Page 98 of Unmade

Just like Coach had said, we were in the middle of a large clearing with low grass, and we were surrounded by forest. We had the sun on our side; it was blinding the newcomers more than us.

“One by one,” Coach commanded.

I nodded and rested my arm over the door. They were still outside the firing zone for a 9mm, and it might worry me in a moment, because they had rifles. Precision rifles, if my eyes weren’t betraying me. So why weren’t they using them?

“We have a friendly coming in from behind,” Coach warned. “Who is it?” Was that meant for me— “Okay. Welcome to the show, Crew. Been a while. You still owe me a countertop.”

“I had a feeling you missed me. And can we discuss interior design later?” The answer came from behind me, and I didn’t have time to look. Not that I needed to. He joined my side and nodded with a dip of his chin. “Mind if I start?”

Okay, I looked. He was older than me but not by much. Hot as hell too. He was also in combat gear, and the lucky fucker had an M4. He took aim and went to town, and they dropped like flies?—

“Cease fire!” Coach yelled. “We gotta run. Drones’re picking up movement. Vehicles coming up. Go!”

I cursed and turned around, and I took off in a sprint, aiming for the tree line some hundred yards away.

Coach smacked his hand against the van and spat out something in Spanish, presumably to the workers, before he positioned himself behind me.

“You could also pick up the pace!” I hollered.

“Shut up, recruit,” was his response.

We kicked up dust along the dirt road, especially the guy who’d joined us in boots made for rougher terrain. He was fast. Crew was his name? I was fairly sure I’d heard his name mentioned when Beckett was seeing off his mom and Alex.

A second or two before we reached the tree line, shots cracked through the air, and it was impossible to tell from which direction. They echoed all around us.

“That’s why he’s behind you,” Crew said, out of breath.

What? Oh. To have my back?

“Take us to the rendezvous, Finlay,” Coach ordered. “Or whatever the fuck your name is these days.”

“Aye, sir.” Crew went faster and veered off the road, straight into the forest. “For the record, I did the same thing Danny did. Husband’s name in private, same old for work—to prevent confusion. Yet, you’re more confused than ever, sir. Do you wanna talk about that?”

Hot damn. He did not take the slightest shit from Coach. Not even a breathless, backhanded comment.

I couldn’t help but grin.

It looked like I didn’t have to worry about safety as much here. The forest was incredibly dense, and at this time of year, the colors were the same both up above and down across the forest floor, yellowing green and burning orange.

We ran over to an area with more shrubs and shorter trees as well, and that was where I spotted two other men. A handful of backpacks and weapons cases on the ground, a camo blind cover set up between two trees, and a map trapped under four rocks.

I removed my earplugs and slowed down to catch my breath, and Coach strode right over to the two men and took out his AirPod.

“I need proper comms,” he said, heaving a breath.

“Yessir.” One of the others dug out something—oh, an earpiece. “The vehicles turned back.”

Coach inserted it and turned it on. “Coach here. What’s the status?”

Meanwhile, Crew extended a hand. “Agent Crew Finlay with JATE.”

I swallowed dryly and shook it. “Leighton Watts, lowly Hillcroft recruit. You escorted Operator Beckett’s family to San Diego the other day, right?”

He nodded once. “Yup. Do you know the others?” He gestured to the two men dressed similarly to himself, and I shook my head. I’d never seen them before. But before Crew could answer, we heard a shot blasting in the distance, and it made me flinch and turn to where we’d come from. “Don’t worry about it,” Crew said. “We have people and drones holding the line.”

Oh. Okay. To be honest, the whole thing was a little bizarre. I’d never experienced anything like this before, so I didn’t know what was going on. But frankly, I was along for the ride. I’d call this a good day so far. I was having fun.

Crew introduced me to the other two, who were Hillcroft operators. Max Morgan and JJ Williams, nicknamed “The Juniors” because they had fathers working at Hillcroft too. And Williams… Did that mean his dad was Legacy? Our Cold War professor? The one and only actual professor, to boot.

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