Chapter 93 Havoc
Havoc
Gunfire rips through the barn.
Loud.
Close.
Relentless.
Wood splinters.
Dust fills the air.
Shadows move outside like ghosts with rifles.
“Left flank!” Briggs shouts.
“I’ve got it!” another Ranger answers.
I shift position behind the beam, my hand steady on my weapon.
“Stay down,” I tell her.
“I’m not leaving you,” she shoots back.
Wouldn’t expect her to.
Wouldn’t want her to.
But I still angle my body in front of hers.
Shield.
Always.
A burst of fire tears through the wall.
Too close.
I lean out—quick—controlled.
Two shots.
One drops.
Second ducks.
“Three more at the tree line!” I call out.
“Copy!”
The CIA is moving now too.
Fast.
Efficient.
Returning fire with precision.
But I’m not watching them.
I’m watching everything else.
Because someone out there?
Is leading this.
And they’re not amateurs.
Aspen grips my arm.
“T-They knew we’d be here…”
“Yeah,” I say.
No point lying.
“They were waiting.”
Which means—
We’ve got a leak.
I don’t say it out loud.
Not yet.
But the thought locks in.
Hard.
Gunfire intensifies.
Closer now.
“They’re pushing!” Briggs yells.
Of course they are.
They want inside.
They want the box.
They want what Tank died protecting.
Not happening.
I shift again.
Faster this time.
Step out—fire—move.
Another one goes down.
“Fall back inside the barn!” I order.
“Hold the line!”
Because out there?
They’ve got cover.
In here?
We control the angles.
The team moves.
Tight.
Disciplined.
No panic.
No hesitation.
Aspen stays glued to me.
Exactly where I need her.
Good.
“Right side breach!” someone shouts.
I turn—
Just in time to see a figure rush the side door.
Fast.
Weapon up.
I fire.
He drops hard.
Slides across the dirt.
Doesn’t get back up.
“Door secured!” I call.
But something doesn’t sit right.
This isn’t just pressure.
This is coordination.
This is a retrieval team.
And they’re not stopping.
“Flash incoming!” a voice yells—
Too late.
Light explodes inside the barn.
Blinding.
White.
Everything disappears.
Aspen gasps.
I pull her tight against me.
Turn my body.
Shield her face with my shoulder.
“Down!” I bark.
Sound follows—sharp—ringing—
My vision goes—
Nothing.
Then—
Shapes.
Blurred.
Moving.
“Push! Push!” someone outside yells.
Yeah.
They think that worked.
They’re wrong.
My hearing comes back in pieces.
Shouts.
Boots.
Movement inside the barn.
Too close.
I blink hard.
Vision clearing just enough—
A shadow rushes in.
Not Ranger.
Not CIA.
Enemy.
I don’t hesitate.
Close-range shot.
He drops two feet from us.
Aspen flinches—but doesn’t break.
Good.
Strong.
Always strong.
“Inside breach!” I shout.
“They’re in!”
Now it’s close quarters.
Now it’s chaos.
No distance.
No clean lines.
Just survival.
I move.
Fast.
Controlled.
Clear the left.
Briggs takes the right.
CIA engages near the entrance.
One of them goes down.
Hit.
They’re not untouchable after all.
“Behind you!” Aspen shouts.
I turn—
Too late to aim.
Not too late to act.
I drive forward.
Shoulder into the attacker.
We slam into the wall.
Hard.
His weapon goes off.
Misses.
I grab his arm.
Twist.
Break.
He screams.
I don’t stop.
Finish it.
Drop him.
And just like that—
The barn goes quiet.
Not fully.
Not peaceful.
But the shooting stops.
Echoes fade.
Breathing fills the space instead.
Heavy.
Fast.
Real.
I scan.
Bodies down.
Team still standing.
Aspen—
Still with me.
Still safe.
Good.
Always the first thing I check.
Briggs steps up beside me.
“Clear,” he says.
I nod.
But I don’t relax.
Not yet.
Not when something still feels—
Wrong.
Too clean.
Too fast.
Too targeted.
I look down at the man closest to me.
The one I dropped first.
His gear—
Professional.
Not random.
Not local.
This was a job.
A contract.
My jaw tightens.
“Search them,” I order.
The team moves.
Fast.
Efficient.
One of the guys kneels.
Checks a body.
Then—
“Boss…”
Something in his tone shifts everything.
I walk over.
Slow.
Controlled.
“Tell me.”
He holds something up.
A patch.
Black.
Marked.
Not random.
Not generic.
Recognizable.
Too recognizable.
I take it.
Turn it over.
And everything inside me goes still.
Because I’ve seen this before.
Not here.
Not recently.
But enough to know—
This isn’t just another crew.
This is bigger.
Way bigger.
Behind me, the CIA agent steps closer.
Sees it.
And for the first time—
For the first time since they walked into the Tavern—
He reacts.
“You’ve got to be kidding me…” he mutters.
I don’t look at him.
Don’t need to.
Because now I know.
This isn’t just a trafficking ring.
This isn’t just corruption.
This is something else entirely.
Something buried deeper.
Something even they didn’t expect.
I tighten my grip on the patch.
Then look back at Aspen.
She’s watching me.
Waiting.
Trusting.
And I realize—
This just got worse.
A lot worse.
Because whoever came after us?
They’re not just trying to protect a secret.
They are the secret.
And now?
Now we’re standing right in the middle of it.