In the coming days, the platoon would run multiple rescue missions on the lodge, refining the plan once the SEALs knew the details, but the first run would be cold—the team knew very little about what to expect.

“To the right,” Audrey said when the path forked.

He took the high trail and continued upward. The path was wide with a low grade that required several switchbacks through the woods. If they could go straight up, they’d reach the flat in less than half the time. “Why run a power line from the blacksmith shop? That couldn’t have been easy when you could use satellite links with solar panels to power the cameras.”

“No budget and no time. The burials were looted in November. We needed a quick fix. I put in a request for solar and satellite, but that would take months—possibly years—to get approved. As it was, I spent days laying and burying PVC pipe so I could run power and Cat 5 cables for the video feed.”

That would have been just a week or two after they’d met. It must have been difficult, digging a trench up the hillside in the November rain. He rolled his shoulder, thinking of the work involved as he stretched injured muscles that stiffened with the cold rain. A year and eight months ago, he’d been shot during what became his final op. That injury was why he was here and not with the SEALs in the jet heading their way.

Recovery had been a bitch. He’d been gutted at the prospect of no longer being an active member of the teams. He no longer had full range of motion in his left rotator cuff, and never would. But after several surgeries and physical therapy, he’d finally been able to return to work, this time as a trainer. This job had saved him. Gave him purpose again. He didn’t even know who he was without his SEAL identity. He’d thought it had been lost forever. But as a trainer, he was still connected to the teams.

Rainforest shadows deepened as they ascended the hill. Finally, the ground leveled out beneath their feet, and they faced a wide, open meadow as it caught the last light of the gray day. It was overcast and dreary even without the shadows of the trees.

The Pacific Northwest in January. How did Audrey and Jae deal with the dark, gray winters?