AVA
The war room looked different when I wasn't sneaking around to discover it.
Ryder had spread the operational maps across the central table and I stood on the opposite side and we went through everything, the full timeline, the FBI contact, the positioning plan, the expected approach vectors when Vargas moved. I listened and asked questions when necessary and he answered them without hesitation.
There was something about watching him think through a tactical problem that was different from every other version of him I'd encountered. He was less guarded and simply in his element.
He reached past me to indicate a position marker on the eastern map when his arm brushed mine and we both went still for a second. Neither of us said anything until he cleared his throat and continued what h
