Page 103 of Playing with Fire

I forced myself to breathe, to think past the terror clouding my judgment. Every muscle in my body screamed to move, to run into that inferno, but I fought the impulse with what little rational thought remained. Xavier needed me functional, not hysterical.

"Listen," I said, deliberately lowering my voice, though my heart hammered so hard against my ribs I thought they might crack. "I'm not asking to run in guns blazing. But the comms blackout is the immediate problem. If I can get closer to the building, I might be able to identify the jamming frequency, create a workaround."

Reid's eyes narrowed, considering. "You're talking about approaching a building that's actively being consumed by military-grade incendiaries."

"I'm talking about giving Xavier a fighting chance," I corrected. "If he can hear us, we can guide him out. Give him extraction paths, warn him about structural weaknesses." I gestured to the equipment surrounding me. "I can do this, Commander. It's what Wattson trained me for after I joined the Dogs."

Something shifted in Reid's expression. Recognition of a fellow professional who knew his capabilities. The same look I'd seen during tense standoffs with rival crews when decisions came down to trust rather than rank. "Command is not going to like this."

"Then don't tell them until I've reestablished communications," I replied, sweat beading on my forehead despite the vehicle's climate control. I tasted salt on my upper lip, my body already preparing for what was to come. "Three minutes. That's all I need to get close enough to analyze the jamming pattern."

The commander's internal struggle played out across his face, duty warring with pragmatism. Finally, he gave a sharp nod. "Three minutes. You stay within sight of this vehicle at all times. First sign of structural collapse, you haul ass back here. Clear?"

"Crystal," I agreed, already grabbing the portable scanning equipment.

I was out of the vehicle before he could reconsider, the cool night air a shock against my face after the climate-controlled interior. The smell hit me immediately. Chemical accelerants, burning metal, and something else. Something that triggered a primal response hardwired into human DNA. The scent of large-scale destruction. Of death approaching on thermal currents.

The portable scanner felt reassuringly solid in my hands as I moved toward the building. I kept to the shadows, using the abandoned equipment surrounding the mill for cover. The heat of the growing inferno pressed against my face even from fifty yards away, a warning of what waited inside.

I activated the scanner, its display illuminating my face with ghostly blue light. The device's antenna extended automatically, sweeping through frequencies. The system wasn't unlike the combat simulations I'd designed for the Army before joining the Dogs. While I'd never seen active combat during my service, I'd built software that prepared others for battlefield communications and signal intelligence. My technical expertise from those days had proven valuable to the mercenary company after I left the military.

The scanner beeped softly as it identified the first jamming frequency. An ugly spike of interference centered around our primary communications channel. Clever. But not clever enough to account for someone with my specific training.

I adjusted the scanner's parameters, focusing on the harmonics of the interference pattern. Every jammer, no matter how sophisticated, left fingerprints in the electromagnetic spectrum. Identifying those fingerprints was the first step toward circumvention.

A second beep. Then a third. The scanner was mapping the full range of the jamming system, building a composite profile of its operation. Military grade, definitely. But with a distinctive modification that suggested civilian adaptation. Felix had repurposed military equipment rather than using it straight from the source.

"Come on," I muttered, watching the progress bar inch forward. "Give me something to work with."

The scanner chimed, its display flashing green as it completed its analysis. A frequency map appeared, showing the pattern of the jamming system. Three primary frequencies, each pulsing in a synchronized pattern that created an overlapping dead zone.

But between those pulses...

"There," I whispered, fingers flying over the scanner's interface, a surge of triumph cutting through my fear. "There's a microsecond gap in the pulse cycle. Barely long enough for a data packet, but it's there."

The code flowed from my fingers with practiced skill, muscle memory taking over where conscious thought faltered. This was my realm. The manipulation of signals, the bending of electromagnetic waves to my will. If Phoenix thought he could cut Xavier off from me with mere technology, he'd underestimated what I was willing to do to maintain that connection.

I reconfigured my comm unit, setting it to transmit exclusively during those minuscule windows of vulnerability. It wasn't a perfect solution. Communication would be fragmented, unreliable. But it might get through where our standard signals couldn't.

"Xavier," I spoke into the modified comm, keeping my voice low and steady despite the tremor I couldn't quite banish. "If you can hear me, this is Leo. The building is rigged with military-grade incendiaries. Do not engage directly. Find an exit route and respond if possible."

I waited, counting heartbeats, straining to hear anything through the static. One second. Two. Three.Please, any saint who's listening, let him answer.

Then, through the crackling interference, a voice. Fragmented. Distorted. But unmistakably Xavier's.

"Trapped. Fire. Everywhere." The words came through in broken bursts, barely intelligible through the static. "Felix. Gun."

My breath caught in my throat, a physical pain that made my eyes water. A desperate, animal sound escaped me. Half sob, half laugh. Xavier was alive. But from what little had come through, he was trapped and Felix was armed. The situation was even worse than I'd feared.

Heat flushed through my body, followed by a wave of cold that left me shivering despite the inferno burning yards away. In my mind, I saw Xavier as he'd been that morning, commanding and powerful even in moments of vulnerability. The words he'd whispered against my skin still echoed in my head: "I never believed in souls until I met you. Never thought I'd need anyone the way I need you."

I'd promised him I wouldn't try to save him. That I'd run if things went wrong. But we both knew that was a lie. Just as he couldn't stop hunting those who deserved punishment, I couldn't stop myself from walking through fire for him.

"Team One to Base," Lieutenant Dawson's voice crackled through the general channel from his position at the perimeter. "North entrance compromised. Fire spreading rapidly throughout the structure. Multiple explosions detected inside. Building integrity failing."

Reid's response was immediate. "Base to all teams, initiate emergency extraction protocols. Repeat: emergency extraction. All personnel fall back to a safe distance."

"No!" I shouted, switching channels, my voice breaking with desperation. "Xavier's still alive in there! We need to go in after him!"

---