From the building behind the bunker came the crash of something heavy hitting the door, then another, louder.
The Brotherhood.
They were still trapped, for now, but maybe not for long.
Avery started to move before she even thought about it, pushing up from the ground.
Jackson’s hand shot out and grabbed her vest, yanking her back down into the mud. “Don’t,” he hissed, eyes locked on the clearing.
Through the rain and the low fog, she saw Isla slip around the back of the bunker. Isla moved silent, fast, hugging the wall as she disappeared from sight.
Noah’s voice came through her earpiece, “We need a distraction.” He glanced toward Jackson. “Keep your eye on Darian. If he moves, you drop him.”
Jackson gave a short nod, weapon trained on the man still lying in the mud a few feet away.
Then Noah straightened, raising his voice just enough to carry through the clearing. “Hey! Over here!” he shouted. “You want to trade, you get me. Let the hostage go!”
“No,” Riley cried, sobs breaking through her words. “He says—he says only Avery. If it’s anyone else, Megan and I die.”
Avery’s stomach dropped. Her name again. They knew exactly who they wanted.
Jackson’s hand tightened on her shoulder, holding her down. She felt the tremor of his restraint. He was ready to move, ready to kill, but not yet.
Rain streamed off their helmets, the forest breathing around them in heavy, wet silence. The air smelled like metal and gunpowder.
Riley’s voice cracked again, high and desperate. “He says he means it.”
Avery’s chest constricted. The sound of that young woman’s fear hit her harder than any bullet could.
Noah crouched lower, his voice tight in the comm. “Hold your positions. Nobody moves until we have a clean line.”
Avery forced herself to stay still, though every nerve in her body screamed to run to that slab. The man’s arm was lockedtight around Riley, the muzzle of his gun pressed against her ribs.
There was movement by the bunker, and the slab opened.
Avery caught it first, two figures breaking from the shadows. Megan and Isla. They were running, hunched low, splashing through the mud toward the tree line. Isla had one hand pressed to Megan’s shoulder, guiding her fast and hard.
“Go,” Avery whispered.
They disappeared into the brush, Isla’s dark shape vanishing last. She’d done it. She’d gotten Megan free.
Noah saw it too. He didn’t let his voice waver. “You want a trade?” he called out to the kidnapper. “You’ll get it. You’re getting the head of Crossfire Ops. You’re getting me.”
The masked man didn’t move. He still had Riley, his arm locked around her, gun pressed tight against her ribs.
The noise from the building behind the bunker grew louder, metal slamming, men shouting over one another. Avery’s pulse pounded in her ears. Any second, they’d break through that door.
Then a sharp burst of light flared from the ridge.
The flashbang went off.
The blast rolled through the clearing, echoing off the limestone and the trees. The shockwave slammed through the air, rain scattering in a blinding sheet.
Avery’s vision went white, her ears filled with a roar so loud it felt like it was inside her skull. The air itself seemed to punch her, hard and flat, stealing her breath. For a second she couldn’t see, couldn’t hear, only feel the ground trembling beneath her palms.
Then shapes started to bleed back through the haze. The masked man had turned, looking over his shoulder toward the explosion behind the bunker.
That was all Jackson needed.
