Peyton felt woefully inadequate next to all of them, even after surviving his experience.
He rode in the lead vehicle with Aisling, Jake, and others.As they approached the border crossing, his stomach twisted in knots.
But the guards at the crossing all smiled and waved when their driver said the code phrase, as if the group were old friends of theirs.And as the last group peeled off to remain behind until they would fall back to the exit location, Peyton couldn’t believe how easily that went.
“Now I’m really fucking worried,” he said to Aisling.
She grinned, a nearly feral gleam in her eyes.“Because it went too fuckin’ easy, right?”
He nodded.
“Good.If yer pucker factor wasn’t at least an eleven on a one-to-ten scale, I’d be worried about ye, an’ I’da left ye back at the crossin’ wi’ the others.”
Lowri and Aaron were also riding in their vehicle, and Peyton felt his Enforcer’s glare burning a hole in the back of his skull.
Peyton turned to look at him.“I know you’re not happy with me for letting her come, but focus on the mission, not on her.She can handle herself.I wouldn’t have let her come if I didn’t think she could handle it, and Aisling definitely wouldn’t have signed off on her.”
“Thankyou!”Lowri said, playfully poking Aaron’s arm.“Listen to the boss man, babe.”
He glowered.“No offense,sir, but you can respectfully go fuck yourself.You, too, Aisling.”
Peyton chuckled.“Fair enough.”
Aisling barked a laugh.“Yer a lightweight at insults, Aaron.”
Not only had Aisling evaluated Lowri’s skills, but Peyton had also spoken with Duncan, since he’d arrived on-site at the cabin and witnessed the aftermath of her vicious defense of her family.
If anything, Peyton was more worried about Aaron keeping his head on straight.Lowri was obviously mission-focused.
When the complex came into view, Aisling spoke into her mic.“Target in sight.Mission is go.”
They rolled up to the front gate, and thirty seconds later, just as with the border guards, the man on duty opened it and smiled, waving them all in before running on ahead to activate his fellow guards.
Peyton held back while Aisling and the demolition team, along with another small team including Jake and a Prime, headed down the stairwell, the security code they’d been given by the personnel allowing them full access.
Peyton nervously waited with the others up top, all of them jumping when, five minutes later, the comms tower went dark.
From across the compound, he heard, “Fire in the hole!”and barely had time to cover his ears before the small blast destroyed their transmitter and its backup generator.
The elevator doors slid open.Aisling stood there, waving them in.“Come on.Shift it!Ye can take the stairs, too.It’s clear.”
Downstairs was already a scene of bloody chaos.Most of the lab personnel sat on the floor, hands on their head.Four lay facedown, dead, pools of blood spreading beneath them.
On the far side of the main space that the elevator opened into, Peyton spotted three lab techs sitting on a man who struggled and yelled at them in what sounded like Russian.Peyton didn’t see the other Prime who’d entered before him and assumed he’d moved deeper into the complex.
Peyton ran over and touched the struggling man’s shoulder and ordered him to sleep in Russian.
The man immediately went limp.
Thank god Aisling thought to have Jake teach us a few words.
Peyton then commanded the three lab workers who’d subdued him to return to their ready position, on their asses, hands on heads, before he continued deeper to follow Aisling.
“This place is a fuckin’ rabbit warren,” she muttered as she cleared several rooms in quick succession as they passed the doorways.Several of them were offices, one of which looked like a break room, and another door that was locked.
“Entry here!”she called out, and two of their men rushed over with prybars and made fast work of the door of what was a janitorial closet.
Peyton stayed on her tail, losing sight of Aaron and Lowri as they joined the team looking for computers and other records to retrieve.
