Raid Site – Abandoned Warehouse, 0037 Hours

Flashbangs had stopped echoing. Boots stomped across concrete. Shouts filtered through the chaos as suspects were cuffed and dragged out.

Price moved with methodical precision—clearing rooms, barking orders, eyes sharp.

Then he saw her.

Slumped against the wall, wrists already zip-tied. Dirt on her jeans, smudged makeup. Eyes bloodshot.

His heart sank.

“Get up,” he said through gritted teeth.

She blinked slowly. “Dad…?”

“Up.”

He yanked her to her feet, too rough for family, too stunned to be gentle. She swayed. He caught her arm before she collapsed.

Another soldier approached with a kit. “We ran tox on all of ‘em. She’s positive—for oxy and something else. Still running the panel.”

Price stared at the man, then back at her.

“You’ve got drugs in your system?” he asked, voice low.

She tried to speak. “It wasn’t like—”

His grip tightened. “Don’t lie to me.”

“I wasn’t—using like that. I was just—just at the wrong place, okay?”

“You think that matters? You think that makes it better?” His voice cracked like a whip. “I trusted you to be better than this.”

Her eyes filled with tears, but she blinked them away. “You don’t even know what I’ve been dealing with. You’re never there.”

“And this is how you handle it? You join up with dealers? You put this shit in your body?”

“I didn’t mean for it to go this far,” she whispered.

“You think the people we just dragged out meant to die from it? You think I haven’t zipped up enough body bags to see where this leads?”

She looked away, ashamed.

Price exhaled hard, jaw clenched. He reached for his radio.

“Captain Price. One additional suspect in custody. Bringing her in myself.”

“Dad—please.”

He looked at her. Cold. Shattered.

“You’re not my daughter tonight,” he said flatly. “You’re just another name on the report.”

And then he walked her out—hand on her arm, silent, furious.

She didn’t resist.

Because nothing hurt more than knowing he meant it.