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“I need help. Call me when you get this.”

Then silence. He hung up.

“A friend?” I asked quietly.

“It’s Doc,” he said, voice gone grim. His expression darkened, and my heart clenched.

“He’s in trouble.” Not a question.

“Yeah. We need to get to base. I need to reach the guys, let them know?—”

“I thought we couldn’t contact them directly.”

“Notdirectly,” Alphabet said, a wry smile tugging at his mouth. “Did you really think they’d go so deep into the dark with no way to reach out?”

I made a face. “Another test?”

“Maybe.” He reached over and brushed his fingers against my cheek. “But you’re all A’s in my book.” Then he laced our fingers together.

“We’ll help him,” I promised.

“We don’t even know what’s wrong.” That preyed on him.

Shrugging, I lifted his hand to my lips and kissed his fingers. “Doesn’t matter. You’ll figure it out. That’s kind of your thing. We’ve been focused on my family for a while… I want to help with yours.”

He let out a slow exhale, then pushed the accelerator. The engine responded with a growl.

One step forward, two steps back. But I knew what their team meant to them. To all of them.

Am would understand. I wasn’t giving up. I was never going to give up.

“Gracie?”

“Yeah?”

“You areours. Don’t forget it.”