To say the tension was already thick was an understatement for what we were about to witness. Once again, my team, my brothers, were the stars of a YouTube sensation called Cartel Versus US Army Black Ops. I recognized Chamness, BT, and Rick as they moved through the thick terrain in Southern Mexico. The cameraman looked to be several yards away, up high. Mike cleared his throat as the next clip showed him running through the trees.
“Holy shit,” Mike spat angrily, “I hate being on some fucking reality show.”
I stood and moved closer to the screen. I squinted as something caught my eye, and I asked Dell to rewind it three seconds.
“We are shadows that move in the night. North Rock is our mirror image across the border. We are ghosts as far as they are concerned, so how the hell do they know our route?” I reiterated, “How the hell are we not catching their cameras?” I pointed to the screen where a camera was mounted on a tree trunk. “How can they know our movements before our boots even touch down on their territory?”
A heavy silence filled the room. For the first time in Blackstone’s history, we were unsure of our next move.
After three more hours of digging under every rock and going through every possible scenario, Cole dismissed us. We were all exhausted and frustrated, and it didn’t help that I’d gotten very little sleep last night…not that I was complaining.
“Savi, have you seen Sloane this morning?”
A knowing eyebrow lifted at me, and a playful smile ran across her lips as she went back to cutting up grapes for Mark’s little one, who was buckled into a chair at the table.
“All I know is she showed up in the kitchen earlier with Dell. She had an overnight bag and a stack of files. She said she had to go to North Dakota for something. Don’t worry, though,” she added looking up at me. “She said Daniel approved it.” I sank down on the counter and pulled out my phone.
John: I feel used.
I started to put my phone away when I saw the dots to show she was texting back.
Sloane: I left two hundred on the bedside table.
I laughed, and Savi glanced over at me with a question.
John: You good?
Sloane: I found something that couldn’t wait. I saw you were still in the meeting, so I couldn’t say goodbye. See you tomorrow, at the latest.
John: Call tonight?
Sloane: Sure thing.
“So,” Savi started, “I couldn’t help but notice your room was empty this morning, and Tripper was missing again.”
Just as I went to feed her some bullshit line, I spotted Olivia outside about to attack Liam and Ethan with her Nerf gun.
“Look at her go.” I nodded in her direction proudly. “That’s my girl. Take out the little shits.” As Savannah watched, I slipped out of the kitchen and headed for my beloved peak. I needed to clear my head.
“You play dirty, Black.” She chuckled as I headed for the door.
I jogged down the path and gave a wave to the guys who were at their posts scattered throughout the woods. This really was the one place I could relax and not be hyperaware of my surroundings. The base of the mountain welcomed me as I prepared myself for another climb.
The toe of my shoe wedged into a tiny crack while my hand swung out and gripped a barely protruding bit of rock. My mind calculated my next move. With no ropes, no cleats, no helmet, just the clothes on my back and my brain focused only on climbing, I slowly made my way up the familiar cliff face. I glanced down at the forest seventy-five feet below me and felt energized. As a member of Blackstone, we faced death on every mission. We were all responsible for each other. If one slipped up, we all slipped up. Here on my mountain, I faced death on my own terms. I challenged myself constantly to be the best I could be. I’d let down one person in my life, and I refused to repeat that with my brothers.
Once at the top, I plucked one of the yellow flags from a baggie I kept up there. I would add it to the others back in my room. This would be my seventy-third successful climb to cheat death.
I brushed the dirt off my hands and made my way down the path toward Shadows, but before I hit