Page 16 of Hollow Trace

Wynn dropped down beside them a moment later, already reaching for her med kit.

Scout waved her off. “We’re fine.”

Wynn huffed, already shining a light in Quinn’s eyes. “You just had a flash bang ignite several feet away. You’re lucky it landed facing the other direction or you would have gotten burned.”

“But we didn’t.”

Wynn arched a brow, her face wavering a bit. “I’ll be the judge of that.”

Quinn turned away, peeled his hand off Scout then stood, stumbling a few steps toward the ditch before Coulter caught his weight, stopped him from faceplanting into the muck. “We have to go after them. Brea’s on that transport.”

Coulter glanced at Scout before following the path the transport had taken. “Their truck clipped a rotted pine. Blocked the route.”

“Then, we’ll cut it.”

“Quinn…” Coulter tightened his grip. “By the time we get through a trunk that size…”

Quinn pulled away, tripping his way to the edge. “We can’t just stand here and do nothing.” He turned, pinned Scout with his gaze. “We’ll double back. Have your buddy, Gideon, get us an update. I’ll find a way to cut them off.”

Zadie stepped forward, tablet in one hand. “They must have turned on a jammer. Gideon said their signals just vanished beyond that tree line. And he can’t see where this old road goes. Not without a live feed to zero in on the truck, and we don’t have access to any satellites.”

Scout staggered to her feet, steadying herself before closing the distance. “At least we know she’s alive.”

Quinn’s mouth twitched, his hands balling into fists at his side. “You saw what they did to that other runner. Hell, they even carted off his body. It’s only a matter of time before they’re all eliminated.”

Scout moved forward when he looked like he might bolt. “If they wanted everyone dead, they would’ve killed them. This has got to be part of a larger op. We’ll track them down. Get Brea back.”

“How?”

“The same way we attack every mission. As a team.”

Quinn’s chin quivered, the only crack in his flawless armor before he turned, gazing into the darkness.

Scout inched forward, settling in beside him. “I know this is killing you⁠—”

“I can’t bury anyone else. I can’t.”

Guilt slammed into her, the broken edge to his voice nearly taking her to her knees.

She breathed through the emotional hit, finally moving in front of him. “We’re going to do everything possible to see that you don’t have to. And yeah, I know that’s pretty rich coming from me after what I put you through. But I swear, we’ll tear this mountain apart if we have to.”

He stared at her, jaw clenched, the muscle in his temple jumping from the strain as the rain thundered above. “I’m not going to stand down.”

“I wouldn’t expect you to.”

“Isn’t your boss going to have something to say about that? Because you do have a boss, right?”

“A general, actually.” She looked at her teammates then back to him. “Just let us do the talking. One way or another, we’re getting Brea back.”

CHAPTER SIX

The night settled unforgivingly around Quinn’s shoulders as they turned down a narrow side trail, then around the back of a rustic cabin, finally stopping beneath a camouflaged carport hidden amidst the trees. He’d bet it was thermal guarded and EMP proof. Quinn stared out the window, nothing but pines and boulders filling the space as Coulter shoved the vehicle into first, turned off the engine.

The doors creaked, the vehicle visibly lifting as they all stepped out, dried leaves crunching beneath their boots. The modest cabin looked black against the foggy night, the rain ticking off the metal roof.

Scout moved in beside him, close but not to the point where she’d crossed that invisible line into his personal space. She nodded at Coulter as he joined the rest of the team before disappearing around the corner.

Quinn looked from where her teammates had vanished back to her. “Something wrong?”