Page 31 of Raven's Nest
Saylor pushed to her feet and paced to the other side ofthe room. She couldn’t sit there, bearing the weight of their expectations. Not without losing her mind. She turned and braced her ass on the wall, just like earlier. “I get that it’s a bit farfetched to think these are all just random occurrences. I just don’t know how any of this is tied to a ship that sank a year ago. An event I can’t even remember.”
Foster nodded. “But you said you get snippets from that night.”
Foster hadn’t asked, and the thought sent her into a full-blown panic. What if they wanted her to describe everything? To relive it? What if Zain figured out she was too damaged, too damn broken to get involved with?
Either Zain had started reading minds or she’d given it away by closing her eyes because he was at her side a heartbeat later — had one of her hands in his. “We know this isn’t easy, but anything you remember from that night might shine some light into how this is connected.”
“But that’s the point. I don’t remember anything concrete. Just flashes that don’t make any sense.”
“Maybe not separately, and maybe some of it’s more metaphorical than literal. But anything’s better than what we’ve got, now.”
She braced herself against the onslaught of images, using Zain’s firm grip to keep her grounded. “I remember footsteps. Hinges creaking. Gunfire. What looked like lights bobbing on the water and this… never-ending sound.”
Zain squeezed her hand. “What kind of sound?”
“I don’t know. A tone. But it just goes on and on until I want to pound my head through the wall.”
“An explosion, maybe?”
“Possibly.”
Foster nodded. “I realize whatever they were studying was classified, but is there anything you can tell us about that mission?”
“If Maddox disclosed the nature of it once we were onboard, I don’t remember. I was only there to provide security.” She scoffed. “Just another job I obviously failed.”
“Did you?” Zain inched closer. “Or were you too damn good at it and uncovered something you shouldn’t have?”
“Even if that’s true, why wait a year before coming after me?”
“I don’t know, but what you described doesn’t sound like some kind of system’s failure.”
“No.” She looked him dead in the eyes. “It sounds as if I’ve lost my mind.”
Zain pursed his lips, glancing over at Chase. “Chase? What’s your take?”
Chase scrubbed a hand down his face as he rested his elbows on his knees. “I’m not a doctor or a psychiatrist, but it’s not a secret that between the blood loss and the head trauma, the hyperthermia and being trapped on that bloody Zodiac for three days, wondering if the next wave was going capsize you could have messed with your head. Stitched a bunch of different events together.”
Saylor groaned. “Which is what every damn shrink said at the hospital.”
“Or…” Chase shifted forward. “You’re remembering what really went down on theVigilant,and the Coast Guard and whoever else was involved used your obvious injuries to bury the truth.”
“That’s not hard when I can’t challenge any of their claims.”
Zain moved over and palmed the wall next to her. Not close enough to box her in or set her off. More a show of support. That he’d catch her if she wavered
“We understand how hard this is. And it’s your choice how far we push it. I just really think we should have Bodie see what he can unearth about theVigilantand that classified mission. But only if you’re okay with that.”
A shiver worked through her, more snippets flashing in her head. “Twenty-five people died that night. I owe it to them to uncover the truth, whether I like what I discover or not.”
“I know you feel responsible simply because you’re alive, but that’s just survivor’s guilt. You know that, right?”
She glanced at the floor for a moment. “I got shot in the back.”
“Likely by some deranged mercenary.”
“Or was it because something bad happened, and I ran.”
Zain sighed, looking back at his teammates before leaning closer. “In all the time we’ve known you, you’ve never once backed down from a fight — Bullets,weather, waves that would kill a lesser person. You’ve faced them all. There’re a dozen different scenarios you could sell me on, but none of them include you running from danger. It’s just not in your DNA.”
