Page 10 of Damián

“Alexios, how’s the hostage?” Logan asks, motioning for Björn to move up.

“Still alive, boss.”

“Good. We’re breaching in twenty seconds.”

Björn grins. He takes out the olive det cord and holds it in place with thick duct tape, curling it over the metallic door like he’s decorating a Christmas tree.

Logan turns to me. “What does Harry want from us?”

“Elijah is hosting a masquerade gala in two weeks.” I read the rest of Harry’s note while Björn finishes his art piece. “It says here the CIA wants us to infiltrate, find the informant, hand off the secure phone, and leave before anyone kills us.”

“Nothing else?”

“Nothing. The mission ends there, jefe.”

“Count me in, Dami!” Björn steps back, scratching his thick beard while admiring his handiwork.

“Why does the CIA need our help with this? Why not ask the FBI or the other agencies?” Knox asks.

“Looks like Elijah has someone in the FBI or the DEA,” I say, wiping sweat from my forehead. “The CIA needs a team that’s unknown to the agencies while still trained and capable of reacting if something happens.”

“Ten seconds,” Björn says as he connects the wire to the clacker, and we all take cover and reload our weapons.

Logan looks at us. “Well, Björn is in without considering the risk… predictably. But for the rest of you, take a moment to think about it. Elijah West is different from any mission we’ve taken. If we do this, there is a high probability that many of us won’t come back. So… who is in?”

The vibe is so damn intense… I mean, we all know his stories and his reputation.

He is a fucking monster.

We know the damn body count; we know that going after him is essentially signing our own death warrants.

“Still in, boss,” Björn says, thumb hovering over the button.

“I’m also in, jefe.”

“No one has been this close to getting him,” Law says over the comms. “We might as well bloody do it.”

“Ja, count me in, too,” Leif adds.

“I’m in,” Alexios confirms.

“In,” says Tae over the comms.

Logan’s gray eyes lock with Knox’s, and he shrugs his shoulders, which for him counts as a yes.

“Two seconds!” says Björn, way too excited over exploding a door.

Logan turns his back to the door, taking cover behind a pillar. “Tell Harry we are in. Set a briefing meeting at the headquarters before the party.”

“Detonaaaaaating!” Björn sings.

BOOM!

The door explodes, splintering wood and twisting metal fly into the room like shrapnel, and before the dust settles, we all enter the room.

“Left is clear!” I shout after firing two shots into the knee of a guard trying to scramble for a shotgun.

He goes down screaming.