“You sure it’s still accessible?” Lochlan asks.
“I am sure of nothing,” the ex-Bratva soldier answers in his thick, slow accent. “But it is our best chance.”
Good enough for me.
“Alright,” I say. “The goal’s going sight unseen. Keep things stealth unless our hand’s forced.”
We give it another second, then we flit toward the wall, moving quickly and quietly and keeping low to the ground.
All I can think about is Jhene, somewhere inside these walls, waiting for a rescue she probably believes won’t come.
But itwillcome.
I’ll tear this whole fucking place apart brick by brick if I have to.
As we approach the grate, I catch movement in my peripheral vision.
A figure, barely visible in the shadows along the eastside of the estate. Tall and lean, dressed in all black, with long dark hair that shines in the moonlight.
Could it be The Deathless? Would the fucker be tailing us as we breech his boss’s property?
My hand gravitates to the gun at my hip, readying myself to go back on my word.
So much for keeping things low key. Going sight unseen.
…but then it occurs to me the figure’s headed in the opposite direction as we are. If it were the Russian assassin, why would he be moving away from us rather than toward us?
There’s no time to focus on finding answers to these questions, though.
Not in the middle of a rescue mission, right as we’re breeching the property.
I follow the other two the rest of the way toward the drainage grate. Aleksei pries it open with a grunt of effort, revealing a dank, dark passage that smells about as appetizing as any sewer in the city.
“Stay close,” he mutters. “And try not to die.”
“Inspiring words,” I say, dropping into the darkness after him.
Lochlan follows, pulling the grate shut behind us, darkness engulfing us from all angles.
We’ve officially crossed over onto the property.
Now we just have to find Jhene and make it out alive…
We move single file down the cramped passage, Aleksei in the lead and Lochlan at the rear. The only light comes from the small flashlight Aleksei’s brought along, a narrow beam piercing the darkness.
Nobody speaks. There’s nothing to say.
After what feels like a lifetime, the passage opens into autility room cluttered with pipes and electrical panels and the low hum of machinery.
Aleksei kills the flashlight and holds up a fist, signaling us to stop.
“Main house is through that door,” he says, nodding toward a heavy steel door on the far side of the room. “From here, if we encounter anybody, we take them out before they can raise an alarm.”
“And if they do raise an alarm?” Lochlan presses.
Aleksei’s expression is grim. “Then we fight our way through.”
I check my gun, clicking open the chamber to make sure it’s full. “No more chitchatting. Let’s get this done.”
