Page 78 of Remade

I had nothin’. I’d handed everything over to my man.

Speaking of, Bo was the next to step forward, and he used his Operator Beckett voice. “What kind of operators does Hillcroft create?”

“The gray kind!” we yelled on autopilot. “We will not stand out! We will not be identified!”

“Who speaks first?” he continued.

“Never us!”

“Who strikes last?”

“Always us!” we finished.

He nodded firmly and held up his clipboard. “Leighton and Miguel, you’re the first pair to head out. Leighton will go east toward marker six, and Miguel is heading west for marker two. Ten minutes later, we have Gabriella and Zander, then Tanner and Maxine, and last but not least, Riley and Shawn.” He gestured to Coach, who strode between us, and I looked over my shoulder.

He was aiming for the gates.

“This is it, recruits!” Danny said. “This is what you’ve been training for since last summer. Are you ready?”

“Yes, sir!” we yelled.

He nodded once. “Gates opening! Flores and Watts, good luck.”

I sucked in a breath and tightened the straps of my backpack, and I exchanged a quick glance with Bo.

Two weeks. I love you. Don’t you dare solve the Omar case without me.

Omar Said had been the topic of our pillow talk lately, ’cause we were romantic as hell.

Bo couldn’t actually guarantee he’d be here when I returned, at the same time as he thought it was unlikely he’d be called away. The educated guess on when they were taking down Said at this point was a month or two. Aside from Intel, they had Darius and River Tenley on as consultants, and Willow was cross-checking details from previous Hahn-related assignments to see if they’d missed anything, so I’d like to think we had our best people on the case. If they made a guess, chances were they knew what they were talking about.

Miguel and I turned around and headed for the gates, where nothing but rainforest waited for us down the mountainside.

Coach held up two stopwatches, and I noticed he was standing on a long beam that had been dug into the ground. That was the line, then. Once we crossed that marker, we’d started.

“See you in two weeks for the ceremony, recruits,” he said.

I swallowed and exchanged a glance with Miguel.

See you in two weeks.

We crossed the marker together, and then we were off in two different directions.

June 9th, 2025

“‘We will never underestimate a foe,’” I panted, darting between two of the biggest ferns I’d seen so far. “‘Or surrender to him.’” I was losing daylight fast in this swampy, humid, green hell. I had to get my marker before I set up camp. “‘We will never be alone… Even when we’re on our own.’”

Oh my fucking God, I hated the jungle. Staying dry was a goddamn pipe dream, and I didn’t understand how that could be one of the most important survival tips. It was fucking impossible!

Every hundred yards or so, I had to stop and check the map to ensure I was going in the right direction. Yesterday, I hadn’t even seen the sky, because the tree canopy was so thick.

I traced the stream on the map with my finger, and I looked around.There.

I swallowed dryly.

Depending on the terrain, I had maybe two hours of daylight left—and at least one hour to my marker.

June 12th, 2025

---