated emergency activation capability.”

“Perfect,” Zara nodded sharply. “Can you trigger it from here?”

Finn was already moving to the detention control panel, prying open its casing. “If I crosswire this to the emergency systems network ...” His fingers worked deftly among the circuits. “Kenji, I need the override code for quarantine procedures.”

“Alpha-seven-delta-nine-three,” Kenji supplied without hesitation.

The sound of boots echoed in the corridor outside—Vanguard operatives taking position. They had seconds, not minutes.

Zara quickly gathered Kenji’s medical supplies from the floor where they’d scattered during the confrontation. “We’ll need these.” She tossed Finn a roll of surgical tape as she moved toward the ventilation panel.

“Got it,” Finn muttered, connecting two final wires. The console flickered, then displayed a flashing red warning .

Biocontainment breach in Laboratory 3. Automatic lockdown initiating.

Immediately, alarms blared throughout the facility. Emergency containment doors began slamming shut in distant corridors.

“That’ll send them scrambling,” Kenji observed, moving to help Zara with the ventilation grate. “Reynolds will have to redirect resources to investigate.”

Zara looked at Finn. “Use the medical tape.”

Immediately understanding, Finn joined them at the grate, quickly applying pieces of tape to the fasteners. “When they check this room, they’ll think we went out through the service corridor.”

“Exactly.” She crossed to the service door and deliberately damaged its access panel, leaving marks that suggested someone had forced it open. She grabbed a chair and positioned it beneath the panel, adding scattered tools to complete the illusion.

The footsteps outside slowed, then stopped. Voices conferring urgently.

“Now,” she whispered, as Finn finished removing the grate.

Kenji went first, his compact frame sliding easily into the opening. Zara followed, ignoring the burning protest from her joints. Just as Finn prepared to enter, the detention center door began to unlock.

With lightning speed, he tossed Kenji’s medical bag through the vent, then slid in himself, replacing the grate from the inside an instant before the door opened.

They lay absolutely still in the narrow shaft, barely breathing as Vanguard operatives swept the room below.

“Clear,” a voice called. “Looks like they forced the service exit. Moving to intercept.”

Boots pounded away, heading in the opposite direction of their actual position.

Zara released a silent breath, exchanging a look with Finn in the dim emergency lighting. His expression held a mixture of relief and grim determination that mirrored her own.

Their only chance now was to reach the command center, restore communications, and warn the team. Zara crawled through the narrow shaft, every movement an exercise in controlled agony.

Whatever happened next, they’d face it as they should have from the beginning.

Together. Whether she trusted Finn fully or not.