Page 84 of Tormented Hearts

Hawk let out a rough, disbelieving laugh, pressing his forehead to hers. “Damn. Here I was, ready to be your hero.”

She lifted her head, meeting his eyes. They were filled with fear and more.

“If I pretend I have a sprained ankle, will that make you feel better?”

“No.”

“A concussion? My vision’s a little blurry. You should probably carry me.”

He swept her up into his arms without hesitation, burying his face in her hair. “I’ll carry you anyway.” His voice came out so gruff, she suddenly knew her kidnapping had cost him as much as it had her.

She let herself melt into him, trembling but finally, truly safe. “You did save me, you know. My big strong hero.”

He dipped his head and kissed her, slow and fierce, right there in the dirt outside the mine that had nearly cost them everything.

As she kissed him back, tears spilled down her cheeks. She would have given up all of it without a second thought, if it meant walking away with her life.

But she’d known with a deep instinct that McCrae never would have let her live no matter what. His hate had become a poison, trickling through generations of McCraes until he finally took action after her father died.

And she’d known something else too.

If she hadn’t found a way out herself, Hawk would have died trying to save her.

Chapter Eighteen

The war room smelled like coffee and gun oil, with most of the team gathered around the table. Hawk waited his turn to debrief, sitting with his side still wrapped tight, stitches pulling with every deep breath. A few stitches were popped after carrying Sinead out of there, but it was all worth it.

Carson stood in front of the big screen, legs braced wide as he studied the spreadsheet Ayla projected there.

In a flat, methodical voice, he read off the items. “Four bullets spent total. Sutures—nineteen. Gauze, more rolls than I care to count, but we’re restocking the med facility before the week’s out. One tetanus shot—” He threw a wry glance Hawk’s way as a reminder of the snake bite that required it and went on. “Three helicopter flights, full fuel both times, including the charter out to the contracting office.” He looked around the table. “And enough adrenaline burned through this team to power a small city.”

A tired ripple of laughter circled the table.

Hawk scrubbed a finger across his upper lip. “My ward and I might have encountered more issues than most.”

Gray leaned back in his chair. “Good news is Sinead’s no longer in danger.”

“Bad news is,” Carson countered, “we’ve never run a job with a body count this high. Two mercs dead on the ridge, two more near the mine, plus McCrae himself at the bottom of a shaft. Five bodies in under a week.”

Hawk issued a low sigh. He’d seen death plenty in his years in the military, had made his peace with violence a long time ago, but this particular tally sat heavier than most. Maybe because every single one of those deaths traced back to protecting the woman currently asleep in his bed.

“We’ve done a deep dive into the families involved.” Carson pulled up another file. “We’re making sure nobody else has a legitimate claim, or thinks they do, on that gold. Gray, what did you find?”

“The Callahan line—the third family tied to the original mining partnership—died out completely. Last living descendant passed back in the eighties, no children, no heirs anywhere we can trace. As for the McCraes—” He glanced at Hawk. “We sent Pope out to have a conversation with what’s left of that family.”

Vander Pope was one of the newer members of the team, and his appearance alone would make people shake in their boots.

“Pope is currently out on a security detail, so I’ll relay his findings.” Gray shifted in his seat. “He made it real clear to the McCrae family that any further action against the Winthrops will not be tolerated, and that Evan’s death closes this out. No inheritance claims, no lawsuits, no more mercenaries showing up in the middle of the night.”

From the corner desk, Willow looked up from the notes she was taking. “How did they take it?”

“Pope said the family seemed more relieved than anything. Evan had apparently been chasing this obsession alone for years, draining his own money into it.” Gray shrugged. “Sounds like his whole family’s glad it’s over too.”

The tight knot in Hawk’s chest finally loosened at that, and he let out a slow breath.

Case closed. Actually closed—no loose threads dangling, no other distant cousin waiting in the wings to pick up where McCrae left off.

Gray studied him for a moment. “You did good out there, Hawk. Whole team did. This one was ugly, but we got her out, and we got the answers we needed to make sure it stays finished.”