“Where’s the exchange taking place?” Edge asked.

Harding passed the baton to Clint. “The outskirts of a town called José Marie Morales. Guy was a famous Mexican revolutionary. Town named after him is about halfway between the airport and the base. There’s an old cabin on a ranch north of town, about ten miles south of the border.”

Harding picked up the conversation. “Along with the helo, they’ll be using four-wheel ATVs to get the weapons to the location.”

“There’s a spider web of trails in those mountains,” Clint added. “But once they get down into the valley, it’s wide open. Easy place to land the chopper.”

Edge’s features darkened. “Yeah, and close enough to the airport for Markham to make an easy escape.”

“Which isn’t going to happen,” the colonel said. He unrolled a set of topo maps on top of the table and used the thermal coffeepots to hold them down.

“This is what it looks like.” Harding’s lion eyes demanded the attention of every man in the room. “The exchange goes down at midnight. We’ll rendezvous here at twenty-two hundred.” He pointed to a spot on the map. “That gives us plenty of time to reach the location of the exchange and get in place. We’ve already reconned the area, but we’ll have time to look around, make sure we don’t run into unexpected trouble.”

Clint grinned. “What would be the fun in that, Colonel?”

Though he ignored the remark, the edges of Harding’s mouth faintly curved. “Any other questions?”

No one replied.

“All right. See you all tonight.”

Chairs scraped as men rose from the table and headed out the door. Skye, Edge, and Trace were the last ones to leave. Edge left a sizable tip for Sadie, they climbed into the Tahoe, and he drove back to the motel. No one said a word along the way.

When they reached the motel, Trace pulled Skye aside as Edge continued down the corridor and disappeared into his room.

A good nine inches taller than she, Trace peered down at her. “What the hell is going on with you two?” He was the same height as Edge but brawnier, his chest and shoulders heavier, yet she never felt overwhelmed by him. He was a good man, strong, capable, and caring. She wished he could have been the man she had fallen in love with.

Trace huffed out a breath. “It’s like he’s put up some kind of wall around him.”

The words dredged up the pain she was trying so hard to ignore, making her heart ache.

“We talked things over. Edge and I will always be friends, but this thing between us isn’t going to work. Edge knows that. He’s dealing with it, that’s all.”