Page 56 of Echo: Burn
He's standing at the main console with Stryker and Mercer, all three of them covered in dirt and what might be blood. His eyes find me immediately, and I see relief flash across his face before the commander's mask slides back into place.
"What happened?" I demand. "Tommy said...”
"We're fine." Kane's voice is steady. "But we've got a problem."
Tommy pulls up new intel on the main screen. Personnel files. Photographs. Deployment records.
"The Committee's not just sending random assets," Tommy says. "They're activating Protocol Seven's enforcement division. These aren't contractors or hired guns. These are former special operations—Delta, SEALs, SAS. The best they've got."
"How do we know this?" Kane asks.
"Victoria Cross." Tommy pulls up a communication log. "She's an intelligence broker we've used before. Sold us the intel an hour ago. Said it was worth the risk to warn us."
"Cross is reliable," Stryker confirms. "Expensive, but she doesn't deal in bad information."
"How many?" I ask.
"Twenty-three confirmed operatives deployed to Montana in the last twelve hours." Tommy switches screens. "And they're all being coordinated by one person."
A photograph loads. Cold eyes. Angular features. A face I've seen before in surveillance photos and intelligence briefings.
"Victor Kessler," Tommy says. "He's not just hunting you for revenge. He's running the entire operation to eliminate Protocol Seven targets. And Willa, you're his primary focus."
The room goes silent. Everyone's looking at me, waiting for my reaction. Waiting to see if I'll finally break. Finally realize that staying here means dying here.
Instead, I feel something settle into place. A decision made.
"Good," I say. "Let him come."
Kane's eyes narrow. "Willa...”
"No." I cut him off. "I'm done running. Done hiding. Done letting other people fight my battles." I look at each of them—Kane, Stryker, Mercer, Tommy, Sarah. "Kessler wants me because of my father. Because Dad saw something in Yemen that the Committee couldn't afford to let surface. Well, I'm going to make sure what he died protecting doesn't die with him."
"This isn't your fight," Kane says quietly.
"It became my fight the second I saved that dog." I move closer to him, letting him see the determination in my eyes. "It became my fight when you came for me in that blizzard. When you brought me here. When you...” I stop, aware of the audience. "You don't get to claim me one minute and push me away the next. I'm in this. Whether you like it or not."
Pride wars with fear across Kane's features. I can see the battle happening behind his eyes—the part of him that wants to lock me in the safest room in the base versus the part that recognizes I'm not someone who can be protected by being hidden away.
"You don't know what you're asking for," he says.
"I know exactly what I'm asking for." I don't look away. Don't back down. "I'm asking to stand beside you. To fight this war you've been fighting alone. To be part of this team instead of something you have to protect."
"She's good in a firefight," Stryker offers. "Took out two tangos without hesitation. Kept her head when most civilians would've frozen."
"She's got steady hands," Mercer adds. "Medical training we could use."
"She's standing right here," I say. "And she's not changing her mind."
Kane stares at me for a long moment. Then, slowly, he nods.
"Okay." His voice is rough. "But you follow orders. You don't take unnecessary risks. And if I tell you to run...”
"I'll consider it," I interrupt. "Same as before. I'm not promising blind obedience."
Stryker laughs. "She's got your number, boss."
Kane ignores him, his eyes still locked on mine. "This changes everything. You understand that? The Committee will come at us harder. Kessler will escalate. There's no going back from this decision."
