The staging area hums with the kind of organized tension that exists just before a tactical operation begins. Floodlights stretch long shadows across the asphalt while HRT agents move with quiet efficiency around the command vehicles. Radios murmur in low bursts of communication. Someone rolls out a tactical map across the hood of a truck.
I should be focusing on the case.
Statistically speaking, divided attention during high-risk operations increases the likelihood of oversight by nearly twenty percent.
Unfortunately my attention keeps drifting.
Specifically, toward Cynthia Hale.
She stands near the equipment table across the staging area, pulling sections of a ghillie suit from a gear bag and checking each piece with practiced efficiency. Even from this distance the precision of her movements is obvious. She doesn’t waste motion. Every adjustment is deliberate, controlled, purposeful.
It’s difficult not to watch.
She’s already issued three tactical corrections to the HRT team in the last four minutes. Each one was concise. Each one was correct. Each one immediately changed the pace of the entire operation.
From a behavioral standpoint it’s fascinating.
From a personal standpoint—
Well.
I become aware that I’m staring.
I look down at the operational notes in my hands, forcing myself to refocus.
Thirty seconds later I glance up again.
She’s climbing into the ghillie suit now, the camouflage mesh settling over her shoulders as she checks the straps along the rifle case beside her.
And then I notice something else.
Someone else is staring too.
A man near the communications van.
Cyber Division badge clipped to his belt.
He’s not even pretending to look busy.
He’s just… watching.
I step over before I’ve fully decided to do so.
“Do you have clearance to be here?” I ask.
He startles slightly, then turns toward me.
“Oh! Yes. Absolutely.”
He smiles like someone who has just been given the opportunity to discuss something extremely exciting.
“I’m here for observation.”
Observation.
That word does not typically apply to Cyber Division during an active HRT deployment.
I follow his line of sight.
He’s still looking toward Hale.
Then he lowers his voice slightly and leans closer, clearly assuming we’re about to share an exciting piece of professional information.
“Oh no that sniper…”
He gestures toward the overwatch prep area.
“I don’t know if you know, but she used to be a Marine Raider.”
I blink once.
He continues.
“Statistically her long-range shooting metrics are absolutely insane.”
His enthusiasm increases rapidly.
“She’s—wow.”
He watches her adjusting the ghillie suit like someone witnessing a rare astronomical event.
“I asked to observe the HRT unit specifically because their commander is basically a real life Wonder Woman.”
I stare at him.
He’s still talking.
“Did you know she was mentioned in an article in Stars and Stripes?”
I did.
He keeps going.
“Her first-round hit probability between eight hundred and twelve hundred meters is around ninety-two to ninety-four percent depending on wind variance.”
He looks genuinely impressed.
“That’s statistically unheard of. She’s basically an anomaly.”
I process this.
Slowly.
Because up until about thirty seconds ago I thought I was the only person on this scene paying that much attention to Cynthia Hale.
Apparently I was wrong.
He glances back at me with excitement.
“Who wouldn’t want to see her shoot?”
Then he lowers his voice conspiratorially.
“It’s not even related to cyber security. I just really wanted to observe her operational process.”
He pauses.
“She doesn’t know I’m here to watch her specifically though, so don’t blow my cover.”
For a moment I say nothing.
Because my brain has just arrived at an interesting realization.
I am not the only person on this scene who is… watching her.
I glance back toward the overwatch table.
Hale finishes adjusting the ghillie suit and checks the latch on her rifle case before turning toward the stairwell that leads to her rooftop position.
The Cyber agent watches her like I do.