I recognized him instantly.
Everyone in the room probably expected me to react.
I didn’t.
But inside, something shifted.
Thomas “Ridge” Callahan.
Retired Navy SEAL commander.
Decorated operator.
Author.
Speaker.
Legend in certain circles.
My father had two of his books on our living room shelf. I had read them both before I turned fifteen.
Commander Callahan looked at me the way snipers looked through glass.
Patient.
Exact.
Unblinking.
Captain Hayes gestured toward the chair opposite him.
“Sit down, Midshipman.”
I sat.
