Page 7 of Raven

A jagged triangle with a slash through it.

I’d seen it before.

Years ago, on a compound we raided during a joint training op in Guatemala. It belonged to a private paramilitary group that specialized in torture, smuggling, and black-market arson-for-hire. I’d never told the whole truth about what I saw there.

And I had never,ever, told anyone that I used to work undercover for the government. We were hunting thousands of children who were sex trafficked, and we had word that some were in Guatemala. This fire wasn’t just a fire.

It was a message.

They found me.

And I’d just dragged that trouble right into a town full of Navy SEALs, pregnant women, and people who liked to grill steaks on the beach and eat fruit salad.

Perfect.

4

Raven

Beatrice didn’t wavethis time.

That was the first thing I noticed.

She always waved. Even if she was walking Mike his leash nd being pulled at sixty miles an hour, she’d lift her hand and toss a smile my way. Not today.

Today, she was all business—jaw tight, shoulders squared, heading straight from her truck to the back door of her place like she was being watched.

I didn’t like it.

Mandy didn’t like it either. She sat next to me on the deck, ears perked and body alert, eyes fixed on the dunes. Same as the night before.

Something was off.

I stepped inside and grabbed my phone. River and Cyclone were already in the office when I got there.

“You two hear about the warehouse fire this morning?” I asked casually, dropping into the chair across from River.

Cyclone nodded. “Beatrice’s station responded. Why?”

I leaned back. “She came home looking like she’d gone ten rounds with hell. Not injured, just... haunted.”

River narrowed his eyes. “You think something’s going on?”

“Iknowsomething’s going on.”

River tapped a pen against his desk. “You want to check it out?” he asked.

“Yeah,” I said. “But not by knocking on her door and grilling her.”

“You want toinvestigate casually,” Cyclone said dryly. “Good luck with that. She’s sharp.”

“I’m not looking to trap her,” I replied. “I just want to know what the hell is making her flinch at shadows and not sleep. I see her light on in the middle of the night.”

River sat up. “Did Mandy wake you again last night?”

“Yeah. Around two a.m. Growling at the dunes.”

“That’s the third night in a row.”

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