Chapter Eleven: The Kill Shot
The breach took three seconds.
Leon’s team flowed through the back door like water through a crack. Silent. Deadly.
The first guard in the kitchen died before he hit the floor.
The second managed to fire one shot before Marcus put him down.
The sound echoed through the house.
Alarms blared.
“We’re compromised,” Marcus said. “Move faster.”
Leon sprinted toward the basement stairs, Arya close behind him.
Two guards waited at the bottom.
Leon took the first one with a headshot before the man could raise his weapon.
Arya dropped the second with a taser to the neck.
Leon looked at her, surprised.
“Michael taught me,” she said. “He said a woman alone should always know how to defend herself.”
They moved through the basement corridor.
At the end, a steel door.
“Konstantin!” Leon shouted. “Open the door. Make this easy.”
Silence.
Then a voice, calm and amused.
“Leon Martinez. I was wondering when you’d arrive.”
“Open the door.”
“I don’t think I will. You see, this door is rated for explosive breaches. It will take your men at least an hour to get through it.”
“By then, the police will be here.”
“The police work for me, boy. Haven’t you figured that out yet?”
Leon looked at Arya.
She was already studying the doorframe, the walls, the ceiling.
“Ventilation shaft,” she whispered. “Above the guard station. It leads to the other side.”
“How do you know?”
“Because every bunker has to breathe. And that’s the only air intake on this side.”
Leon looked up.
The shaft was small. Too small for him.
But not for Arya.
“I’ll go,” she said.
“No.”
“It’s the only way.”
“Then we find another way.”
“There is no other way. Every minute we wait, he’s destroying evidence. Making calls. Sending messages.” Arya grabbed Leon’s arm. “This is why you brought me. Because I see things you don’t. Now trust me.”
Leon stared at her.
His jaw was tight, his eyes burning.
“If anything happens to you—”
“Then Sophia gets another guardian angel.” Arya smiled grimly. “Now boost me up.”
Marcus lifted her into the shaft.
She crawled through the darkness, her elbows scraping against metal, her breath coming in short gasps.
The shaft opened into a storage closet.
She dropped silently to the floor.
Through the door, she could hear voices.
Konstantin Kravik was on the phone.
“…no, you listen to me. I don’t care how many men he has. I want Martinez dead. Tonight. Do you understand?”
Arya pulled out her gun.
She’d never fired it at a person before.
Her hands were steady.
She kicked open the door.
