Page 65 of South of Justice

Between the two of us.

She felt sleep tugging at her again, softer this time. It no longer felt like surrender, just rest. And that was what truly unsettled her. Not the pain. Not the bullet wound. Not even Gates in the other room. But the quiet certainty that if Ryan stayed by her side, she might actually begin to feel safe.

And that was truly terrifying.

As she drifted into sleep, her last thought wasn’t of missing boys or encrypted threats. It was of a calloused hand against her arm. And the unbearable ache of wanting to believe it might stay there.

FORTY

Pale morning lightseeped through the cracked blinds, painting thin stripes across the safehouse walls. The room smelled of salt air, and the faint antiseptic tang from the night before. Ryan sat at the edge of the kitchen table, a printed satellite photo spread between him and Gates. The map was creased from travel, its edges frayed. Gates had already circled their target in red ink.

Lucía perched nearby on the couch, a blanket wrapped around her shoulders, a thermal mug cradled in her hands. Her face was pale but sharper than last night. Awake. Alert. Listening. The collar of a clean shirt tugged awkwardly against the bandage at her shoulder.

Gates tapped the compound, a walled property nestled just inland from Puerto Cortés, a tiny settlement a few miles up the coast. “The Altamar Complex,” he said. “Technically a seafood distribution facility, but it’s been dry for years. Now it’s a fortified stash house with docks out back. Water access. Boat routes to the mainland.”

Ryan leaned forward. “How many guards?”

“I’ve had my tech guy Reyes do a full recon. Five we can confirm on shift at any given time. Maybe more inside. Thermal scans show vehicles coming and going irregularly. No fixed schedule. Whoever runs it doesn’t want patterns.”

Lucía cleared her throat. “If Noah’s there, he won’t be visible. They’ll keep him in the interior block. Minimal windows, heavy surveillance.”

Gates nodded. “Exactly. We go in fast, hit the comms relay first, then the perimeter cameras.”

Ryan stepped closer, eyeing the red markings on the paper. “What’s the ingress plan?”

“Boat drop. Quiet outboard, approach from the reef. We’ll beach two hundred yards from the fence line and hike the rest.

“We go in fast and hard. Split once we breach. Ryan, you and I sweep the south wing. Lucía hits the control room, pulls any data she can on recent shipments, lockdown overrides, or movement logs.”

Ryan frowned. “She’s not cleared for fieldwork. She took a bullet less than a day ago.”

Lucía didn’t blink. “I’m not sitting this out.”

“No one’s asking you to sit it out,” Ryan said, tone sharper than he intended. “But that compound won’t go easy. And if they see your face?—”

“Then they know I’m still a threat,” she cut in, calm but steely.

Gates studied her, then nodded, almost approving. “She’s right. If anyone can crack their internal files, it’s her. Besides, we need her eyes on the network. Whoever’s running this place didn’t build it for fish.”

Ryan hesitated. His jaw tightened, hand flexing against the back of a nearby chair. “Fine. But she stays on comms.”

Lucía gave him a look that was pure fire. “Don’t give me orders.”

“She operates from the boat,” Gates said. “It’s stable, has power, and it keeps her mobile. We’ll set her up with secure comms and a digital tap into the compound. If anything goes sideways, she’ll see it before we do.”

Ryan crossed his arms, his gaze dropping back to the satellite printout. It all sounded too clean. Too rehearsed. He didn’t trust it, and he didn’t trust Gates. Not fully. Maybe not even partially.

Lucía caught his eye. She gave a near-imperceptible shake of her head—don’t voice it.Not yet.

Ryan stood and moved to the window. Outside, the hills dropped off sharply toward the sea. A cluster of gulls circled in lazy arcs overhead. A small boat bobbed near the rocky inlet, distant and slow.

Gates went on, “We hit them at midnight. Lights out. No vehicles. All battery-powered gear. I’ve got NV scopes and suppressed weapons if we need them.”

“You bringing anyone else?” Ryan asked.

Gates hesitated. “Just us and Reyes. A bigger team draws attention. We can’t afford that.”

Lucía asked, “What happens if the intel’s wrong? If he’s not there?”