Chapter 9 · Take Me, Not the Key

The radio crackled again. Same voice. Same offer.

"Evie Cross and the beacon. Everyone else walks."

I stood in the yard with eleven sets of eyes on me. Twelve if you counted the kid bleeding through Leah's field dressing. The crane was still warm behind us. Blood still wet on the ladder rungs.

Cole stepped in front of me. Not close enough to crowd. Close enough I could smell the cordite on his jacket.

"Not happening," he said.

I pushed past him and picked up the radio. Thumb on the talk button. Didn't press yet.

Leah was ten feet away, crouched next to the wounded kid. She looked up. Her hands were red to the wrists. She shook her head once. Small. Clear.

"Commander," someone said behind me. I didn't turn to see who.

The beacon was in my pack. Real one. Size of a deck of cards, wrapped in foam and electrical tape. The decoy was in my left cargo pocket. Slightly lighter. Same shape. No one here knew there were two.

I pressed the button.

"You want me, Hammer? Come get me."

Static. Then laughter. Low and ugly.

"Could do that.