Page 53 of California Wild

Smell it.

It was peaceful. Too peaceful.

He grabbed his bag from the passenger seat, locked up, and headed inside.

Inside, the apartment was cool, dark, and sparse.

Jesse had never been the kind of guy to fill space with things.

Just the essentials.

His entire life fit into a few duffel bags.

That was the way he liked it.

He tossed his keys onto the counter, stripped off his sweat-soaked shirt, and went straight to the kitchen.

Dinner was fast, mechanical.

Didn’t taste like much.

It was fuel.

And Jesse was about to burn every last drop of it tomorrow.

He cleaned up, ran one last check on his gear.

Everything was ready.

His boots were by the door.

His weapons clean, loaded, locked away.

His uniform and pack set.

His work phone charged, next to his bed.

His personal phone? It was in a drawer. Off.

Hayley was probably at the airport by now. Or still in bed, hungover, tangled in someone else. He didn’t know when her flight was but it didn’t matter. They were both leaving. Movingon. There was nothing else. The thought punched through him, sharp and deep.

But he didn’t let himself linger.

Didn’t let himself reach for that drawer, check for something that wasn’t coming.

Instead, he exhaled hard, locked up the doors, and set his alarm.

0430.

Base by 0500.

Deployment by 0600.

Then he’d be gone.

Jesse passed out by nine.

His body knew what was coming.

---