in's

h the dock like thunder c

nt, the wo

't fee

dn't

saw

en platform, soaking into

, Rico s

t

Beat

i

lutching his side. Blood

ssion twisted into c

ed: Rico had shifted

etraying me

the bullet

could take more than two steps, three guards raise

ove!" on

were locked on Rico, whose breathing grew shallow, l

toward him. "You were supposed to bring hi

ner of his mouth. "I... brought him... but

were wild, filled with panic, her mouth g

e, face twisted in disg

inside me had

y who cried beside h

the terri

the hunte

the

is hand to signa

bring it down, a b

o

ar end of the container

, confused. His men

ion followed, t

as D

plan, a distraction protocol we had crea

ing had gon

traight in the gut. His rifle fell. I grabbed it, turned, a

screaming thr

th from her mouth, and untied

e whispered, v

ways

from the floor and stood behi

on wa

d in th

still slumped on th

an t

tered open as

work?" he

" I said, grip

smirk but wi

wrong choices. But th

m, tears streaming. "We

he said, voice

m h

something i

lver

e behind the crates. Everything... everyth

ip wea

is hand slipp

was

have tim

th

from one of the containers. Darius emerged fr

in time to cause chaos

o," Darius sh

van we had hidden behind a stack of tires. Beatrice clim

oked behind through

s faded

st piece of R

w, a patch of land outside the city near th

pri

erem

st

the s

on his grave. "He saved

d. "He bought us tim

te. No date. Nothing to mark it in

ould re

ld live

er, I used t

midnight. The guards were minimal, clearly, Sampso

ers of crates, w

ocuments that co

ical bribes. Hit lists. A map of the city

ryt

it all, an envelope

a phot

unger Lor

e him...

nearly

the photo were

never mean

it to B

at it for a

everything," she whispe

re than frien

.. th

g," I said. "Somethi

es everything. My father didn't just

ce grew

to see h

es hard. "Then you'

ha

nsion. He trusts you. Even now, he's probably watching

d. "You're asking me t

elp stop a war. Befo

t reply r

she n

e what

ce returned to her

her from

n she w

o the li

now if she

knew t

r had