How a Dying Woman Rewrote Her Epilogue

The search area was enormous.

Fleming soared through the night sky, carefully adjusting his altitude to a level that was both safe and gave him a clear view of the chaos below.

He knew Elodie well. In a crowd, she'd stand out she always did-so if she was down there, he'd spot her quickly enough.

Smoke still drifted up from the ground, making it hard to see. Fleming frowned, dipping a little lower for a better look.

Adrian's voice crackled in his headset. "Fleming! Are you out of your mind?

There's been no order from command! You'll be held responsible if you keep this up!"

They were military, after all-discipline was enforced with ironclad rules, and following orders wasn't optional.

But tonight was different.

Still, there would be consequences for acting on his own.

Fleming scanned the ground with laser focus.

He felt strangely detached about the risk. He knew exactly what he was doing.

After all, Esmeralda had made herself clear...

He wasn't going to overthink it.

human life, any disciplinary

her field-there was no

matter," he

Adrian had found a quiet spot to land the chopper. Only then did he ask, "You're doing this for Lucy, aren't you? I've seen it for a long time now-Lucy cares about you, and

been swayed by Esmeralda's announcement that the

stood in the way of following his

Fleming didn't answer.

didn't think the question even deserved

locking on to something a few dozen meters

racing down the road. The headlights illuminated

a figure in

later, the passenger rolled down the window and looked straight up at him, waving

A signal.

than most. In that instant,

Jarrod. Elodie's husband.

told him

and Jarrod were likely

instantly, flicking on

was about to descend

the helicopter for what it was a domestic model from Elodie's own research base,

Jarrod swerved toward

to descend, Jarrod made a sharp gesture, signaling him to hold off and motioning for the pilot to