He’d finally slowed them down, same thing he’d done at the dock, pressing his forehead against hers, again. “We need to stop,” he’d said quietly. “Before I get in over my head.”

Too late. She was in way over her head. And hanging too hard on his silly promise, the one she knew he could never keep. “I’ll come back.”

Now, she drew up her knees, her arms around them, holding on to that stupid promise with everything she had.

A blanket fell over her shoulders, and she looked up to see Noemi walk past her. “I know it’s not exactly cold out, but sometimes having something to wrap yourself in helps,” she said as she sat on another lounger.

“Any updates?”

Noemi wore a white dress, a beacon in the night, her hair back in a multicolored scarf. “Scarlett and Dad are on coms in the kitchen. I waited until they were heading home, but I just had to get outside. Breathe. All that shooting . . . I didn’t realize how intense these ops are. I don’t know how Scarlett keeps her cool.”

Tae either. She blew out a breath.

“They’ll be fine. At least that’s what I keep telling myself. But they do know what they’re doing. Most of them are SEALs, and Colt was Delta Force. Really, they’ve been in much more harrowing situations than a shootout with some Russian mercenaries.”

“It only takes one stray bullet.”

Noemi raised an eyebrow.

“Sorry. Not helping, I know.”

“Well, they’re not bulletproof, but the Kevlar helps.”

“I don’t know how you stay so calm.”

Noemi wrapped herself in a blanket. “I’m not. I’m just trying to remind myself that God is watching over them, and all I can do is pray.”

Huh. Tae hadn’t exactly prayed since . . . well, long before her father had been killed. Besides, “You think God is going to protect them when they go in, armed to the teeth, ready to kill?”

“I absolutely do. In the Bible, God is repeatedly with his people when they’re fighting evil. I think there is such a thing as a righteous battle, and when we are on the side of saving lives . . . well, God is about life and truth, so I think that puts us on his side. At least that’s what Ranger says, and I’m really starting to believe.”

Well then. “Pray for Colt, too, okay?”

Noemi smiled. “Done. But you know, I’ve discovered you can pray yourself.”

Tae shook her head. “Nah. God and I . . . we . . . I think maybe I’m on my own here.”

Noemi frowned.

The golden dawn cut through the palm trees, fractured light bleeding through the thick fronds.