The file was thicker than most assassination contracts.

That was the first difference.

Second difference? It wasn’t a kill order.

It was protection.

Slade closed the folder and stared at the last line again.

Subject: Decorated U.S. military veteran. Severe PTSD. Government protected. Threat level high.

He exhaled once through his nose.

“They’re assigning me a bodyguard detail,” he muttered, unimpressed.

The location coordinates led miles past paved roads and deeper into federally restricted woodland. Surveillance satellites pinged the airspace overhead. Unmarked vehicles rotated patrol routes at a distance.

The government wasn’t guarding her because she was fragile.

They were guarding her because of what she’d survived.

And what she could still do.

Slade cut his engine before reaching the clearing. Approached on foot.

No sudden movements.

No attempt at stealth.

He wanted her to see him coming.

The cabin sat in the center of a carefully designed perimeter—trip lines, sound traps, subtle terrain manipulation. Whoever thought she was unstable clearly hadn’t seen the precision in her defenses.

A rifle scope glinted faintly from the treeline.

Good.

He stopped just inside visible range.

“They sent me,” he called evenly. “Temporary assignment.”

No flinch. No raised voice.

Just steady presence.

The scope didn’t lower.

He respected that too.

“Before you decide whether to shoot me,” he added calmly, “understand this isn’t babysitting.”

Silence.

Wind through trees.

Somewhere in the distance, a surveillance drone adjusted its altitude.

Slade shifted his weight slightly, hands loose at his sides.

“You don’t need saving,” he continued. “You need someone who understands the difference between a threat and a memory.”

A long pause.

Then—

The rifle barrel dipped.

Not trust.

Assessment.

He stepped forward one careful pace.

“I’m not here to control you,” he said quietly. “I’m here to make sure nobody else tries.”

Because the government protected her out of obligation.

Slade protected people for entirely different reasons.

And if the woods thought they could swallow her whole—

They’d have to go through him first.