Page 183 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“He’s going to kill me.”

Raven returned to photographing the case. “No.”

“That was not reassuringly fast.”

“He’s going to yell at you. Quite a lot, probably.”

“You think I was wrong.”

Raven stopped. For once, there was no dry answer waiting.

“I think you were right that the briefcase is important,” Raven said. “I also watched Wolf pull Viper off an active route because you ignored him. You got it, Mia. But the rest of us had to cover the decision that got you there.”

I looked down at the open case. The Paris invitation sat on top of the evidence packet where Raven had left it.

“If I hadn’t gone, we wouldn’t have this.”

“Maybe.”

“There is no maybe. He stopped his own escape to put that case in my hands.”

Raven watched me without answering.

“And if he had raised the gun instead of the case?”

All I could see was Keller dropping before his pistol cleared the holster.

I looked away.

Raven didn’t push it. He knew his point was made.

Outside, ambulances moved in and out of the property for more than an hour. The final count settled at thirty-one women. Six matched names from Haus Eberhardt. Two were the women Keller had sent me photographs of that morning. Four had injuries serious enough for immediate transport, while several more were dehydrated, malnourished, dissociated or heavily sedated. German police recovered forged documents for at least twenty-two separate identities in the processing room, plus phones, cash and enough pharmaceuticals to fill an evidence table.

The ambulances leaving with survivors should have made the site feel lighter, but it didn’t.

Keller was dead and Kade was gone.

By the time Wolf returned to the command vehicle, dusk had settled across the industrial road. He had removed the plate carrier for now but still wore the tactical belt, dust streaking one knee of his pants. The skin around his eyes looked drawn, but he was still moving like there was another hour of work waiting for him.

“We’re done here,” he said.

Raven closed the evidence case and locked both latches.

“German chain is signed. Digital copies are sealing now.”

Wolf nodded. His attention moved to me.

“You ride with us.”

“Was planning to.”

The drive back to Stuttgart was almost completely silent. I sat behind Raven with the briefcase strapped to the floor between my boots. Wolf rode in the front passenger seat, one elbow against the window, mask still on. He did not turn around once.

Viper was in the vehicle ahead with Hawk. I had seen them only briefly before we left the site.

A shallow cut from the catwalk glass had crossed Viper’s cheek. Hawk walked straight to him, caught the front of his vest and pulled him close enough that their shoulders hit. His other hand went to the back of Viper’s neck while he checked the cut, the movement rough and protective at the same time.

Viper did not joke or shrug him off. He wrapped one hand around Hawk’s forearm and said quietly, “I’m good.” Hawk kept him there for another second before letting go. Neither of them seemed to care who saw it.