Chapter 77 Adam
Adam
Gunfire shredded the night. Sparks lit the guardrails, the bridge a cage of ricochets and shouting.
I moved low, controlled bursts from my Glock dropping one masked man after another. Hawk’s rifle thundered from the far side of the SUV, Logan firing sharp and fast beside him. Blade was already in the thick of it, knife flashing, efficient and brutal.
Raine was on my flank—steady, breathing hard, but holding her ground. Every instinct screamed to shove her behind me, shield her, drag her out. But then I saw the way her pistol barked steady, saw the masked man crumple under her shot, and I knew—she wasn’t here to be saved. She was here to fight.
“Keep pressure right!” I barked into comms. “Russ, status!”
Static. Then Russ’s voice, calm under fire: “Back vehicle neutralized. Driver fled, no sign of cargo. I’ve got Boone tracking.”
“Copy. Focus on containment.”
The refrigerated truck groaned, its engine still idling heavy, driver crouched low behind the wheel. That was the prize. Proof. Evidence. Maybe even lives inside, if we weren’t too late.
I dropped two more hostiles, then keyed comms again. “Blade—breach the truck!”
He didn’t hesitate, just sprinted low through the gunfire, sliding under the bumper of the SUV boxing us in. A masked man lunged for him, rifle raised, but Blade’s knife was faster, flashing once before the man folded.
“Driver!” Hawk roared, ripping the cab door open and dragging the man out by his collar. The driver kicked, screamed, but Hawk slammed him against the grill hard enough to rattle the hood.
I closed in, Raine at my side, her breath ragged but steady. Together we moved toward the rear of the truck, toward the locked doors.
Bullets still cracked across the bridge, but I barely heard them now. All I saw was that steel latch. All I heard was the hum of refrigeration in my memory.
“Cover!” I shouted. Hawk and Logan laid down fire while Blade drove his knife under the lock, wrenching it with brutal force. The metal screeched, then snapped.
The doors groaned open.
And what waited inside froze me harder than any bullet ever could.