“I went back and . . . I got the right intel.”

She glanced at him. He didn’t look at her, but his jaw had tightened. What did that mean? “Colt—”

“We had some SEAL buddies in the area, so we cobbled together a rescue team and . . . we got them back. But I was pretty messed up after losing our guys, so . . . not the best place to be making wise battlefield decisions. I separated from the military with a discharge, no honors, but I escaped a less than.” He lifted a shoulder.

“What did you do?”

“I was a little lost. Did some odd jobs for hire. Nothing illegal, just off the books. But I was no doubt headed the wrong direction when my buddy Fraser called me. He was on the team who pulled out our guys. He’d left the SEALs and offered me a job with a guy named Hamilton Jones. Private security. Seemed like the right call at the time. Probably still is. When this is all over, I’ll head back to the team.”

His words panged inside her, a sort of dread. But he was here now, and that’s what mattered.

“Why don’t you stick around Sky King Ranch? It seems like they could use your help.”

He shook his head. “Dodge is there, and now Ranger. Besides, I wasn’t made to be a part of all that.”

But she’d seen him with his brothers, laughing. Hmm.

“Is that why you joined the Army?”

“I joined because . . . because it seemed the right thing at the time.” He gave a laugh. “I’m starting to see a pattern. But from the beginning, I knew that I was different. Made for trouble, I guess.”

That broke her heart a little. But in the back of her mind, she heard again his Orwell quote about brave men doing violence to keep others safe. Yes, that sounded very much like Colt.

She glanced at him, the way he drove, calmly, with one hand—a finger, really—on the wheel, capable around the twists and turns of the highway, as if yes, he’d been built for challenge. Trouble, as he put it.

A while later, they reached the bottom of the mountain, and a small town spread out before them. She checked the map. “An hour to Shelly.”

“You’re sure your friend has the information we need?”

“I’m staking everything on it. We roomed together in college and then started working for the same lab. She was as meticulous with her journal as I was. I just hope they haven’t found her.”

She hadn’t quite meant to breathe aloud those fears.

He reached over and touched her hand, then took it, squeezed. And for now, right here, she hung on and squeezed it right back.