Hayes said, “We’re still working on building the complete timeline. I’d like to bring you in, have you fill in the gaps on what we’re missing. Let’s discuss exit options in person after you’re finished.”

Kara parsed his words, struggling to read implied meaning between lines she’d never been good at seeing in the first place.

There was threat, and maybe warning.

She hadn’t been naive enough to assume this would be easy.

People like her didn’t just walk away, and any possibility she had of a smooth transition had died with Nick. Without Hayes’s blessing, best case might find her facing a dishonorable discharge, and worst case, she’d be dead within the month. The only protection she had was what she knew, and she wasn’t ready to give that up just yet.

“Unable to exfil at this time, sir,” she said. “It’ll all be in the report.”

The clock in her head said a minute since the line had connected.

Nearest embassy was seventeen minutes door-to-door. Thirteen if operatives were on standby and traffic and traffic lights were inconsequential. Zero if the war room had pinged her departure out of Prague and already had a team on-site.

In her head she counted down.

Hayes said, “Give me a second.”

The need to hurry intensified, amplifying the mental chatter inside her head, making it hard to focus. In her ear, the ambient noise changed, as if Hayes had stepped somewhere quiet and shut the door behind him.

The sense of privacy brought a change in tone.

His language slipped from formal to casual, and exhaustion bled through, and that was all an illusion, because the call was recorded anyway.

“I’m sorry to hear about Carson,” he said. “It’s never easy losing a partner, but when you’re tight like the two of you were, the gut punch wrecks you to the core.”

She struggled for a response, knew one was required.

Logic protested, questioning why the grieving party owed anything.

She stayed silent.

Hayes said, “I’ve been reading your op reports and requisitions. You’ve got a good head for abstract connections and a keen eye for detail. It’s fair to want out, but target is still at large and remains high priority, and we can’t afford to lose you until the team closes out. I want you to take lead.”

Kara fought for words, fought to breathe.

She didn’t want this, wasn’t cut out for fieldwork.

She was an analyst, not an operative and not a leader.

Her thoughts scattered. She struggled to bring them back to the concourse.

No sign of field officers yet.

Didn’t mean they weren’t coming. Just meant they hadn’t already been on-site. Her mind bolted again, jumping over probabilities, racing through possibilities.

She was screwed no matter what she did.

She said, “You may feel differently after you receive the report.”