We drove for miles in silence, the landscape turning less forested, more open. Eventually, hunger and exhaustion wore us both down. We stopped at a roadside diner with faded signs and Formica tables stuck in the 70s.
Inside, we ate burgers and milkshakes while Ryker texted furiously on his phone. I watched him, the way his jaw tightenedevery time he got a new reply. The way he looked up at me in between, like I was the only other person in the universe.
Finally, he set the phone down and leaned in close. “We need to get to the city,” he said in a hushed voice. “Royal’s got a contact who says there’s a team looking for us. Matheson’s people.”
“Matheson?” I’d never heard of the name before.
“Yeah.” He said it like a curse. “He’s not just after a payday. He’s got something personal. And he knows we’re together.”
I gripped my mug, knuckles white. “So what do we do?”
“We go to ground,” he said. “We find Royal, and then we turn the tables.”
I nodded, because what else was there to do?
Ryker paid, and we loaded into the car again. The highway stretched ahead, every mile a chance for us to disappear or to get caught. I glanced at Mabel, now quiet in her carrier, and then at Ryker, solid and unwavering next to me.
For the first time since this all started, I thought maybe—just maybe—we could win.
∞∞∞
We made it to the city just after dusk. Ryker drove through a maze of alleys and backstreets before finally pulling up outside a low-roofed warehouse. Royal was waiting for us, leaning against a wall and pacing until he spotted the Jeep’s headlights.
He opened the door before we could knock, pulling us inside. He and Ryker hugged in a way that looked more like a wrestling match, then turned their attention to me.
Royal stuck out his hand, a crooked half-smile on his face. “You must be the trouble magnet. Lily, right?”
“That’s me.” I shook his hand in awe. He looked so much like Ryker, even sounded like him. The only difference I could see was that he had a tattoo on his right arm. “Sorry for ruining your brother’s peaceful retirement.”
Royal snorted. “He’s lucky I don’t send him to a monastery.”
Ryker explained what happened at the cabin, and Royal just shook his head. “Bears and assassins. You don’t half-ass anything, do you, bro?”
My breath caught in my throat. “Hold up. Did you sayassassins?! As in plural?” A shaky laugh escaped past my lips, one that was borderline hysterical. “I’m a kindergarten teacher for Christ’s sake.WHYwould anyone want me dead?”
Royal looked at me, then back at his brother. “Rumor is, you're wanted as bait.”
I blinked. “Bait?”
Royal’s face softened a little. “You got a sister, right?”
I nodded. “Mia. But I haven’t seen her since I was like three.”
“Doesn’t matter. Declan got in touch with me, and he says that Matheson’s after you because of Mia. They are tied up in something bigger, government-level. And she went rogue. He wants to flush Mia out and have her back on his side.”
My hands were shaking. “You’re saying I’m a— a pawn in some sick and twisted game?!”
Ryker slid a chair behind me, pushing me into it before my knees could give out. He crouched down to my level. “It’s not going to happen,” he said. “We’ll stop them before it gets that far.”
He stood and focused on the whiteboard in the corner, littered with photos, maps, and bits of red string. “What’s the plan?”
Royal pointed at the photos. “Matheson’s crew landed in Vancouver yesterday. They’re using docks on the east side to move their people around. Surveillance camera got three different faces, all ex-military. No one local.”
Royal leaned closer, his tone all business. “You’re going to have to trust us.” He looked at Ryker, and for the first time, I saw something more than banter. Loyalty and a kind of fear.
“Do you trust me?” Ryker’s voice was so quiet, so serious, I thought the whole world was on pause, waiting for my answer.
I looked at him, then at Royal, then at the messy sprawl of evidence and plans on the board. Maybe I was still the same scared girl from the cabin. But in that moment, a new version of me took shape—one that was brave enough to say, “Yes. I trust you.”
