Page 80 of Playing with Fire

Commander Reid and his team filed into the second vehicle, their movements displaying the synchronized precision of a unit that had operated together for years.

"Already handled," Leo replied, and I could hear the confident smile in his voice. "I'm bouncing through seventeen proxy servers and three different VPN networks. As far as anyone can tell, the access is coming from inside Burns Innovations' own network."

My lips curved into a small smile despite the tension of the moment. Leo's technical brilliance never failed to impress me, even now when it was causing him to take risks I'd prefer he avoid.

The convoy pulled out of the Sentinel's underground garage. As the compound disappeared behind us, there was a momentary tightness in my chest, awareness of the physical distance growing between Leo and me. I pushed the feeling aside, focusing on the mission parameters, the tactical approach, the contingency plans.

Phoenix thought he knew me, thought he could predict my movements based on studying my past. But he'd never seen me hunt alongside Algerone. He'd never faced the full resources of both the Laskin family and the Etremont dynasty aligned against a single target.

Tonight, that would change. Tonight, we'd find him. And once we did, I would make absolutely certain that Phoenix understood exactly who and what he'd challenged.

Xavier

TheWayneNationalForestswallowed sound. Every crunch of our boots on fallen leaves, every whispered command through the comm units—all of it seemed to disappear into the vast darkness between ancient oaks. Moonlight filtered through the canopy in broken shards, creating more shadows than illumination, which suited our purposes perfectly.

We had abandoned the vehicles three miles back, approaching the Burns Innovations compound on foot to minimize detection. Algerone moved ahead of me with disturbing silence, his tactical gear blending seamlessly with the night. For a man who spent most of his time in bespoke suits giving orders from behind mahogany desks, he navigated the rough terrain with the ease of someone who had done this many times before.

That shouldn't have surprised me. Algerone hadn't built his empire by delegating every dangerous task. Still, watching him move through the forest sent uncomfortable ripples of recognition through me. Like looking in a mirror and seeing your own movements reflected back with decades of refinement.

"Alpha team in position," Commander Reid's voice murmured through the comm. "Perimeter appears as expected. Standard motion sensors, infrared tripwires. Nothing we haven't bypassed before."

"Satellite shows minimal heat signatures," Leo reported, his voice a welcome anchor in my ear. "Just two guards at the north entrance, one at the south. Consistent with a skeleton crew for a server facility."

Algerone paused, lifting a gloved hand to signal me to stop. He scanned the tree line ahead, eyes narrowing as he consulted the topographical map on his tactical pad.

"Too easy," he muttered, so quietly I almost missed it.

"What?" I moved closer, keeping my voice equally low.

"Burns is military-trained with extensive cyber expertise," Algerone replied. "This level of protection is... inadequate for his profile."

I frowned, reviewing the intel. Standard perimeter sensors. Minimal personnel. No visible backup generators or redundant systems. None of the paranoid overkill I'd expect from someone who had spent years planning his revenge against me.

"Could be overconfidence," I suggested. "He doesn't know we connected him to Walsh yet."

Algerone's eyes met mine, skepticism evident even in the darkness. "People like Burns don't build successful operations on overconfidence."

"Xavier," Leo's voice came through the comm again, tension evident in his tone. "Something's weird with the data feed. The thermal imaging keeps... glitching. Just for microseconds, but it's there."

"Define 'glitching,'" I demanded, alarm bells ringing in my head.

"Like a video loop. Almost imperceptible unless you're specifically looking for it. But the pattern repeats every 13.4 seconds exactly."

I exchanged glances with Algerone, who had clearly heard the same report. "A looped feed," he said quietly. "Prerecorded thermal data being fed back into the satellite."

"Which means..."

"The entire security setup is a facade. Reid, full stop. Do not approach further."

"Copy that," Reid responded immediately. "Team holding position at the perimeter."

I activated my tactical display, running a frequency scan of the surrounding area. "Multiple signals. All encrypted. Far more than you'd need for a standard security system."

"Phase shift the scan," Algerone suggested, moving to my side to view the readings. "Try the military bandwidths."

I recalibrated as instructed. The display immediately lit up with dozens of additional signals, all pulsing beneath the standard frequencies we'd initially detected.

"Jesus," I muttered. "It's a goddamn Christmas tree out here."

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