Page 52 of The Fixer

As if on cue, the lead vehicle suddenly veered off, disappearing down a side street. Jake’s instincts flared. “Reyna, you see that?”

“Yeah,” Reyna replied over the comms. “They’re splitting up. What’s the play?”

Jake hesitated for a fraction of a second before making the call. “We stick with the second vehicle. It’s headed towards the facility. Lang’s people wouldn’t risk splitting up unless it was to protect something important.”

But as they rounded a corner, the trap sprang. A third vehicle barreled out of an alley, slamming into their side. The SUV skidded, the tires screeching as Jake fought to keep control.

“Ambush!” Reyna’s voice crackled through the comms.

Gunfire erupted, shattering the windshield and forcing Jake to duck. “Lyndsey, down!” he barked, his Glock already in hand.

Lyndsey scrambled into the footwell, clutching her laptop to her chest as bullets ricocheted off the reinforced SUV. Jake leaned out of the window, returning fire with deadly precision. Reyna’s voice crackled again through the comms.

“Two more incoming!”

Jake’s heart pounded, but his focus remained razor-sharp. “Reyna, flank them. Lyndsey, stay put. Don’t move.”

The firefight was chaotic—filled with the roar of engines and the crack of gunfire. Jake moved with practiced efficiency, his every shot calculated. Reyna’s rifle rang out from a distance, her cover fire taking out one of the approaching vehicles.

“Clear on my side!” Reyna called.

Jake fired one final shot, dropping the last of their attackers. The silence that followed was deafening, broken only by the sound of Lyndsey’s ragged breathing as she emerged from the footwell.

“You okay?” Jake asked, his voice rough.

She nodded, her eyes wide but steady. “Yeah. I’m fine. You?”

“Always,” he said, his lips twitching into a faint, humorless smile.

Reyna jogged over, her rifle slung over her shoulder. “Well, that was fun. Lang’s getting desperate.”

Jake’s gaze darkened. “Desperate means dangerous. Let’s get back to Cerberus.”

As the team returned to Cerberus, Jake couldn’t shake the nagging sense that they were being watched. Lang’s network was vast, and his reach extended farther than they’d anticipated.

Back in the conference room, Lyndsey was reviewing the latest intel when her laptop pinged with an incoming message. Her brows furrowed as she opened it, her breath catching as she read the contents.

“Jake,” she said, her voice trembling.

He crossed the room in an instant, his hand resting on her shoulder as he read. The message was simple, chilling in its precision:

You’re closer than you think. But you won’t survive the endgame.

Jake’s jaw tightened, his mind already racing. Lang wasn’t just reacting—he was planning. And the final confrontation was coming faster than any of them had anticipated.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

LYNDSEY

The hum of Cerberus headquarters buzzed in the background, but inside the quiet haven of the safe room, the chaos of the outside world felt miles away. Lyndsey leaned against the armrest of the couch, her legs tucked beneath her as her laptop hummed on the table in front of her. Jake stood near the window, his broad frame outlined by the faint glow of the city lights beyond the bulletproof glass.

The strain of the day hung between them. Lyndsey shut her laptop, the clack of the lid breaking the silence. “You’re awfully quiet,” she said, her voice soft, almost tentative.

Jake glanced over his shoulder, his eyes meeting hers. “Just thinking.”

“About what?”

He turned fully, crossing the room to sit beside her. The couch dipped under his weight, and Lyndsey felt his warmth as he rested his forearms on his knees. “A lot of things. The op. Lang. You.”

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