Page 22 of Lost Hope

Please Lord, she prayed silently, let me be doing the right thing. Show me the path through this darkness.

A subtle movement caught her attention. Ronan adjusted his position against the utility shed wall, his stillness speaking of years of combat experience. Even in repose, tension radiated from his powerful frame. His dark hair was slightly tousled from the earlier fight, and those haunted eyes never stopped scanning their surroundings. The hard planes of his face spoke of battlesfought alone, of wounds that went soul-deep. Everything about him was controlled, contained. A man used to operating alone.

She wondered how many of his own rules he’d broken by helping her.

“Five minutes,” Axel said quietly from his lookout position. His usual humor was absent, replaced by a calm but watchful tension. His gaze kept returning to Ronan, worry evident in the set of his shoulders.

Maya forced her hands to stay steady. She was risking everything by running, but staying clearly meant death. They’d proven that with Tom. Once they got somewhere safe, once she and Ronan and Axel could separate the good guys from the bad, she’d turn herself in. Get this sorted out properly. Whether that permanently destroyed her career in law enforcement ... well, she’d leave that in God’s hands. Right now, staying alive long enough to expose the truth had to be enough.

The thwack of helicopter blades cut through her thoughts.

Ronan went absolutely still. His fingers flexed once before going motionless.

The aircraft appeared over the building’s edge, sleek and blue, the Knight Tactical logo understated but professional. Everything about it spoke of money, of success, of power.

The pilot set the bright blue helo in the center of the pad. Two men emerged from the cockpit as the rotors slowed. Neither was Christian Murphy. The slender one had to be Jack Reese. The big man would be Austin Daggett.

“Should have known.”

The words were barely audible, but the bitterness in Ronan’s voice made Maya flinch. She saw Axel shoot his friend a worried glance.

“Gentlemen, Agent Chen.” Jack’s approach was carefully diplomatic. “Let’s get you somewhere secure.”

“Sweet ride,” Axel offered, clearly trying for casual.

Ronan’s only response was silence. But Maya caught how his eyes cataloged every detail of the machine. She knew nothing about aircraft, but this one screamed money.

The interior was immaculate, better equipped than any federal aircraft she’d ever seen. Maya watched Ronan take it all in, his expression growing more closed with each second.

“Weather’s perfect for flying,” Austin tried again from the cockpit. “Clear skies all the way to?—”

“How long?” Ronan cut him off.

“A buck twenty to the compound,” Jack answered smoothly. “Get yourselves buckled in and we’ll hit it.”

Maya studied Ronan’s profile in the dim light. The military precision in his bearing couldn’t quite hide the tension underneath. This man had saved her life today, yet something about approaching his brother’s domain seemed to cost him more than facing armed killers.

The helicopter lifted off smoothly, banking east toward the mountains. Maya watched the city lights recede below them, each mile taking her farther from everything familiar. She’d crossed a line, burned bridges she likely could never rebuild.

Looking at Ronan’s carefully controlled expression, she wondered what lines he was crossing, asking for help from a stranger who should have been family.

The helicopter banked again, gentler this time. Axel’s knuckles went white on his armrest.

“Looking a little pale there, partner.” Ronan’s voice held the first hint of humor Maya had heard from him in hours. Since she contacted Knight Tactical, actually. “Need a bag?”

“Bite me, Quinn.” Axel flexed his big hand. “Some of us prefer our feet on solid ground.”

“Could be worse,” Ronan said, clearly enjoying himself. “Could be like that time in Paraguay?—”

“We don’t talk about Paraguay,” Axel ground out.

Jack chuckled. “Sounds like someone else we know.”

“Christian hates flying too,” Austin said. “Gets green around the gills every time.”

Maya caught Ronan’s startled blink. Such a small detail about his brother, but clearly news to him. His expression shifted, processing this unexpected frailty.

“Speaking of flying,” Axel said suddenly, his grin showing he’d found a way to get back at Ronan for the teasing, “what are we doing about the Lockheed?”

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