Page 82 of Rafe’s Future

Gunfire cracked through the night as Lena pressed herself against the wall for cover. Bullets tore into the stone above her. Several small chunks flew into the air like shrapnel.

She waited a few seconds. Three, maybe four. When she was ready, she moved again.

Lena kept herself low as she crossed the courtyard. She fired twice, dropping behind another concrete barrier. A man appeared in a nearby doorway. His gaze immediately locked on her. He started to swing his rifle in her direction.

Luckily, she was faster.

She raised her weapon and pulled the trigger. One shot was all it took. The man fell backward before slumping against the doorway behind him.

“Price, east side!”

Lena turned that way as another man came around the corner. He fired, his bullet striking the wall inches from Lena’s head. A low curse left her lips half a beat before she fired back.

Two shots later, the man was dead.

Her heart hammered inside her chest, but she kept her mind on the objective and nothing else as she made her way deeper into the compound.

Chaos surrounded the main building. Doors slammed. Boots pounded. Men shouted warnings to one another in their native tongue. Lena moved through the darkness, clearing rooms as she went.

A moment later, she heard the sound of a vehicle’s engine coming alive.

She turned that way. The lights from one of the building’s entrances shined down on the man behind the wheel.

It’s him!

With a hand to her ear, Lena relayed what she was seeing to the black ops team. “Kozlova is on the move.”

She started running toward Kozlova’s black SUV.

The vehicle tore across the compound’s expansive courtyard. Lena raised her weapon and fired. The windshield shattered. The vehicle swerved before slamming into a stone wall.

Kozlova’s shadowy figure climbed from the driver’s side door. He staggered across the dirt in an attempt to escape.

Not this time.

Lena took off after her target.

Older than the last time she’d seen him, Alexei’s face was still unmistakable as he turned and looked her way. Recognition struck, and his eyes grew wide.

“Surprise, asshole. I’m still alive. Something you won’t be much longer if you don’t cancel the hits you put on me and my team.”

His lips slowly began to form a sinister grin. “Go ahead. Kill me. You and your friends will still die.”

Lena laughed. “I’ve been in this game a long time, Alexei. I know how your world works.”

His smile faltered slightly.

That’s what I thought.

She proved what she’d just said was true. “You die, the contracts end.”

“Does it?”

Nice try.

“Yes.” She nodded. “It does.”

The corners of his lips rose again, and the hair on the back of her neck stood on end. Something about the way he looked at her sent Lena’s gut swirling. But she pushed the feeling aside and reminded herself of the kind of man he really was.