CHAPTER 142
LUCAS'S POV
The construction site was louder than usual, generators humming and concrete mixers churning as Harry's crew worked to beat the weather. I found him on the third floor of what would eventually be a new medical center, measuring rebar spacing with the kind of precision that had once been reserved for explosive placements.
"We need to talk," I said, raising my voice over the noise.
He looked up from his measuring tape, squinting against the afternoon sun streaming through the unfinished windows. "If this is about Skylar's offer..."
"It's about all of it. The job, the team, what we do next." I gestured toward a quiet corner away from the other workers. "We can't keep avoiding this conversation forever."
Harry followed me to the edge of the building, where we could see the valley stretching out below us. Snow-covered fields and distant mountains that looked like something from a postcard. It was beautiful and peaceful and everything our lives had never been.
"You want to know what I think?" Harry said without preamble. "I think she's asking us to trust her again after she proved we can't."
"And I think you're letting hurt feelings cloud your judgment."
"Hurt feelings?" Harry's voice was sharp. "Lucas, she recorded our private conversations. She manipulated us into believing she was falling apart so we wouldn't suspect what she was really doing. She was willing to send us to prison to advance her mission."
"She was trying to save innocent lives."
"By sacrificing us."
"By making impossible choices in an impossible situation." I leaned against the concrete barrier, feeling the cold seep through my jacket. "Harry, what would you have done in her position? If you'd had to choose between saving us and saving dozens of trafficked children?"
He was quiet for a long moment, staring out at the mountains. "I don't know," he admitted finally. "But that's exactly why I don't think I should be making these kinds of decisions anymore."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean I liked the simple work, Lucas. Building things instead of destroying them. Creating something useful instead of just eliminating threats." He gestured at the construction around us. "This medical center will save lives for decades. Clean, honest work that helps people without requiring anyone to die in the process."
"And you think joining Skylar's task force would pull you back into the darkness."
"I think Skylar is the darkness now. And I'm not sure she even realizes it."
His words hit harder than I'd expected. Because part of me agreed with him. The woman who'd walked out of that federal courthouse six months ago wasn't the same person who'd walked into that warehouse to save hostages. Something fundamental had shifted in her during William's trial, when she'd testified with cold precision about crimes that should have shattered anyone with a functioning conscience.
"Maybe," I said. "But maybe that's exactly why she needs us."
"To keep her human?"
"To remind her what she's fighting for."
Harry picked up a piece of rebar and turned it over in his hands, testing its weight and balance. Old habits died hard, and I could see him automatically calculating how it could be used as a weapon.
"What about Jax?" he asked. "What does he think?"
"That we owe it to her to try. That love means giving people second chances even when they don't deserve them."
"And you?"
I thought about the question seriously, weighing my own feelings against the practical realities of what Skylar was offering. "I think she's right about the mission. International trafficking networks are getting more sophisticated, more brutal. They need to be stopped by people who understand how they operate."
"That's not what I asked."
"I think..." I paused, trying to find the right words. "I think she made terrible choices for good reasons. And I think we made the mistake of putting her in a position where those were the only choices available."
"How do you figure?"
"We trained her to be a weapon, Harry. We taught her to fight, to kill, to make tactical decisions under pressure. But we never taught her how to balance that with being in love. We never showed her how to be lethal and human at the same time."
Harry was quiet, testing the rebar against his palm. "So you think it's our fault."
"I think it's everyone's fault. Skylar's for making the choices she made, ours for not seeing what she was becoming, William's for creating the situation in the first place." I turned to face him fully. "But fault doesn't matter now. What matters is whether we can build something better from what's left."
"And if we can't? If she's too far gone to come back?"
"Then we try anyway. Because the alternative is admitting that love has limits, and I'm not ready to do that."
My phone buzzed with a text from Jax: "Emergency. House. Now."
Harry saw my expression change. "What is it?"
"Jax needs us back at the house. Emergency."
We didn't talk during the drive back, both of us lost in our own thoughts and worried about what kind of emergency would make Jax use that particular tone. The last time he'd sent a message like that, federal agents had been breaking down our door.
The house looked normal from the outside, but Jax met us at the door with an expression I hadn't seen since the night Skylar was kidnapped.
"Where is she?" Harry asked immediately.
"Upstairs. But that's not the problem." Jax led us into the kitchen, where his laptop was open to what looked like a news website. "Look at this."
The headline made my blood run cold: "Federal Task Force Director Killed in Jakarta. American Operatives Missing."
Below it was a photograph of a bombed-out building and several smaller photos of the victims. Including one that looked disturbingly familiar.
"That's Marcus Webb," I said, recognizing Skylar's potential new boss. "The guy who offered her the task force position."
"He was killed three days ago. Along with his entire advance team." Jax scrolled down to show more details. "Car bomb outside a hotel where they were supposed to meet with Indonesian authorities about a joint operation."
"Industrial accident?" Harry asked hopefully.
"Targeted assassination. And according to this article, the Indonesian trafficking network they were investigating has ties to..." Jax paused, his face grim. "To William Kane's former associates."
We all stared at the screen, processing the implications. William was in federal prison, but his network had survived his capture. And now they were eliminating anyone who might threaten their operations.
Including anyone who might take over Webb's position.
"Where's Skylar?" I asked.
"Upstairs. She's been making phone calls for the past hour, trying to get more information from her federal contacts."
"Does she know about the connection to William's people?"
"Not yet. But she's going to figure it out soon enough."
The sound of footsteps on the stairs made us all turn toward the doorway. Skylar appeared, her phone pressed to her ear and her face pale with whatever she'd just learned.
"I understand," she said into the phone. "No, I'll make my decision tonight. Yes, I'm aware of the risks."
She hung up and looked at the three of us standing around Jax's laptop.
"You've seen the news," she said. It wasn't a question.
"Skylar," Harry started, but she cut him off.
"They're offering me Webb's position. Effective immediately. Full authority over the international task force and the Jakarta operation."
"You can't seriously be considering it," Jax said.
"They killed an entire team to stop this investigation. If I don't take the job, they win."
"If you do take the job, you'll be next," I pointed out.
Skylar smiled, and for the first time in months, it was the same fierce expression I remembered from the night she'd decided to go after her father.
"Then I guess you'd better decide quickly whether you're coming with me or not."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
