Page 8 of Hardline Torque
Chapter Two
Two days.
That was how long Victor had stayed gone.
Tane stood in the command center with his hands braced on the edge of the main table, eyes fixed on the live site map glowing beneath the plexi surface.Two days of silence.Two days of the locator beacon sitting stubbornly still, tucked somewhere deep in the woods beyond the perimeter.Two days of knowing—knowing—that Victor was alone and planning on doing exactly what he shouldn’t be doing.
Enough was enough.
“All right,” Tane said, breaking the low hum of overlapping conversations.“We need to talk.”
The room quieted.Not instantly—Black Tide didn’t snap to attention like that unless it was Kael who called their attention—but the noise thinned as Kael looked up from his screen, Luca rolled his chair back, and Niko leaned an elbow on the table, eyes sharpening.
“He hasn’t come back,” Tane said.“And that worries me.”
Niko snorted softly.“That’s your bar?Because I’ve been worried since he disappeared into the trees.”
Keanu nodded once, arms crossed.“Me too.When I watched the tapes, he grimaced when he climbed that tree, pressed a hand to his side.He’s hurt.”
Tane’s jaw tightened.“Exactly.He’s injured, and he’s running solo against the Directorate.”
That got their full attention.
Kael straightened.“Explain.”
So Tane did.He told them about the tech Victor had used—long-range optics, directional audio, the kind of equipment that put eyes and ears anywhere the operator wanted them.He didn’t sugarcoat it.He didn’t downplay the risk.
Kael’s expression darkened with every word.
“You should’ve said something immediately,” Kael snapped when Tane finished.“We don’t let unknown tech sniff around our perimeter.”
Tane shrugged, not defensive, just honest.“I wanted to give him time.”
“To do what?”Kael demanded.
“To come in on his own.”
Silence followed that.Heavy.Considering.
Niko broke it first, pushing off the table, fingers flexing like he wanted something to hit.“He’s not built to go solo this long.Not injured.Doesn’t matter how good he is.”
“And we all know that he is good,” Keanu said quietly.“Too good.Which means he’s predictable.Directorate will expect him to move alone.”
Luka’s mouth tightened.“If something high value moved, it would move through a controlled logistics hub.Somewhere noisy.Somewhere no one looks too hard unless they know what they’re seeing.”
All eyes shifted to Drew.
He shrugged, one shoulder lifting.“From the outside?This smells like bait.They dangle something loud enough to draw him out, then wait for him to overextend.”
