Page 66 of Hardline Torque
“Try to rest,” Tane said quietly.“I’ve got you.”
Victor nodded, finally letting his eyes close.
A soft tone, unmistakable, sounded in the van an hour later.
Tane felt Victor tense.He reached for him immediately.“Stay,” Tane said.“I’ll check it.”
Victor shook his head.“No.You heard Kael.Black Tide reports.”
“You’re not up for—”
“I am,” Victor said, already pushing himself upright with care.“And I’m a member of this team.That doesn’t change because it hurts.”
Tane watched him for a heartbeat longer, then leaned in and kissed him—slow, sure, sealing the moment.
“That you are,” Tane said.
They dressed together, movements practiced and gentle.When they stepped out into the morning, the compound met them with quiet resolve.
The early morning light revealed things the night hid—faces drawn with exhaustion, eyes rimmed red, shoulders tight with the knowledge that this wasn’t over.The command center was full now.Not loud, not frantic, but dense with purpose.Bravo filled one wall of screens, familiar faces framed in blue light.Pathfinders occupied another, Kai’s presence unmistakable even through a feed.Maps updated in real time, markers shifting as new intel came in.
Tane and Victor took a seat around the table with the rest of their team.
No questions.No hesitation.
Black Tide closed ranks.
And whatever came next, they would meet it together.
****
Victor watched andwaited, knowing that information was coming, and with any luck it would mean that they could move.If they were moving then they had a destination, if they had a destination, then they knew where Niko was.Screens covered every wall—maps, live feeds, timestamped stills, scrolling data.The hum of servers and power units threaded through low conversation, voices clipped and purposeful.Bravo occupied one bank of monitors, Pathfinders another, familiar faces sharpened by exhaustion and resolve.
All of it revolved around a single point of focus.
Victor’s body was still catching up with itself.The ache in his shoulder flared when he shifted his weight, wrists tight and swollen beneath the wraps Tane had secured with methodical care.He ignored it.Pain was something he could live with.Losing a teammate was not.
Luca stood at the center console, fingers flying across keys, eyes red-rimmed but sharp.He hadn’t slept.None of them had, not really.But Luca ran better when he was chasing something.
“We know they took him alive,” Luca said, not looking up.“Which means they wanted him, but they did not want to silence him, so this is no revenge.”
Victor nodded once.That tracked.The Directorate didn’t waste assets.They repurposed them.
Kai’s image flickered on one of the larger screens, Pathfinders’ command center visible behind him.“We pulled municipal CCTV from every major route between the compound and the port,” Kai said.“Ports Authority weren’t thrilled, but we convinced them.”
“Define convinced,” Torch muttered.
Kai’s mouth twitched.“Strongly suggested that they play nicely, or we won’t.”
Victor leaned forward as the screen shifted, footage lining up in a grid—street cameras, traffic intersections, industrial access roads.Luca began scrubbing through them at speed, slowing only when a familiar vehicle appeared.
“There,” Victor said quietly.
The logistics van that now sat outside their garage downstairs.
Time-stamped less than twenty minutes after they’d left the black site, just twenty minutes after they took Niko.
“They doubled back,” Luca said.“Smart, really.They knew we’d assume they’d achieved distance.”
