I pocketed the drive.

I stood up.

“Where are we going?” Noah asked.

“Home.”

“We can’t go back.”

“Exactly.”

Mercer paid the bill.

We walked out into the rain.

The diner was empty.

Our truck was where we left it.

But a black SUV was parked beside it.

The engine was running.

The driver’s window slid down.

The man in the baseball cap looked at me.

He didn’t look angry.

He looked patient.

“Colonel.”

I stopped.

Mercer’s hand went to his side.

The man raised a hand.

“Easy. I’m not here to fight.”

Noah moved behind me.

The man continued.

“My name is Robert Halcourt. I’ve been waiting eleven years for you to find that file.”

I stared.

“You’re the contractor.”

He nodded.

“I’m the man who paid Thomas Reed to feed false intelligence. And I’m the man who knows who actually killed your best Ranger.”

My voice was cold.

“You killed him.”

Halcourt shook his head.

“I paid him for information. The man who killed Thomas Reed is the same man who’s been pulling strings since the beginning.”

He looked past me at Mercer.

“Your old friend Mercer knows. Don’t you?”

Mercer’s face had gone pale.

I turned to him.

“Daniel?”

He wouldn’t meet my eyes.

Halcourt said, “Ask him about the night before the operation.”

Mercer’s silence was an answer.

I stepped back.

“Claire, I can explain.”

“Then explain.”

Mercer swallowed.

“Voss came to me the night before. He had proof that Grant Whitmore was the real contractor. But Whitmore had my son. He said if I stayed quiet, he’d let him live.”

He looked at me.

“I didn’t know he was going to kill Voss.”

I stared at the man who had been my brother-in-arms.

“You let an innocent man die to protect your son.”

“I was trying to keep my family safe.”

Noah’s voice cut through.

“So you gave them my mother instead.”

Mercer flinched.

Halcourt said quietly, “It’s time to stop running, Colonel. We can bring him down together.”

I looked at the rain.

At the man who betrayed me.

At the contractor who paid for it.

And at the headlights now approaching from the far end of the lot.

Logan’s pickup.

Grant Whitmore was driving.

I felt the pieces click into place.

“You brought him here,” I said to Halcourt.

He smiled.

“I thought it was time for a family reunion.”

The truck stopped a few feet away.

Grant stepped out.

He looked older than he had that morning.

His jacket was open, revealing a shoulder holster.

I didn’t move.

“You’ve been playing this game a long time, Grant.”

He nodded.

“Longer than you know.”

“Why Logan?”

Grant’s face tightened.

“Logan doesn’t know anything. He’s just a pawn I used to get close to you.”

Noah stepped in front of me.

Grant laughed.

“He has your fire.”

I put a hand on Noah’s shoulder.

“Don’t.”

Grant looked at me.

“Here’s what’s going to happen. You’re going to give me the drive, and you’re going to forget any of this happened.”

“Or?”

He pulled the gun.

“Or I’ll finally show you what happens to women who think they can bury the past.”

Mercer started forward.

Grant fired once.

Mercer fell.

Noah screamed.

I dropped to Mercer’s side.

The bullet had caught him in the shoulder.

He was conscious, but bleeding.

Halcourt hadn’t moved.

He was watching Grant with disgust.

Grant gestured with the gun.

“The drive, Claire.”

I reached into the canvas bag.

I pulled out the USB drive.

I held it up.

“Let Mercer go.”

Grant shook his head.

“You’re in no position to bargain.”

I heard a sound behind him.

A click.

Logan stepped out of the pickup, his arm freed from the sling.

He held his own gun.

Grant turned.

“Logan?”

Logan’s face was hard.

“You used me.”

“I’m your father.”

“No, you’re a monster.”

Grant’s gun wavered.

“Put it down, Logan.”

“You killed Thomas Reed. You killed Voss. You sent me after Claire like she was a target.”

Logan steadied his grip.

“I’m not your pawn anymore.”

For a long moment, father and son faced each other in the rain.

Then Grant smiled.

“I’m proud of you.”

The gunshot was deafening.

Grant fell.

Logan stood.

I looked at Logan.

He lowered the weapon.

The rain washed over his face.

He looked like a boy again.

Halcourt walked past me, knelt next to Grant, and checked his pulse.

He looked up.

“He’s gone.”

The ambulance arrived twenty minutes later.

Mercer was stabilized.

Logan didn’t speak.

He just watched the rain.

Halcourt handed me his card.

“When you’re ready, we’ll finish this together.”

He got into his SUV and drove away.

I stood in the middle of the parking lot, the canvas bag hanging from my hand.

Noah came to me.

He wrapped his arms around me.

I held him tightly.

The rain kept falling.

And somewhere in the mountains, the real architect of Nightglass was still watching.

Waiting.

I looked at the sky.

The storm wasn’t over.

Neither was I.