Keira and her team set out under the cover of night.
Standing on the deck, Keira stared ahead. The night sea was an endless stretch of pitch black, an abyss with no bottom in sight.
Lewis stood behind her and asked, "You scared?"
"Of what?" Keira shot back.
This dark, empty sea was just like the life she'd lived in the shadows—nothing new or frightening about it.
Lewis's tone remained calm. "It's about a four-hour trip to the Country A border. No signal out here, just satellite phones. I just got word that Professor Barry Brandt's already en route. We shouldn't run into any trouble. If everything goes smoothly, we'll pick him up and head straight back home."
Keira nodded, then asked, "And if it doesn't go smoothly?"
"Then we move to Plan B. Don't worry—we're getting him back, one way or another," Lewis said with the kind of steady confidence that put Keira at ease.