Chapter Nineteen
Night had fallen and everything was prepared.
It was time to face the mission ahead and I was feeling strangely ambivalent.
We were truly out of options here and knowing that death was a likely outcome whatever way we decided to play this was liberating.
I’d go into this just as I always did – with fiery determination and guns blazing.
All we could do at this point was hope for the best.
Having Aaron at my side was jarring, but in the best way.
All the work I had done for The Guild had been solitary – at least on the ground.
This was the first time since I’d left the military that I would be running into the fray beside a teammate and I’d forgotten how much I had missed the camaraderie.
There was something to be said for facing the threat of death together.
This mission would bond Aaron and I in a way it would be impossible to undo… Provided we survived, of course.
“Radio check.” Freddie’s voice came through the earpiece and I nodded.
“Got it.”
“Received.”
I glanced at Aaron, sat beside me at the edge of the bed. He fiddled with his earpiece, a new accessory provided by Freddie. It was nice to know he was being kept in the loop. We couldn’t afford any mistakes this time.
“Alright, good. Aquarius – I’ve pinged the building layout to your Infolink so you can refer back to it if you need to once you’re inside.”
I glanced at the screen, swiping gloved fingers over it as I brought up the floorplan of the Tren de Cobra headquarters.
Aaron and I had spent all day poring over it, making plans for how best to infiltrate.
We had no idea where Keller was inside and as such, we’d have to scour the place until we found him.
It was going to be a bloodbath. We had at least decided to go in at ground level – the building was three storeys, and we figured if we could clear the ground level first, we’d be able to contain those on higher storeys more easily.
It sounded good in theory, and theory was all we had to go on here.
“You’ve both got plenty of ammo, but if worst comes to worst, I’m sure you’ll find some weapons to commandeer inside,” Freddie said, fingers tapping on his keyboard.
“Stick together. I’ll keep an eye on the heat signatures to try and anticipate threats, but it’s not the clearest of images to decipher. ”
“That’s alright, Relay. This is a ‘shoot first, ask questions later’ sort of mission,” I replied, grinning at Aaron.
“That’s your favourite kind, is it not?” Freddie quipped.
“You know me so well.” I got to my feet, body buzzing with nerves and adrenaline already. “Is there anything else?”
“Just…” Freddie paused, turning in his chair to face me. “Be careful. Both of you.”
“Always.” I leant in and kissed him softly.
This goodbye was especially poignant. I’d said my farewells to Freddie like it was the last too many times to count, and yet for the first time I felt like this really might be it.
I supposed in this line of work, it was an inevitability, but the realisation of that was cold and difficult to swallow.
Once I had parted from Freddie, I made my way to Theo, kissing him in much the same fashion. When we parted, I grinned at him.
“Take care of him for me, yeah? If I don’t—”
“You will,” Theo interrupted me. “But yeah. You’ve got my word.”
“Good,” I sighed. I straightened up and turned to Aaron. “And you – are you ready for this?”
“No,” he replied, preparing to slide his head protection on. “But let’s do it.”
“I thought you’d never ask,” I purred, batting my eyelashes and earning myself an exasperated sigh.
Just before Aaron pushed his helmet on completely, I reached out and stilled his hands.
I leant in, turning my head and planting a soft kiss to his lips, almost hidden from view as they were.
To my surprise, Aaron returned my kiss with confidence, and I very nearly got too caught up in the moment.
“I’ve got your back,” he murmured as I pulled away, making my stomach turn over.
“Right back at ya.” I smiled. Before I could get too emotional, I snatched my helmet from the bed and fastened it in place. “It’s been real, boys. See you on the other side, hm?”
I strode to the door and tugged it open. “Relay? Kill the lights.”
“Got it.”
A second later, the power for the entire block went out, plunging the city into darkness.
We had to move and move quickly. Aaron and I darted out into the corridor, hurrying to the fire exit.
The door was supposed to be alarmed, but without electricity, it opened silently, and we made our way down the series of ladders to the ground below.
The sudden power outage had caused quite the stir amongst the few people that were still out and about at this time of night.
The faint warbling of sirens carried through the stillness.
Naturally, a large power cut would attract the authorities.
