Page 79 of Cold Ignition

Keanu kept his eyes on the road, hands steady on the wheel. But something in his chest eased.

“Not all of them,” he said quietly.

“No,” Rangi replied.

A beat.

Then—

“The ones that are still missing, they will be with the leadership, for sure. We find them. We get to set them free too.”

Keanu nodded once.

The road stretched out ahead of them, dark and open.

Behind them, the circuit burned with noise and light and the beginnings of something unraveling.

But this—this wasn’t the end.

And as Keanu pushed the car faster into the night—one thought settled, sharp and certain.

They weren’t done.

Not even close.

Chapter Fourteen

The compound felt different when they got back. Not quieter or calmer, just more intense and on edge.

Rangi stood just inside the command center, arms folded across his chest, watching as the last of the movement settled around them. Local authorities they could trust, along with medical personnel, had taken the drivers the second they’d rolled in—efficient, fast, no wasted motion. From there, it had moved just as quickly.

By the time Rangi had stepped out of the vehicle, most of them were already gone. Safe and hopefully heading back to their own families. Or as close to safe as they were going to get after something like that.

He let out a slow breath, rolling tension out of his shoulders as he scanned the room.

Everyone was here.

Drew, Ethan, and Tane were leaning against the far console, Victor near the back wall, still as stone, eyes tracking everything. Niko and Kael at the center—always at the center—anchoring the space without needing to raise their voices.

And Luca—no surprises, he was already sitting at a computer, fingers flying over a keyboard. Of course he was.

Rangi’s gaze flicked sideways.

Keanu stood just to his right, close enough that their shoulders brushed when either of them shifted, and Alexios was on his other side, silent, composed, but Rangi could feel the tension in him—the same coiled readiness that lived under his skin now.

The three of them. Still aligned. Still ... locked. Rangi didn’t question it anymore.

“Alright,” Kael said. “Luca, you have a room full of loaded weapons. We just need a place to point them. Give us what you have.”

Luca brought the main screen up without looking away from it, data unfolding in layers—routes, names, structures, connections that didn’t make sense until they suddenly did.

Rangi pushed off the wall, stepping closer.

“Tell me you’ve got something good,” he muttered.

Luca’s mouth twitched faintly. “Define good.”

“Something that ends with them not breathing.”