Page 91 of Tango Down

“None last night,” Coach confirmed.

“How’s Crew doing?” Ryan pressed. “Asking for a Finlay.”

I smirked.

Coach chuckled. “You can tell Cullen his boy will likely finish first.”

I wasn’t surprised. He had the most field experience—although, the vast majority of that came from deserts, not rainforest. Even so, he was one hell of a Marine who refused to quit.

Ryan disappeared again, but soon, another Quinn came in.

Darius. And he had their three runts with him. I liked Jayden; at fourteen, he wasn’t as fragile as Justin and Cass.

“Which one’s Dad’s screen?” Jayden asked Darius quietly.

“Number three, up there.” Darius nodded at the screen in question, studying it.

“Daddy, I want up.” Cass held up her arms, and Darius soundlessly positioned her on his hip.

“Nothin’ to report, buddy,” Coach said. “Gray’s on his way to his last marker in sector four.”

Just twenty-four more hours.

* * *

Reese Tenley

When all the kids—and a few partners—had gone to bed, we marked our last night without our recruits with alcohol in the courtyard. We’d put the firepit to use a lot.

I leaned back in my Adirondack chair and planted my feet on the edge of the firepit.

One last drink, then bedtime.

“Where did Coach go?” Danny demanded.

“To check the screens,” Ryan yawned.

“I think he’s particularly interested in Wilde’s screen,” Mercier noted.

I cocked my head at him. Huh. He might have a point. Coach had been monitoring her closely.

River refilled my drink.

Maybe another after this one too. I hadn’t decided yet. To be honest, it was just nice to hang out with the guys. We had no young punks who gave us crap for going down memory lane, and most of us here went way back. Joel and Mercier were the exceptions, but they’d been in the game long enough to relate in their own way.

Aside from those two, Darius, Ryan, Elliott, Danny, Em, Coach, River, and I—we all had Hillcroft that refused to stay in the rearview. Something we’d come to accept now.

With Shay joining as an official employee next week, River and I had agreed to come in as consultants occasionally. For training and shit like that. And given the direction Elliott and Mercier had taken with JATE, they were more involved too.

“Darius,” I said, tipping my head so I could see him on the other side of the fire. “What about you? Will Hillcroft pull you back in?”

He barked out a laugh that echoed across the courtyard.

“You don’t have to be so cold about it.” Danny sucked his teeth.

“See, the real reason we’re hidin’ deep in the forests of Washington is to keep you out,” Ryan told us. “We’re not afraid of apocalypses or criminals out for revenge—we’re afraid of Hillcroft.”

I grinned into my glass.

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