Page 84 of Echos and Empires
The sea crashed rhythmically in the distance, but Liam’s mind was a storm of its own. It was strange not having Bash here, his usual presence a steadying force even when everything else went to hell. William couldn’t be their sharper set of eyes. And Chris—usually right in the middle of planning missions like this, keeping everyone sharp. They were needed elsewhere, but still. Would this small group be enough? Just him, Alex, and these security guards who lacked any real knowledge of military strikes.
We have to be.
He wouldn’t let Victor keep his control. Wouldn’t let the bastard keep Emma like she was some prize to be claimed or harm their babies. They’d strike tonight and finally end this game. Liam ran a hand through his hair, damp from sweat and the dampness in the air, and looked over at Alex.
“Quite the dream team we’ve got here,” Alex said with that signature smirk, but his eyes were deadly serious.
“If they can follow orders,” Liam replied. His voice was firmer than he felt.
The wind picked up, and the makeshift camp seemed to breathe with collective anticipation. Liam looked at each face to see much of the same expressions—hard-set jaws, eager eyes. He thought of how Victor always seemed two steps ahead, the memory of their past failures biting at his heels like angry dogs. His jaw clenched. They couldn’t lose this time.
“Listen up,” he called, and the group shifted, forming a loose circle around him. The six recruits stood slightly apart from Alex, who was now crouching, mapping something in the dirt with his finger. “We’re going in hot and fast. This isn’t a job for glory. It’s in and out. Clear?”
The leader of the island’s smallest security detail, Van, nodded sharply. “In and out. We got it. I know you think all we do is patrol for unlocked doors in my group, but I swear to you, we’v got this”
Liam’s glasses slipped down his nose, and he pushed them back with an impatient hand. “I understand. Victor’s likely expecting us,” he said, letting that sink in. “But that doesn’t mean he’ll think we’re stupid enough to enter his home.” A grin formed over his lips. “But he hasn’t worked against special ops before. We’re going to make sure he doesn’t know when or where we’re coming from. That means no screw-ups.”
A brief silence fell over the group. The sound of waves, distant and relentless, filled the space. Each man carried a weapon, but it was the knowledge that they might not come back that truly armed them. Liam felt it—the understanding that this mission demanded more than skill. It demanded everything.
“Ready to roll?” Alex asked, glancing up from his dirt-sketched plan. His casual tone was a thin veneer over the urgency they all felt.
“Breach the outer defenses, disable the security systems, extract Victor,” Liam said, as if repeating it could make it that simple. “As soon as we’re inside, we move like we’ve got nothing to lose.”
“Except our lives,” Alex added, the usual quirk of a joke not funny.
“Details.” Liam’s smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’ll take point. You keep them in line.”
Alex nodded, his expression sharpening. “If they mess up, they answer to me.”
“Hey,” Liam said, his voice dropping. “We pull this off, you get first crack at gloating.”
Alex chuckled. “You sure know how to motivate a guy.”
“Let’s go,” Liam said, his voice carrying over the sound of the surf.
They moved out, shadows in the dying light. Each step was a beat in the countdown to Victor, to either victory or loss. Liam felt the weight of the mission bearing down, but with it came a cold, hard clarity. He’d trained for this, lived for it. They all had. This time, he wouldn’t let anyone down.
The perimeterof the mansion-like house so far from the main section of the island rose like a medieval giant from the jungle, cameras dotting its face like eyes hungry for movement. He’d seen the house on their second day and had been told the benefactor of the island lived there. If only he’d known then the benefactor hadn’t set it up after the bombs he could’ve taken it down then and there.
Liam’s heart drummed with the urgency of each passing second. Alex crept forward with the grace of a prowling beast, a bag of tricks slung over his shoulder before setting the small device, stolen before the left the US compound months ago, along the fence line.
The explosion was a secret, told only to those close enough to hear its breath, and then they were inside, moving throughthe hole in the chain-link fence that would—sooner or later—be discovered by the guards.
“Move,” Liam’s voice cracked like a whip, echoing the adrenaline that surged through them all as they cut a silent path toward Victor’s inner sanctum.
Liam stayed low, gesturing the team through the breach. Their movements were a dance of shadows against the artificial light, each step measured and silent. The gaping hole in the steel wall loomed behind them, a reminder of both their entry and the risks they took.
“Keep it tight,” Liam whispered, the words barely more than a breath.
The men spread out, each taking a position as they moved quickly but cautiously across the open ground. Cameras swiveled, blind and oblivious, thanks to their last-minute sabotage.
“Clear left,” a voice came through Liam’s headset, tense and sharp.
They advanced, melting into the darkness like they’d been born of it. Liam was at the point, leading them deeper into the belly of the beast. His pulse thrummed with the immediacy of the moment, the knowledge that each second counted, that any mistake would cost them more than they could afford.
The house unfolded before them, an alien landscape of steel and concrete. Liam’s breath was a steady rhythm, his focus razor-sharp. Every corner they turned felt like it might be their last, but he refused to slow down. This was their chance, the one they couldn’t let slip away.
They passed rows of silent structures, the high-tech walls whispering of Victor’s hubris. Liam’s eyes were everywhere, catching every flicker of movement, every anomaly. He pushed the team forward with a silent urgency, a conductor orchestrating the notes of their quiet invasion.
