Page 56 of Smoke and Shadows

“We don’t know, Agent Pierce, we’re investigating.”

Maia hung up and looked at Marissa. “I have a bad feeling about this.”

The words barely left her mouth when the headquarter alarm went off. The red lamps stationed throughout the building started flashing.

Maia called Tim. Marissa watched the redhead’s jaw get tighter and tighter as she waited for the analyst to pick up. When she finally got through, she could hear Tim Burns’s voice yelling through the intercom though she couldn’t make out the words.

Maia slammed the receiver down, drew her 9mm from her shoulder holster, and racked the slide. Levelling her eyes at Marissa, she said, “We have a breach.”

Viktor ledthe other three men out of the meeting hall, guns drawn, stealthily walking along the wall. Moving closer to the rotunda, he watched one of the guards get struck down by a bullet. A masked assailant kicked the guard over, preparing to deliver the kill shot.

“Hey!” Viktor shouted. The assailant looked up, raising his assault rifle, but he was too late because Viktor immediately shot him between the eyes.

“Clear, right!” Derek shouted.

“Clear, left!” Nathan added.

Jack took charge of the rear.

The four of them moved as a unit, guarding all sides.

Six gunmen charged into the rotunda, which indicated only one thing, building security had been overwhelmed. They needed those assault rifles.

Viktor acted on instinct. Picking up speed, he ran straight for the six gunmen, shooting one down before he dropped to his knees and slid forward. Slamming into one of them and grabbing the assault rifle, he used the barrel jacket to crack against the face of the attacker. Shots were exchanged behind him.

By the time he swung the rifle around, there was one gunman remaining and without hesitation, Viktor squeezed the trigger and brought him down as well.

Shouting from the entrance heralded three more terrorists rushing in. Shifting to one knee and bracing with a leg cocked in front of him, Viktor shouldered the assault rifle and picked one off before they came upon him. Standing up, he held the rifle with both hands and swung the butt out, striking a man down. He turned as his elbow connected with the cheek of another. It was close-quarters combat time.

“I got this!” Viktor shouted as he jabbed his fist into the first guy’s gut before finishing him off by bouncing the man’sforehead on his knee. The second attacker came at him with a knife. Viktor skipped backward and concaving his torso to avoid the slash of the knife, he grabbed the guy’s hand that was holding the knife and twisted his arm. The man’s scream of pain was cut short when Viktor rammed his elbow into the man’s face. Viktor heard the nasal cartilage break before blood spurted out the other man’s nose. Picking up the knife, Viktor swung it out and severed the man’s carotid artery.

Grabbing the fallen assault rifle, Viktor took position behind the wrecked revolving door—a casualty of the RPG. Jack was on the other side busy firing rounds into the open.

“You’re crazy, you know that right?” Jack yelled at him with a smirk on his face.

Viktor grinned. “Yeah, I know.” He looked around for Derek and Nathan and spotted them by the broken Cathedral windows.

He pressed his earpiece to resume communication with Tim. “Tim, do you copy? I need updated shooter formation.”

No response.

“Burns!” Viktor barked through the mic.

“I’m afraid Mr. Burns is not available right now.” A faintly familiar voice turned his blood to ice.

“Who the fuck is this?” Viktor demanded as his brain processed the man’s accent.

“I’m what you call your worst nightmare, Mr. Baran.”

“Shadid?”

“Very good, Mr. Ba—”

“I have no time for your bullshit. What do you want?”

“The codes.”

“You’ve lost your mind if you think I’d give them to you.”

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