She had petitioned to be freed from the mission in order to track down Rook, and if possible, rescue him. But she had been denied by Deep Blue himself. The mission came first. She knew Rook would agree, but it didn’t loosen the knot twisting in her stomach. To lose him now …

She shook her head, willing herself to not think it. She would find him when this was over.

What bothered her most was that despite being brave in almost any scenario, neither of them had the guts to talk about their feelings for each other. Ever since their kiss a year previous she had sensed his quiet discomfort around her. But they never spoke of it. Like the hardships of battle, they swallowed it. Buried it. Because they both knew that love on the battlefield could get people killed.

She realized now that soldiers died on the battlefield either way. And now Rook may have as well; a fact that would not have changed if their relationship had become romantic. At least then he would have died knowing, she thought, and then forced a new thought: I’ll tell him when I find him.

A flash of light made her squint and look away from the window. As thunder rolled over and through the helicopter she glanced toward the cockpit and made eye contact with Luis. He looked desperate and pale.

“I— Is the storm too much?” he asked, sounding hopeful.

She grinned. “Not at all.”

As a frown came to his face, Queen added, “We are more than halfway there, yes?”

“Sí,” he said with a nod. “We are almost there.”

“Then we will be on the ground shortly and the storm will most likely have passed or dulled by the time we leave.”

Luis thought for a moment before smiling and nodding again. “You are right.”

As Luis turned his eyes forward again, Knight plucked his earbuds free. “Almost there?”

“Yup,” Queen replied.

“You okay?”

“Fine.”

“She’s worried about Rook,” Bishop said, eyes still shut.

“We’re all worried about him,” Knight said. “But—”

Bishop opened his eyes and glanced at Knight. “Seriously?”

Knight opened his hands with a shrug. “What?”

Bishop responded by raising his eyebrows.

After a moment of thought, Knight realized what was being communicated. “Really?” He leaned forward and looked at Queen. “Really? Rook?”

The slightest of grins showed on Queen’s face. She slugged Bishop’s shoulder and turned to Knight. “I don’t want to break that pretty jaw of yours, Fancy Nancy, but I will.”

Knight was all smiles until Luis’s voice came over the headset. “El Mirador at three o’clock,” he said as he spoke his next words. “We made it.”