### Part 1
My name is Rebecca Mitchell, and right now, seven months pregnant and cornered against the cold tile wall of Northwestern Memorial Hospital, I am fighting for my unborn baby’s life.
"Do you have any idea how much this private suite costs?" Sterling’s voice thundered down the sterile corridor, drawing horrified stares from passing nurses. His face was flushed...
The call came at exactly 11:47 PM. A trauma nurse told me my daughter was in surgery following a severe assault. I shattered every speed limit getting to the emergency room, my knuckles white on the steering wheel.
When I finally saw Lily, the breath left my lungs. Her delicate face was unrecognizable. Her jaw had been shattered in six...
Part 1
The cold barrel of a Glock pressed against my ribs through my silk blouse, right above the heavy swell of my eight-month pregnant belly.
"Don't scream, Clara," Marcus whispered, his hand clamping over my mouth as he dragged me into the private executive elevator bay of Vance Capital in downtown Manhattan.
I’m Clara Vance, a former forensic auditor, and five...
My name is Maya Vance. For three years, the world believed I was six feet under in the Hindu Kush, a ghost buried alongside Forty-Three dead operators. In reality, I was standing in Briefing Room 4B of the Pentagon, wearing standard-issue clerical blues, carrying a tray of lukewarm black coffee.
"Step lively, Vance," Colonel Marcus Vance—no relation, just an arrogant...
My name is Maya Vance. Stand five-foot-three in boots, and every elitist jerk in the Armed Forces assumes you’re useless—until you’re the only thing keeping them from a body bag.
"Get your pathetic hands off me, desk jockey!" Lieutenant Mark Lawson barked, shoving me back into the armor plate of our tactical vehicle. The metal slammed into my spine, pain...
My name is Maya Vance, and right now, I’m wiping my own blood off the matte-black floor of the Fort Braxton combatives pit.
Drill Sergeant Miller glares down at me, his knuckles white around his pace stick. Beside him, Carter—a 230-pound former college linebacker built like a brick wall—grins, adjusting his tactical gloves.
"Get up, Vance!" Miller bellows, his voice echoing...
Part 2:
Arthur stumbled backward, nearly tripping over his own boots as the Master-at-Arms used his body to shield me. My father’s face flushed a deep, volcanic crimson.
"What in the hell is wrong with you, sailor?!" Arthur bellowed, trying to push past the guard. "She’s an E-3 paperwork drone! Are you blind? I am a veteran!"
"Sir, if you take one...
PART 2
I ran for the hatch with Captain Vance and Master Chief Cole behind me.
Frank grabbed my forearm. “You don’t walk away after humiliating me.”
I twisted free. “This is not about you.”
His grip had reopened the scrape on my shoulder. Dylan stepped between us, pushing Frank back with both hands.
“Dad, stop.”
The secure ladderway was already sealed when we reached...
PART 2
Pike shoved an audio technician into the aisle and sprinted behind the reviewing stand.
Two military policemen chased him. Atlas tore free from his handler again, but I caught the short leash hanging from his harness.
“Stay with me.”
Colonel Brooks led us through a service entrance while General Shaw ordered the ceremony locked down. We found Pike in a communications...
Part 2
The concrete floor of the Fort Mercer detention cell was freezing, but the burning pain in my dislocated shoulder kept me wide awake. Colonel Vance shoved me into the metal table, his heavy hands slamming down inches from my face.
"You died in the Zagros Mountains five years ago, Miller," Vance hissed, his eyes darting toward the two armed...
