Page 70 of Covert Vengeance

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Amber smirked to herself and watched on screen as the cameras planted in the back of the armored truck showed Yury swearing in Russian and English before shouting out orders to his men.

But her smugness vanished instantly when Yury leapt out—on the wrong side where Georgia couldn’t hit him—and one of the SUVs rammed the van from behind. Its tires spun, kicking up gravel as it inched the heavier vehicle forward with brute force.

“Georgia, you got a shot?” she asked.

“Negative. He’s hidden behind the armored truck. Standing by.”

The SUV stopped, reversed and angled itself to block the men. Almost as if they knew a sniper was watching nearby.

One of the men rushed for the manhole with a crowbar in his hand, all of them hidden from view except by one of the cameras installed in the back of the armored truck. “Shit, they’re already prying it open.” They hadn’t expected it to happen so soon. “Megan, you need to move your ass.”

“Ass moving,” her sister replied from somewhere beneath them. Ty was already on his way to rendezvous with her. They’d planted a cache of extra gear and weapons in the tunnel for them earlier, just in case, and thank God, because it looked like she might need them.

Amber tracked the beacon on the second screen showing her sister’s movement in the tunnel. Before she could say anything else, Jesse left his position by the door and hurried over to peer past her at the monitor. “How much lead-time does she have?” he asked.

Megan was past the third turn now, about halfway to the RV point. “Sixty seconds. Maybe a bit more.” Enough that she should be able to meet up with Tyler before enemy contact, but not that long considering the number of armed men hot on her tail.

A worried frown drew her eyebrows together as she typed something quickly and then reached up to tap her earpiece. “Megan, they’re going down the hole. They’ll be on the tunnel floor any second. I count six.” She squinted at the monitor. The camera angle gave her a shitty view of what was happening beyond the back of the truck. “No, make that seven.” And one of them was Stanislav, who thought Megan was her.

Cold spread in Amber’s gut, the sharp edge of fear lacing through her.

“Roger that.” Her sister’s voice was calm, the rapid treads in the background suggesting she was running.

“Ty, you copy?” Amber said, already on her feet. She had to stop this. Had to take Stanislav down before he reached Megan.

“Affirm.” His voice was clipped. Urgent, and she could only imagine how he felt right now. “Heading to RV point now.”

“Copy. We’re on our way from this end.” She and Jesse would go down and take out as many of Stanislav’s men as possible from their side.

“We’re on the move too,” Georgia reported. “We’ll cover Megan and Ty from the other side.”

“Roger that.” Amber quickly shut down Lady Ada, grabbed her weapon from the table and raced for the door.

Jesse barely caught her before she got there. “Whoa, no. I go first,” he told her, and she held up at the last second.

It was on the tip of her tongue to argue, but he was right. His role was to go first to clear any threats. Hers was to get to the manhole as fast as possible. She and Ty had to get down there and back up Megan immediately.

“I’ve got a problem down here.” Megan’s words froze her.

Her insides clenched at the edge to her sister’s voice. “Sitrep,” she demanded, already by the door.

“This section’s been sealed off, the hatch is shut. I’m at a dead end.”

What? Amber raced back to the desk to check the screen showing the sewer system. Had she missed something?

Everything showed green/open on her end, and it had been open when she’d checked it personally prior to the op. So what the hell had happened?

She opened Lady Ada again. “Stand by, I’m trying to open it now.” She raced to override the system and open the hatch.

Nothing happened.

Swearing under her breath, she tried again.

Nada.

“I can’t open it.” Fear for her sister forked through her. “Ty?” The beacon notating his position showed him close to the same hatch.

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