Page 7 of Jason Bourne
She swept left down a narrow catwalk. I caught Forest’s amused snort as he fell in behind her.
We slipped past a row of crates. Low voices — two men arguing about how many “units” to pack for shore. Lane pressed her palm to my chest. She mouthed:Two.
I nodded.
She didn’t wait for me to signal. She moved — ghost-quick, knee to the first man’s groin, elbow to his throat. He crumpled without a sound. I caught the second by the collar before he could shout, slammed his head into the metal wall.
Lane stepped over the bodies like they were nothing—she was poetry in motion.
“Remind me never to piss you off again,” Forest muttered.
She flashed him a grin. “Too late.”
We foundthe storage hold hatch. Heavy padlock. Fresh blood smear on the handle.
Forest knelt, popped it with a pry bar. The door swung wide.
There — a tiny partition at the back. A shape on the floor. Blonde hair matted with sweat.
“Zoe!” Lane bolted past me, dropped to her knees. “Zoe, hey — it’s me, sweetie, wake up.”
“We’ll get you out of here,” I said.
Zoe groaned. Eyes fluttered. She tried to sit up, but collapsed into Lane’s arms.
“She’s burning up,” Lane choked out. “She’s got infection from that surgery. She needs a hospital, Jason. They lied and said they left her on the dock. Fuckers I’ll kill everyone of them.”
“We’ll get her to a hospital,” I swore. I squeezed Lane’s shoulder. “Forest can carry her. Nate and I will clear the path.”
We started moving—onehalf-conscious woman, ten ladies, four guns, zero margin for error. I kept my pistol up, eyes flicking to Lane every few steps. She was all adrenaline and instinct, but I knew her — the second she stopped moving, she’d crash.
We hit the main corridor just as the alarm wailed.
“Shit,” Nate growled. “So much for quiet.”
Boots thundered on metal grates above.
Lane’s phone vibrated in her pocket — no idea how she still had it. She fumbled it out, glancing down at the cracked screen while we backed into cover.
She went still. Her breath caught.
“Lane—”
“It’s my father. He’s been trying to reach me since they took me.” She pressed the speaker.
Her father’s voice burst out — frantic, strained:“Lane, if you get this, listen to me — Thor’s alive. He’s at Coastal Veterinary Trauma, they stabilized him. He’s going to be okay, baby girl—”
Her knees buckled. I caught her before she hit the deck.
“T-T-Thor’s alive. He’s all I have left of Jason.” Her voice was a whisper, ragged with disbelief. Tears she didn’t have time for welled up again. “Jason—”
I cupped the back of her neck, forehead to hers for one heartbeat in the chaos. “Yeah, sweetheart. He’s waiting for you. So is Zoe. So am I. But you gotta stay with me now, Lane. Focus.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, nodding against my forehead. When she opened her eyes, they were molten steel again.
“Let’s get my sister and these ladies home.”
Damn right,I thought as I chambered a round and signaled Nate forward.
