Page 311 of Allegiance

This was a shitty situation to be in.

No one could babysit her, and there was no time to bring her somewhere safe.

Maura reached the location where they had to dump their ride.

“We are going to have to hike in from here.”

“I can’t leave my daughter in the woods alone,” Eve said, now conflicted between her job and another life that mattered to her.

“We have to. If we don’t go in as planned, that drops the probability that we lose one of the men. Who do we pick to die? Your husband? Mine? Merry’s? Stella’s?”

Maura turned in the seat and stared at the teenager. While she got it…

“This was a bad idea,” she said to Violet. “While I get why you did it, now we’re in a bad situation. You put yourself over everyone else, and that could cost lives.”

Her eyes filled with tears.

“I’m sorry.”

Eve was about to say something when Maura handled it.

“You’re going to have to help out. You came, and now, you’re going to learn on the fly. Get up to this seat.”

Violet did.

Maura hopped out of the vehicle.

“A mile ahead is a structure. We’re going in. When you hear me over this earbud, I need you to drive toward it. I hope you know how to drive.”

“I’ve done it illegally before.”

“Well, we aren’t calling the cops on you, Violet. When I call you, YOU COME. Got it? We don’t know how bad the men will be and there’s only three of us. We can’t carry them out. We don’t have ears in that van, and they’re loading them into the building now.”

“I can do it,” Violet said. “I’ve got this. I’ll pick you up.”

Well, at least they had a getaway driver. They wouldn’t have to rely on Remmy for extraction.

Maura pulled a gun from under the seat and put it in the door compartment.

“It’s loaded. If someone comes for you, point and pull the trigger. Aim for the middle of their body.”

She looked scared, but she also looked determined to help them.

“Here’s a bud. Put it in your ear. You’ll hear us handling this situation. Under no circumstance unless you’re in danger, are you to say a word to distract us.”

Eve let Maura handle it.

Why?

If the girl wanted to play Marine, she was going to get bossed around by the mother of all of them.

“Got it?”

She nodded.

Violet put it in her ear.

“And for the record, to be a Hunter, you have to know when to break the rules, and when to let those who rank higher than you do the job. If you want to be one of us, you have a lot to learn, and that takes time.”