Page 158 of Secret Weapon

“She was a bargaining chip.”

“She was baggage.”

And now she was safe.

The yacht began to increase its speed, putting distance between us and Hallie.The water might have been cold, but she was a good swimmer, and Emmy would be on her way in theBlack OpalorFeelin’ Nautior whatever the fuck it was called today.

“Are you joining us?”I asked the second minion.“Or do you prefer a rough ride?”

He scrambled on board, and I steeled myself for what was to come.Years had passed since I’d trained properly with Ana.Two decades ago, we’d been able to anticipate each other’s movements, to react as one, to read each other’s minds.But now?Now, there was enough room for error that a bead of sweat rolled down my spine.Three men, two of us, one chance.

“After you,” I said to Ilya, motioning toward the saloon.“Good luck explaining your screw-up.”

To your maker.

In person.

“No, after you.”

He used his semi-automatic to gesture me forward.I started up the stairs, hairs prickling on the back of my neck.Would he shoot me?If I made one wrong move, the answer was most definitely yes.

“Always so suspicious, Ilya.”

“Someone tipped off the cops.”

“And you think it was me?”

“You wouldn’t be here if my operation had succeeded.”

“No, I’d be back in DC, doing the job I was hired to do before your shit hit the fan.Don’t let your trigger finger slip.Anton’s in a foul enough mood already.”

“If you didn’t call the cops, then who did?”

“How the hell should I know?”

“They will regret it.They’ll be sorry they ever crossed me.”

It was the last promise he’d ever break.

I dropped to a crouch as Ana stepped out, twisting as I ducked.Ilya reacted in a heartbeat, tracking me with his gun, and a bullet whizzed past my ear and embedded itself in the deck.Close, but not close enough.He didn’t get a second chance.Ana’s first shot went straight through his medulla oblongata.I’d drawn the Makarov as I pivoted, sending silent thanks to General Zacharov for the hundreds of times he’d made me rehearse that move, for the endless drills he’d forced me through.You can always be faster, Nine.There’s no such thing as too much practice.As Ilya crumpled, I fired a round between the first minion’s eyes before he got his gun out of his holster, and the third died with a mask of horrified shock on his face and the bridge of his nose missing.

Ilya’s gun hit the deck with aclunk, followed by his body.Sightless eyes stared up at us.

“You’re still an arrogant fuck, Six.”

The endgame had taken less than ten seconds, quick and relatively clean.General Zacharov would have been so proud.

Ana came closer and stared down at Ilya before poking him with a foot.“And then there were three.”

The two of us plus Vik, somewhere.

“I only wish Rad was still here.”

Ana wrapped her arms around me, and I did the same to her, guns still in our hands, and then I kissed her hair the way I always used to when we were scared kids.

“We still make a good team,” she whispered.

“Da, I guess we do.”

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