Chapter 1 - The Woman He Couldn't Hold

“Hold her tighter, Mercer. She thinks she can fight her way out.”

The words came from the observation line, loud enough for every soldier in Training Room Four to hear. Lieutenant Avery Shaw stood in a white tank top, gray shorts, and tan combat boots while Staff Sergeant Grant Mercer clamped his thick arms around her waist from behind. The fluorescent lights made the gray walls look almost blue. Six soldiers watched from the edge of the dark training mat.

Mercer leaned close to her ear. “You can quit anytime, sweetheart.”

Avery felt his grip settle over the old scar along her ribs. She could hear the air conditioner rattling above them. She could hear somebody trying not to laugh. She could also feel how Mercer had locked his wrists together, just a little too high.

“That's your first mistake,” she said.

He grinned. “Talking?”

“Thinking this is about strength.”

She raised her open hand in front of her face. Her fingers moved once, measuring distance and balance. The smile fell off Mercer's face. He squeezed harder. Avery stayed calm, breathed out, then dropped her weight and twisted into the smallest opening his grip allowed. His locked hands separated. She pivoted, blonde hair whipping across her shoulder, planted her left boot, and fired her right leg upward.

Her boot stopped an inch from his jaw.

Mercer staggered back with his arms raised. No one laughed now. Avery lowered her leg carefully. The drill had lasted twelve seconds.

“Control,” she told him. “That's what you missed.”

Then Captain Nolan Voss stepped out from the observers, carrying a tablet. He looked less impressed than angry.

“Lieutenant Shaw,” he said, “you've just assaulted a superior during a sanctioned exercise.”

Mercer blinked. “Sir, I volunteered—”

“Quiet, Sergeant.” Voss tapped his screen. “Security, detain her.”

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Avery looked toward the ceiling camera. Its recording light had been red when the drill began. Now it was dark.

And standing behind Voss was the one man she had been told was dead.