Page 111 of The ARC Unit: Breach

A man’s voice shouted somewhere inside the farmhouse.

Viper said, “Gun.”

Two suppressed shots reached the microphone as flat, hard cracks. My shoulders locked at the sound, but Raven did not look away from his screen.

“One down,” Viper said. “Moving.”

There was no pause afterward because the rest of the farmhouse was still unsecured. No celebration in his voice and no explanation of what the man had done beyond the single word. I knew enough from training to understand what it meant though. Viper had seen the weapon and made the decision before the rest of us had time to turn it into a plan.

There was a reason Wolf trusted him to go ahead of him. He was fucking good at this.

Hawk spoke over the channel. “Rear guard heard it. Moving toward the house.”

Jackal answered, “I have him.”

The rear camera caught only part of what happened. A guard appeared at the edge of the frame, reached beneath his jacket and vanished behind the side of the farmhouse. Jackal never followed him into view. Three seconds later came a muffled impact and Jackal’s voice.

“Rear secure. One detained.”

Raven glanced at me. “He cut the corner instead of chasing.”

“How do you know?”

“Because the guard went north and Jackal was east.”

The answer sounded almost absurd until I remembered watching Jackal catch the role-player during training by running where the man was going instead of where he had been.

Inside, Viper reached the central stairs and stopped.

“Closed door top landing. Movement behind it.”

Wolf said, “Bear.”

A few seconds passed while Bear moved up.

“Door opens inward,” he said. “Narrow landing.”

Wolf’s response was immediate. “Flash.”

The bang came through the microphones a heartbeat later, sharp even at distance. Viper moved on the sound, Wolf behind him, and the upstairs became a series of controlled commands that overlapped just enough to make my pulse climb.

“Hands.”

“Down.”

“Right clear.”

“Second room locked from outside.”

The words locked from outside made me look at Raven before I could stop myself. His expression had tightened in the same instant, and whatever distance the vehicle had given us from the people inside the farmhouse disappeared.

Wolf whispered, “Do not open occupied rooms until the floor is secure.”

Viper acknowledged and kept moving as Hawk’s voice interrupted from the ridge.

“Movement rear structure. Male exiting east. Black jacket, heading tree line.”

Jackal was already moving. “I see him.”