“Third floor or ground?” Cal asks, breathing hard.
“Ground,” Charles decides. “Get outside, reassess. This is too hot.”
We’re halfway down the stairs when the third floor lights up with gunfire. More hostiles above us, trying to box us in.
We’re trapped between two forces.
“Through the production floor,” Silas says, already moving. “East exit, we can breach the wall if we have to.”
We fight our way across. It’s brutal, close-quarters combat mixed with longer-range exchanges. I take a round to the vest, knocks the wind out of me but doesn’t penetrate. Keep moving, keep firing, keep covering my brothers.
Cal goes down.
Just for a second, a stumble over debris, but that’s all it takes. A hostile lines up a shot and I’m already moving, putting myself between Cal and the barrel, returning fire before the shooter can pull the trigger.
The hostile drops.
Cal’s back on his feet. “Thanks.”
“Move!”
We breach the east wall, literally. Silas kicks through old drywall that’s rotted enough to give way. We pour through into a side room, then a hallway, then finally, finally out into the daylight.
Marcus and the security team converge on our position, weapons raised, securing the perimeter.
“Status?” Marcus asks.
“Eight to ten hostiles inside,” Charles reports, breathing hard. “Coordinated ambush. They knew we were coming.”
“The rest of the building?”
“Unknown. Could be more.” Charles looks at me, then Cal, then Silas. “We need reinforcements before we go back in there.”
“Or we burn it,” Silas suggests coldly. “Flush them out or let them burn.”
“Information first,” Charles reminds him. “We need to know who else Ryan recruited. Can’t get that from corpses.”
We regroup at the vehicles, checking weapons, reloading, assessing injuries. Nothing serious, thank fuck, but we’re all running on adrenaline and the crash is going to be brutal.
Forty-five minutes. That’s how long the firefight lasted. Forty-five minutes of chaos where nothing existed except survival and tactical decisions and keeping each other alive.
My phone is still in my pocket, forgotten.
Cal’s pulling his laptop back out, fingers already flying across the keyboard. “Let me see if I can access the building’s electrical systems, cut their power, give us an advantage for round two.”
I lean against the SUV, letting my heart rate slow, checking my weapon. We’re regrouping. Planning the next move. Charles is on his phone coordinating with more security teams to surround the building.
Then Cal goes rigid.
“What?” Silas asks immediately, reading his body language.
Cal’s staring at his phone like it just bit him. His face has gone pale, his amber eyes wide with something that looks like horror.
“Cal?” I move closer. “What is it?”
“Someone made a video call from my phone.” His voice is flat, shocked. “An hour ago. To Parker.”
“What?” I reach for my own phone, pulling it out with hands that suddenly aren’t quite steady.
