Page 188 of The ARC Unit: Breach

“I know.”

“Raven said it could keep us working for months.”

“I heard him.”

“There are routes, victim records, shell companies, access credentials, the Paris invitation and whatever the hell is on those drives,” I blurted quickly.

“I know what’s in the goddamn case, Mercer.”

“Then stop acting like I ran out there for nothing,” I half-shouted.

Wolf pushed away from the desk and paced once toward the office window before turning back.

“You did run out there for nothing.”

“Excuse me?”

“You had nothing when you made the decision to run. You had no idea what was in that case. You had no idea he was going to hand it to you. You had no idea who was waiting on that helicopter, and you sure as fuck did not know whether the man holding the MAC-10 he had just used on Keller was going to keep it pointed at the ground when you walked up to him.”

“He did.”

Wolf’s hand came down against the desk hard enough to make the lamp jump.

“That is exactly the fucking problem.”

I stopped talking.

He was breathing harder now, the rise and fall visible beneath the fitted black shirt. His anger usually became quieter the worse it got. This was different. There was still control in it, but the control had become something he was using to aim the anger instead of hide it.

“You keep surviving your own decisions and treating that like proof the decision was good.”

“I got the case.”

“You got lucky.”

“I got evidence.”

“After you got lucky.”

“That evidence could tear Cerberus open.”

“And if Kade had put three rounds in you before deciding what to do with the fucking case? What would Raven be decrypting then?”

I looked away.

“Eyes fucking up.”

I did not move.

Wolf crossed the space between us again.

“Did I tell you to look away?”

My eyes came back to his.

“No.”

“Then don’t.”