We had to be in and out before they arrived.
Relay was on the case, scrambling their radio signals and tech, but he wouldn’t be able to hold them off forever.
Moving like ghosts in our dark tactical gear, Aaron and I headed a few blocks over towards the Tren de Cobra headquarters.
As we arrived, three thugs had gathered beside the fire exit we had planned to use as our entrance.
They were muttering in Spanish, the glow of cigarettes the only source of light in the gloomy alleyway.
I snatched the large hunting knife from the holster strapped to my leg, a familiar laser focus overcoming me.
Three against one – I had certainly had worse odds.
Aaron and I had made the decision to delay the use of guns for as long as we could, keen not to advertise our arrival too soon. We strolled towards the men, keeping a leisurely pace until we were close enough to strike.
“?Qué estás haciendo aquí?” one of them shouted.
He was dead, throat slashed ear to ear by the time my earpiece translation caught up. “What are you doing here?”
I leapt at the second, wrapping around him like a snake, gloved palm pressed over his mouth.
I dragged him to the ground and as I plunged my knife into his chest, I spotted Aaron with his arm around the third’s neck.
He wasn’t as smooth as I was at taking down assailants, but what he lacked in subtlety, he made up for in strength.
By the time the man in my grip had fallen still and silent, Aaron had choked out the last of the men.
The fire exit we had planned to put a boot through was wedged open by a cardboard box and I found myself thankful for the stupidity of garden-variety thugs.
Aaron and I slipped through the entrance, pleased to see the whole building was still in complete darkness.
It would have been impossible to see without the night vision goggles and in the quiet, I heard the tech humming as it flickered to life.
“This way,” I whispered, motioning for Aaron to follow behind me.
As we got deeper into the heart of the building, voices could be heard. My translation software wasn’t able to pick up much, echoing and distorted as they were, but I could sense the confusion. They weren’t yet aware of our presence, but the sudden loss of power certainly had them on high alert.
“Incoming,” Freddie’s voice murmured softly. “Two to the left.”
Both Aaron and I flattened ourselves against the wall in unison, bodies tense as we prepared to fight.
Two on two – those were odds I’d never hesitate to take.
The men strode past us, not noticing us hidden away in the shadows.
They were in a rush, clearly heading to meet their friends who had been outside on a smoke break.
As soon as they’d passed us, Aaron and I moved in.
I kicked one of them in the back of the knee, sending him sprawling.
The other whipped around just in time to get clocked in the jaw by Aaron.
We leapt on top of our targets, knives flashing in the dim light as we both struck.
Before the men had even had a chance to yell out for help, Aaron and I had driven our blades into their chests.
Moments later, the men were still and silent in a steadily growing pool of blood.
“?Qué fue eso?” a voice yelled from further down the corridor.
“What was that?”
I rolled off my victim, springing into a low lunge. I snatched my knife from the thug’s chest, eyes pinned ahead through the darkness as heavy footfalls approached. It was more than two, that I was sure of.
“Five. Be careful,” Freddie said.
I glanced at Aaron. I couldn’t see his face, obscured as it was by his helmet, but he nodded.
He was ready. I gritted my teeth, coiled tight and prepared for what lay ahead.
No sooner had the group of men rounded the corner than I was up on my feet.
I sprinted towards them, pushing off the wall at the last moment, sending myself flying through the air.
I booted one in the face as I passed, gripping another by the neck with my thighs.
I used the force of my approach to flip him over and he hit the floor with a loud grunt.
My knife found his throat a second later.
Aaron was in the fray now, fighting off two men at once.
He had impressive hand-to-hand skills, I had to give him that.
I wasn’t sure if he’d be rusty after his time at MI6, but it appeared it was just like riding a bike.
He didn’t baulk, didn’t hesitate. Blood sprayed across the terrazzo flooring as he slashed his blade across one of the men’s throats.
My attention was immediately drawn by the man I had taken down with a foot to the face. Blood had spurted from his nose, twisted and broken from the impact as it now was. He lunged for me and I narrowly evaded him.
“Tu perra!” he snarled, swinging his fist at me.
“You bitch!”
“That’s no way to speak to a lady,” I growled breathlessly.