Page 99 of He Knows When You're Awake

And suddenly I’m not so sure about Cole’s plan anymore.

Chapter Thirty-NineCole

No.” Knox’s voice is granite. “You’re not going in.”

“Like hell I’m not.” I check my watch again. Five hours. She’s been with him for five hours.

“Cole.” Knox steps between me and the SUV. “I’ve got two teams in position. Thermal imaging shows three heat signatures on the main floor. We know the layout. My people can handle this.”

“Your people didn’t get her into this mess. I did.” My voice breaks slightly. “This is my fault. I should have told her everything from the beginning, should have known Julian would come after her.”

“Exactly.” His jaw tightens. “You’re too close. Too emotional. In operations like this—”

“This isn’t one of your operations.” I step closer, forcing him to meet my eyes. “This is Sloane. And I need to be the one to get her out of there. I need to look her in the eye and tell her how sorry I am.”

“And that’s why you’ll get her killed,” Knox retorts. “We just got the alert from your case security system. Multiple failed biometric attempts before a lockdown. What does that tell you?”

“That Julian’s getting desperate,” I say, a cold satisfaction spreading through me. “And that Sloane is fighting back.”

Knox’s expression softens slightly. “She’s resourceful, I’ll give her that. But Julian’s unpredictable when he’s cornered.”

“I’ve been waiting five years for this,” I say, checking my weapon one more time. “Five years of watching my back, of building something Julian couldn’t touch, of making sure I was ready when he finally made his move.”

“And now he has,” Knox reminds me. “With her. The one variable you can’t control.”

I hate that he’s right. Julian knew exactly where to hit me. The one vulnerability I couldn’t eliminate.

“Which is precisely why you need to stay back. Julian’s expecting you to come charging in. He’s planned for it. What he’s not expecting is a four-man tactical team that knows every inch of that house.”

I look past him to where his team is gearing up, efficient and silent in the predawn darkness. Professional. Skilled. Probably the best chance Sloane has.

And completely fucking irrelevant.

“Five minutes,” I tell him. “Give me five minutes alone with Julian before your team moves in.”

“Absolutely not.”

“You know I’m going in either way. With or without your help.” I meet his eyes. “But if you work with me, we can use Julian’s obsession to our advantage. He’s waiting for me. Let’s give him what he wants.”

Knox stares at me for a long moment. I can practically see him running scenarios, weighing options. Finally, he mutters a curse.

“Four minutes.” He pulls a palm-size device from his vest. “And you wear this. It’s a tracker with a panic button. You press it, we come in hot. You don’t press it within four minutes, we come in hot anyway.”

I take the device. “The Russians?”

“My team will handle them. You just...” He shakes his head. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

“When have I ever?”

“You really want me to answer that?” He signals to his team. “Move into final positions. Radio silence from here on.”

He grabs my arm before I can move. “You get her out. That’s your only job. You don’t try to settle scores, you don’t try to be a hero. You get her clear, and my team handles the rest.”

I nod, though we both know it’s a lie. Five years of waiting, of planning, of building toward this moment... Julian and I have unfinished business that goes beyond Sloane, beyond the designs, beyond everything that’s happened tonight.

“One more thing,” Knox says, his voice dropping. “Julian’s men put something in that SUV before you got here. We haven’t had time to check what it is.”

“Probably her designs,” I say, already turning away. “He’ll want to take them when he runs.”