Page 254 of Operation: Defiance

I clench my jaw, count an inhale. An exhale. There’s only one way Raine could have destroyed the black site.

Northbridge.

I keep my expression neutral, but inside, I’m cheering like an idiot. Raine did it. She fucking did it.

Jay wraps his fingers around my bicep tightly enough he arrests the tremor in the muscle. I should thank him for that.

“What was she after?” he asks.

Phil crowds in behind me. “Was she after personnel records? Financials?”

They don’t know. Excellent.

I count another breath. Spasms tighten the muscles of my upper back. My fingers are going numb.

“Did she tell you she was going to destroy the Centralia site?” Jay tightens his grip.

Sweat rolls down my spine. My toes are cramping now. Without shoelaces, my feet slide in the boots and strain my arches.

“Who did she contact? We know she had help. Tell us and we’ll bring in some water. Maybe even a snack,” Phil says.

My head starts to dip. The muscles in my neck are too wiped to hold it up properly. Thoughts lag seconds behind comprehension. I’d kill for water. But I can’t let them see that.

Raine knows what she’s doing. My job is to give her time.

I’ll repeat that fucking mantra as many times as I need to get me through this. But the longer they keep me in this position, the harder it is to think.

Jay stops pacing somewhere behind me. I can’t see him. Can’t hear his footsteps. Don’t know how close he is. Until his fist slams into my back to the left of my spine.

Agony detonates from my wrists down to my toes.

I don’t hear his question. Just the angry edge to his voice thundering over the roar of my heartbeat in my ears.

The questions keep coming. Slight variations in wording or tone. My thoughts start to wander, getting lost somewhere between exhaustion and pain.

“Where is she going next?” Phil asks. Finally. Something I can use.

I turn my head enough to meet his gaze. “You’re assuming she tells me anything.” After a beat, I let my lips curve into a small smile. “You assume wrong.”

A second punch, this time to my right side. It hits the old knife wound, and my entire leg goes numb. Fuck. I wasn’t tracking Jay. The longer this goes on, the more of a liability I become. To myself and to Raine.

Breathing is harder now. The gash pulses with every heart beat. They’re fishing. Casting a wide net so they can catch me in a lie.

The crack in the wall blurs, then doubles. Every swallow drags like sandpaper. I can’t stop the shaking.

I picture Raine in my coat. The defiance in her eyes. Her stance. Her stillness in front of that fucking camera. She needed them to know she was still fighting. Needed me to know it too.

“How did she destroy the Centralia facility?” Phil asks again.

Jay doesn’t wait for an answer. He lunges for me, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and pushing hard enough my chin scrapes the wall. “Did she do it to extract Ellen Markle?”

I clench my jaw, knowing he’ll see it.

Keep them focused on the black site. On all the things they don’t know.

My side throbs in slow, endless pulses. If I breathe too deeply, the pain sharpens, so I don’t. I need to keep myself here. Present.

Jay doesn’t loosen his grip. The pressure forces me higher onto my toes. My calves are giving out now. My core has already fled the building completely.