Movement caught Jay’s eye, and he turned his attention to the screen showing the second drone’s feed. It descended to a lower altitude, moving through two of the container bays. It wasn’t supposed to get so close, and it continued to get closer. The thing dropped, then hovered. Something was wrong. Before he could tell Jack, one of the men removed a gun from his holster and fired.
“Son of a bitch,” Jack growled. “Drone two is down.”
“What the hell happened?” King asked.
“I don’t know. It started to lose control before one of them shot it. They have to have a jammer.”
“Goddammit,” Joker hissed. “They know their cover’s blown.”
The heat signatures scattered. The ex-Marines were on the move.
“They split into twos,” Jay said.
“They won’t make it far,” King replied over their comms.
There had to be something Jay could do. He tapped at the keyboard, searching for a command prompt. Self-defense wasn’t the only skill he’d picked up at Four Kings Security in the twelve years he’d worked there. He might not be a hacker or cybersecurity agent, but he’d trained enough with Jack to have a basic understanding of their cybersecurity intelligence system.
Jay’s fingers flew over the keyboard, and he found all the devices their system had control over. He opened the prompt for the yard’s floodlight system. With a final keystroke, thelights over the container yard blazed to life, spotlighting the ex-Marines who’d ducked between containers.
“Nice work, Jay,” King said. “Let’s go get ’em.”
Gunfire erupted again, and Ryden’s camera feed rocked with motion as he sprinted between two stacks of containers. Finch followed, covering him. Seconds later, Joker’s camera showed one of the ex-Marines being tackled.
One by one, the guys took down the remaining team and restrained them. Jay kept his eyes on the feeds, shifting views, scanning heat signatures, keeping them all in sight. He didn’t realize how tense he was until King called out, “All clear.”
Jay sagged back in his chair. It was over. Why wasn’t he relieved? He should have been thrilled. Instead, he had a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. “Something doesn’t feel right,” he murmured. It was too easy. The ex-Marines had gone down with very little fight. Jay opened his mouth to ask King if everything was alright when a crackle of static tore through the comms. “What the hell?”
“All teams, hold positions and check targets,” King said, his voice sharp and tense.
“Shit,” Ryden growled. “It’s not them.”
King grabbed the collar of one of their captives. “Where are the men who hired you?”
Nothing.
“Answer him,” Ryden replied through his teeth.
“I hope you kissed your boyfriend goodbye before you left.”
Jay’s heart stuttered, and he jumped to his feet. He tapped away at the keyboard, bringing up the external cameras. Three figures dressed in black and wearing balaclavas approached the van. Oh god. They were coming forhim.
“Everyone else, let’s move,” King ordered. “Jay, we’re heading your way.”
Jay’s heart hammered as he hurried to the front of the van, intent on getting the hell out of there just like Ryden had instructed. But before he could make it, there was a loud bang on the roof, then a metal clang against the side. What the hell was that?
“Aw, did your boyfriend leave you all alone?” One of the men called out. Jay froze. He recognized that voice. It was the guy who’d caught him in the stairwell. Walton. “How about you let us keep you company? I promise we’ll treat you better.”
“Ry…” Jay’s voice cracked. He was trapped.
“I’m comin’ for ya, sweetheart, just hold on,” Ryden said tightly. “You do whatever you gotta do to keep them from gettin’ their hands on you. You hear me?”
Something slid across the top of the van. Metal on metal. Now what? A familiar hiss followed, and Jay’s eyes went huge. Smoke began to pour in through the ventilation system.
“Gas!” Jay coughed and scrambled to the equipment locker. He put his hand to the security panel, and it unlocked. Coughing, he reached for one of the emergency masks and a Glock. Fuck. He could barely see, his eyes stinging and watery. Breathing became a chore, and his body grew heavy. He was so dizzy, but he managed to get the mask on over his face. Sucking in a deep breath, Jay took the safety off the gun. He struggled to raise the Glock, but he managed to push through.
The sound of an engine roared, and Jay turned, intent on stumbling for the back doors when a blinding light engulfed the van, followed by an earth-shatteringboomthat rocked the van sideways, throwing Jay against the console.
“Jay!” Ryden’s voice was panicked, but he sounded so far away.
