Page 224 of Operation: Defiance

I nod. “Wipe the laptop tonight.”

“I have a couple of clean tablets in the closet. Older ones. That’s all I need. Then as soon as I reconnect, I’ll…go out. Hit up a grocery store. The pharmacy. Public places. No disguise. They’ll think you’re online and I’m out shopping.”

He walks through the steps like this is any other op. Like he’s not about to be tortured because of me.

“They’ll take you as cleanly as possible. They won’t want you injured. But if you don’t fight back⁠—”

“It’ll look like we planned this. I’ll fight. Don’t worry.” As soon as the words leave his lips, he chuckles. Not a happy laugh. Closer to a huff. “Sorry. That was wildly inappropriate.”

I don’t disagree. “You’ll be black-bagged in ninety seconds. Probably one vehicle swap. There’s only one official GSD interrogation facility in the state. It’s in Kent. They won’t want a ton of eyes on you, but they won’t take you to Coherent Path. They’ll want this on the record.”

“Okay.” He finishes chopping the carrots and moves on to celery.

“Medical baseline. Probably photographs or video of any injuries. They won’t be gentle.” My voice finally cracks, and I reach for the challenge coin. I want to give it back to him. I want him to have something to hold onto. But they’ll take it the second he’s processed.

“Raine, I know how this works. Interrogation. Pressure.” He’s too calm. Too ready.

“Don’t escalate. Not unless you have to. Don’t give them a reason to hurt you.” I want to touch him, to wrap my arms around him and keep him safe—keep him from doing this. But I can’t. That’s not how this works.

Asher pulls containers from the cabinet, moves to a drawer, and finds a Sharpie. Labels are next. Thursday. Friday. Saturday. Sunday.

“You don’t get to disappear,” I say quietly.

His head snaps up, a deep crease between his brows. “There is no scenario—no pressure or circumstance or outcome—in which that becomes an option.”

He’s wrong, in a way. But I don’t correct him. He’d never choose to disappear. That doesn’t mean I won’t lose him.

“I…I need to work. Put together packets I can drop publicly. I need a whistleblower group. They’ll handle some of the deeper analysis if I give them the framework. It’s the only way there’s an end to this. To…what’s going to happen…”

I don’t say the last two words.

To you.

Asher nods, pulls out a pan, and sets it on the stove. “Go on. I’ll be right here.”

I linger for another moment, then move into his space and wrap my arms around his waist from behind. My cheek rests against his back, close enough to his heart that its steady beat thrums in my ear.

He rests his hands over mine. I don’t have words to explain what he means to me, but I have to find them before he goes.

After one slow, steady inhale, I let him go, pick up the laptop, and try not to think about where he’ll be tomorrow.

Two hours later, the patterns that were so clear in my head when I started have faded into a diffuse haze of puzzle pieces that don’t line up.

The first packet is nearly done. OSI’s founding charter, a list of agents Asher identified who went through the original program, the Operational Standards Adherence Manual, and the memo that created Coherent Path. I redact the names—both Commissioner Adams and Dr. Julian Voss.

Adams…doesn’t matter. If this goes the way I think it will, he won’t be able to escape the fallout. But Voss?

If I had proof Voss was in charge of Coherent Path—if I knew without a doubt he was the one signing off on the disposals—I’d highlight his name in pink neon with arrows and a flag saying “This man tried to murder me.”

But GSD kicked me out before I could even get a screenshot of the Risk Management org chart.

I can’t damage any potential credibility with the Public Integrity Project by releasing a name without proof. And PIP will contact GSD not long after they get this drop. If Voss’s name is attached, he’ll have time to disappear.

He doesn’t get to hide forever. But keeping him out of it for now? That gives me leverage.

The second packet is harder. This one includes the Contractor Incident Report, the Continuity of Care Guidelines, and will eventually have my affidavit—including my video testimony and the photos Asher took after he pulled me out of the black site.

I make a folder for the third drop, but this one, I can’t touch yet. Not without the Procedure Index and anything I can possibly get from Coherent Path—assuming Northbridge comes through.