“Hey,” he echoes.
I step closer, still wary, still unsure how to exist around him. “Thank you… for doing this. For meeting with Jace. For being willing to help.”
Peter’s gaze is intense. “I have to make amends.”
“To whom?” I ask.
“You,” he says quietly. “To Nathan’s family. To Penn for sure.”
I nod and move to a seat a few down from him. Already at the table are Kynan, Malik, Ladd, Greer and Jackson.
Kynan wastes no time.
“Peter contacted Jace last night. Told him that he would bring you to a meeting to talk. Jace is insisting he wants the meeting to take place at an abandoned mine outside of Carnegie,” he says. “It’s a few miles southwest of here.”
“That was his suggestion, not ours?” I ask.
Kynan’s expression is grim as he nods. “It’s not optimal. There’s no real cover out there. No way to get agents close without being seen. If he shows up with a weapon or backup, we need eyes and a quick response time.”
Malik speaks next. “There’s a small utility building on the property line, far enough back not to raise suspicion but gives me a clear line of sight. I’ll take sniper watch from there.”
Sniper.The word sends a shiver down my spine and I have my first moment of true doubt.
Malik must sense it and assures me, “It’s just a precaution.”
“Precautions don’t mean anything,” Peter says angrily. “Not if he brings a gun and shoots her as soon as he lays eyes on her.”
I feel nauseated and look to Kynan. “Mila… I hope you understand just how dangerous this is. Jace says he wants to talk but there’s a good chance he wants to hurt you. It could be he wants to taunt you before he does something, it could be that he wants to hurt you slowly. And there’s a chance he just wants toend you very quickly, and if that’s the case, Malik is going to have to be fast on the trigger.”
“Oh, wow,” I murmur, pressing my fingertips into the edge of the table as I close my eyes to absorb that. When I open them, I laser them onto Malik. “I assume you’re good.”
“Very good,” he says. “I’ll put a bullet in him if he so much as makes a move near you.”
Kynan adds, “But again, you need to understand, we cannot fully guarantee your safety. Only that we’ll do our best. Are you sure you want to do this?”
I look at Peter and he gives a slight shake of his head. Just like Penn, he thinks this is a bad idea. I ask warily, “What else will you be doing to watch me?”
Kynan clasps his hands on the table. “We’ll wire you up. You’ll have on a Kevlar vest. We’ll have you on constant comms. We’ll have agents close by, but this is still very risky.”
“Give me a gun,” Peter suggests.
“Do you know how to handle one?” Kynan asks.
Peter’s face falls. “No, but—”
“Then you can’t have one. Besides, you get caught with a firearm, you’re going back to prison.”
“I don’t like this,” Peter says.
“I want to do it,” I find myself saying. It just sort of pops out. I’ve committed this far and I have to trust that Jameson—in particular, Malik—will have me covered if Jace makes a move.
Peter shifts uncomfortably. “Jace has been playing this close to the vest. I don’t know what he’s planning. He’s being secretive.”
“Which tells us he’s serious,” Kynan says grimly.
The next thirty minutes is pure strategy—mapping out the site, timing arrival points, discussing escape routes. Ladd and Greer handle details about the vehicles and positioning. Jackson outlines secondary plans in case Jace brings anyone with him.
By the time we’re done, I’m exhausted—not physically, but emotionally drained from imagining every worst-case scenario.
