Page 71 of Covert Vengeance

“I can’t get through.” His voice was heavy with frustration.

Jesus Christ.“Copy that. We’re on our way down.” Her system should have alerted her to any movement of the hatches. Dammit.

Another hacker. It was the only explanation. She could have hacked her way in and overridden the new coding her rival must have uploaded, but with Megan in immediate danger she didn’t have the time now.

She set up Lady Ada to keep trying the override, then hurried to meet Jesse at the door. He gave her a nod and took point as they exited the building and crept toward the armored truck, staying in the shadows created by the SUVs’ headlights.

It was up to them to save Megan. They had to get to her sister before Stanislav did.

Amber stayed in the shadows, a warning buzz filling the pit of her stomach. By her count there should be two men left out here, maybe one more.

The vehicles were blocking her line of sight. Georgia and Bautista were on the move and unable to provide eyes on target for them, and Trinity was at an offsite location on a different comms frequency to avoid confusion.

A shadow moved to the left of the truck. Amber ducked back behind cover and opened her mouth to warn Jesse but he was already taking cover around the side of the building when the first shots rang out.

Bits of concrete exploded off the façade. The angle would keep Jesse pinned for the moment at least, and they couldn’t afford to lose a second.

Weapon raised, she shot out from behind cover and raced toward the rear of the two SUVs to get a better angle. A man was crouched down near the far side of the hood, using the engine for cover.

He jerked around when he finally caught sight of her in his peripheral vision, but too late. Amber fired two shots as she moved, hitting him in the chest.

He grunted and dropped to his knees, but didn’t go down.

His arm started to rise. She fired again, this time hitting him in the head.

A shot pinged off metal. Someone returned fire, the muzzle flash giving the shooter’s position away. Amber angled toward him, using the back of the second SUV as cover.

Jesse had seen it too, because the moment the second shooter came into view, a single rifle shot rang out. The shooter fell and slumped on his side, his weapon tumbling onto the gravel.

Amber kept moving forward, looking for other targets as Jesse moved out from his concealed position to meet her. “Clear,” she murmured, controlling her breathing to slow her pulse.

The crowbar was lying on the ground near the first shooter. She grabbed it on the way past, approaching the manhole with caution while Jesse mirrored her position from the other side.

Her skin tightened, anticipating the moment when they pried the manhole cover aside. They had to be ready for anything.

She pulled out her tactical flashlight, aiming it at the cover while Jesse checked it for booby-traps. It drove her crazy to lose precious seconds, but they couldn’t help Megan if they got themselves killed by being stupid.

“There’s a wire,” he murmured.

Shit. Okay. One of them must have quickly rigged a grenade or a flashbang to the underside after going through. “What do you want to do?”

He raised his eyes to hers. “Trip it and get the hell out of the way.”

She nodded and handed him the crowbar. “All right.”Go. Hurry.

He put the end of it into the little hole in the steel cover, then glanced up. “Ready?”

“Yes. Do it.”

“Move back.”

She reached out a hand. “Give me your hand.” She’d fucking yank him out of harm’s way.

Their fingers locked around each other’s wrist. “Ready, then go.”

Another nod. Come on, come on, Megan needs us.

He crouched, ready to spring, and lifted the cover slightly. Amber hid a grimace and squeezed his wrist tight, her thigh muscles bunching in preparation for the moment she had to pull him out of range. If she got this wrong, they were both dead.

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