Page 126 of Make Them Cry
“No cowboy,” Dean says.
“Scout’s honor,” Arrow lies, and I can hear the half-smile.
Dean to Rae: “Kill the alley light, open the east main door on my mark.”
“Copy.”
He looks at me. “You carry?”
“Every time,” I say, and River’s chin lifts like she’s not arguing.
I scoop her, and the world shifts into a better shape. She’s warm against me, breath fast but syncing as my heartbeat hammers steady against her ear. She tucks her face into my neck.
“On your six,” Ranger murmurs.
Dean’s hand chops. “Move.”
We slip into the dark, past the forklift, behind a row of shelves, toward the east door. Cold air kisses my face. The alley stretches empty, but I can hear tires at the far end and the ghost sound of men talking.
Arrow’s voice: “Van stalled. Someone forgot to notice a strip of roofing nails in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
Dean: “Nice work.”
“Buy me tacos later,” Arrow says.
“Done,” Sawyer answers with a small laugh.
We cross the threshold and take the corner, quick and quiet, into the black belly of the block. Knight and Ranger fill the edges, Sawyer floats point like a shadow. Rae counts down in our ears—“Right clear. Left clear. Patrol just diverted two blocks north.”
We reach the convoy. Knight pops the rear door. I lay River across the back seat and she doesn’t let go of me until I lean with her, my palm on her cheek. “You with me?”
“I’m with you.” Her eyes flash. “Gage—Helena was there. She said—she said ‘accelerate protocol.’ She thinks?—”
Dean’s phone buzzes. He looks, something like anger finally cracking through calm. He meets my eyes. “Maddox Security cameras just flagged Helena Lune entering NovaPlay HQ twenty minutes ago.”
Rae: “AndVaingloryjust posted ‘package moved’ from the same building’s IP.”
Knight’s mouth thins. “She wanted us here while she cleaned house there.”
Arrow drops from the roof into the passenger seat like a ninja. “Then we split the house.”
Dean nods once, decisive. “Ranger, Sawyer with me to NovaPlay. Arrow, Knight—get Gage and River to HQ. Rae, burn the rest of the feeds, box our entry, and hand a copy to our legal. Also, start a scrape on every device that pinged that block in the last hour. If a phone sneezed, I want its owner’s name, shoe size, and childhood best friend.”
“Yes, sir,” Rae says, voice fierce.
Dean gives me a look that knows exactly how close I am to running back into the warehouse and finding someone else to hurt. “You did good,” he says. “Now finish the job. Keep her breathing.”
I nod because he’s right and because River’s fingers are fisted in my sleeve like letting go is not an option. Arrow slams the door, Knight floors it, and Rae’s voice becomes our road. Ozzy, Poe, and Render are quiet as we all try to grasp what just happened.
In the rearview, I watch the block disappear.
River’s hand finds mine and threads our fingers.
“Hey,” I say, because I need her to hear it, need me to hear it too. “I’ve got you. I’m not stopping.”
She swallows, eyes wet and blazing. “Then bring me a war.”
I smile without humor, already cataloging every door Helena’s ever used, every lie she ever told.
