Page 145 of Nothing Special X: The Last Stand

Cassidy tilted his head. “Mara, Kellan.”

“Copy,” Mara replied.

“South wing agents, move to gate four and provide assistance,” God directed. “Bishop and Cruz, keep Starlight’s route locked. Nobody drift.”

Cassidy listened as the calls came back clean and fast, his rebuilt team shifting with disciplined efficiency.

He was waiting for the south wing to give the all-good sign when a black van slammed through the front barricade hard enough to fold the metal inward with a piercing scream.

The impact rolled across the lot as the few people mingling around shouted and ducked for cover.

The truck lurched over the broken barrier, clipped the security booth, and stopped at an angle with steam and smoke rushing from the crushed hood.

Cassidy moved before the driver’s door opened.

“Cover Starlight!”

The driver came out with a handgun and started firing into the scattering guards.

Three men went down near the barricade.

Screams detonated across the lot.

“Shots fired,” God barked over comms. “Active threat. North service gate. Weapons free on confirmed threat.”

Bishop and Cruz closed around Xander.

Three more of his guards swarmed in and covered Wyatt and the two actresses, moving them aggressively behind the wardrobe trailer.

Cassidy grabbed Xander by the back of his jacket. “Move.”

Xander’s face was pale, but his body obeyed. He ducked when Cassidy forced him down, stayed low as bullets cracked across the lot.

“Trailers,” Cassidy ordered.

Tech’s voice was elevated but clear. “Route Alpha compromised. Moving to hard cover. Slade, east side alternate.”

“Copy,” Slade answered.

“Cameras cycling. The driver seems to be knocked out, but I got two bogies moving west. Three more taking cover behind the northeast side of the building. Be advised, five suspects.”

Cassidy’s blood turned cold.

The crash was a distraction. The real attackers were making their way to the trailers while most of his agents had flocked to the South gates.

A second attacker in dark coveralls emerged from between two production trucks and fired towards them, making Bishop and Cruz duck for cover. A third cut along the trailer row with a duffle over one shoulder, moving low and fast.

“Third on trailer row,” Cassidy snapped. “Intercept.”

A round hit the side of the trailer ten feet ahead, punching into the metal with a flat, ugly crack.

Xander flinched.

Cassidy wrapped an arm over him and drove him forward. Pain blew hot through his shoulder, but he ignored it.

Steele came up from the blind side, silent and brutal, fired one clean shot, and the attacker folded beside the trailer. “Suspect down.”

They bypassed Xander’s trailer and went inside the one designated for wardrobe. Cruz yanked the door open.