Page 65 of Faron

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He took one look at the note and his jaw clenched.

“Do you have any idea who’s behind this?”

“No. And I don’t like being in the dark. I’m sure I have lots of enemies.”

“You got a tail?”

“Not that I’ve seen.”

He nodded. “You do now.”

I blinked. “Excuse me?”

He looked straight at me. “You’re Faron’s sister. That makes you my problem. I’m your tail.”

62

Faron

Imoved through the jungle like a ghost—silent, low to the ground, rifle balanced across my back. We’d secured the first hostage, a twenty-year-old aid worker from Michigan, but there were three more scattered across different camps.

Cyclone and I were leading point through the southern ridge when my radio buzzed. It was short. Three clicks. One pause. Then two more.

Code from Tag.

It meantcheck your secondary device—now.

I ducked behind a thick tree root and slipped the backup phone from my vest. A single text sat on the locked screen.

Shadow deployed. Rec Center secure. The note was real.

I stared at it. My throat went dry.

Rec Center.

That meant Blue. But Blue would’ve called me directly.

The note was real. What the hell did he mean?

I swiped open the message, heart pounding.

Aponi came to us. A taped threat was on her door. Said someone was watching her. Black Charger. Partialplate matches prior red flag. She didn’t want to tell you, but I’m telling you anyway. You’d do the same.

Damn right I would.

I gritted my teeth, shoving the phone back in my vest. My blood was pounding like war drums in my ears. I glanced at Cyclone, who was watching me with narrowed eyes.

“What?” he muttered.

“My sister,” I said. “Someone’s hunting her.”

He didn’t ask questions. Just nodded once and adjusted his grip on the rifle.

“You want to bail?”

I wanted nothing more than to get on the first chopper home.

But the girl we’d just rescued was clinging to Raven like a lifeline. The next three kids would be dead by morning if we didn’t move now.

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