Page 63 of Danger Close
Dev stepped forward, a silhouette carved from iron and memory.His face was stone.His voice?Even harder.
“We move fast.We move smart.We bring him back.That’s not a goal.That’s not a hope.That’s our fucking reality.”
A rumble answered him—not words, just a growl of agreement that rose from the team like the sound of wolves about to descend.
“We’re not here for glory,” Dev continued.“We’re not here to prove a point.We’re here because they took one of ours.Because they spilled blood in our home on our land.Because they put their hands on kids and thought we’d walk away.”He looked around, meeting every pair of eyes.“They were wrong.”
Ezra felt it in his spine—a cold, precise kind of fury.The kind that came with training and grief and too many names on the memorial wall.
Bateman stepped up beside Dev, calm as always, but the set of his jaw was lethal.
“Every one of you carries ghosts tonight,” he said quietly.“Van.Others who never made it home.This team doesn’t forget.We don’t leave pieces behind.Not bodies.Not memories.Not souls.”
Nick muttered, “Damn right.”
Bateman nodded.“We carry them with us.Into the dark.Into the fire.”
Sam ran a hand over his rifle.“Into the motherfucking breach.”
Aiden smirked.“Hope they’re ready to meet God.”
“No gods here,” Riley said, voice low.“Just us.”
Dev cracked his knuckles.“Then let us bring the reckoning.”
Bateman let the silence stretch for a breath, a heartbeat, a shared pulse between men forged in blood.
“If vengeance means anything in this broken world,” he said, “we win.”
Ezra swallowed the lump rising in his throat.He wasn’t the crying type—but if ever there was a moment where it would’ve been earned, this was it.
Beside him, Dale pressed a hand briefly to his shoulder.“We bring him home,” he whispered.
Or I don’t come back at all, Ezra thought to himself.
Dev nodded once.“One path.”
Bateman echoed him.“One mission.”
Maddox’s voice came over comms, low and savage.“One fuckload of dead assholes.”
Bateman’s voice cut the silence like a blade.“This is it.We’re doing this for Ricky.For Marsh.For Van.For every damn one of us who never got to come home.”
Dev stepped forward, eyes hard.“You all know your entry points.Bravo takes the west and south.Pathfinders on the east and high flank.Glenn and Maddox have eyes on from above.Once we breach, it’s sweep, clear, and extract.”
Nick and Riley bumped fists.Marcel gave a tight, silent nod.
Glenn’s voice came through clear, “Locked and loaded, sights in.”
They all turned as one toward the descent.
The world held its breath before the storm hit, and it wasn’t long until gunfire shattered the quiet.
Ezra broke from cover, sprinting low across the open field watching Bateman’s back.Hogan covered the left flank.He could see Dev coming in from the far side of the property, and he moved like a goddamned ghost—silent, lethal, precise.
Bravo hit the south wall with an explosion that shook the ground.Marcel’s shout was followed by Nick barking orders and Sam’s clipped comms check-in confirming breach.From the west, Aiden’s voice crackled, “Two down.Pushing inside.”
Ezra took the rear, keeping their backs safe as Bateman cleared a side door and Dale swept the hallway.Blood smeared the walls already.Someone hadn’t expected guests.
