"Kyle, we're headed to the boat. We've got Dame. We'll be waiting for everyone else to rendezvous."

When I hear Lacy's voice through the ear piece, my steps falter and my breath stutters.

They found him... fuck that was fast. The relief slams into me so hard I almost stumble.

Then resolve. Everything feels sharper and I move forward with renewed speed, heading toward where intel tells us the master bedroom suite is.

The one where we suspect Aire sleeps.

We had to attack tonight. Mel tried to fight it it saying it was too soon... but I told her either we all go or she gets left behind.

I refused to let Leo go through another live stream session with the sadistic fuck.

She finally caved, and it's good thing too... we knew without WKTA we may not succeed. We all brought different things to this plan, and losing any part of it would have made it hard as fuck to pull off.

Just getting around the alarm on one side of the property while setting it off on the other was a feat in and of itself.

The moment we made it inside the building I'd run off on my own solo mission - the hunt for Jason Aire. I wish I had more time with him... I want to draw it out, make him suffer. We don't have time for that though. I have to prioritize getting Leo out of here.

So a traditional execution will just have to do.

I follow the path I traced on the blue prints, moving as fast as I can without announcing to the world I'm here by making a racket. The moment I get to the room, I throw the door open and aim my gun at the bed.

The empty bed.

The sheets are a mess, so someone was definitely sleeping here tonight, but after I check the room I confirm it's now unoccupied.

Fuck!

I'd hoped the worthless excuse for a human being would have stayed safe in his own room while the others did his dirty work. He's a rich, entitled asshole... not one to join the fight. Where would he...

A memory surfaces of Leo's safe house... and the panic room.

I quickly re-sweep the room. Sure enough, I find a keypad behind a panel in the closet.

Jackpot.

Moving back into the bedroom, I search for any indication of what the code could be. I'm busy digging through the dresser drawers when I hear the click of a bullet being loaded into a chamber behind me.

"Who the fuck are you?" an annoyingly snively voice seethes behind me.

I have to fight not to break out in a huge fucking grin. I raise my hands as if I'm surrendering, turning slowly to face him.

Standing in front of me is the man from all the pictures I've glared at for the last four weeks. His hair is a mess and his pajama pants are crumpled.

It's clear he woke from sleep and dove immediately into his panic room like the coward his is.

"Who the fuck are you? Do you have any idea who I am?" he spits and I lower my hands halfway as if it's involuntary while I speak.

"I don't know who you are. I was hired, they didn't give me a name," just enough to make him not want to shoot me, but still piss him off so he'll make a mistake.

And he does... I love morons that talk with their hands.

"Who the fuck hired you?!" he screams, the gun jerking upward as he gestures wildly.

I move so fast I doubt he sees it.

I drop my hand, grab the grip of the gun Leo gave me, whip it out of the holster, and fire the loaded chamber straight into his head in a single, fluid movement while ducking down.

He fires his gun reflexively, but because he'd jerked his hand upwards as he talked the bullet hits up and to the side of me when I duck.

I straighten slowly and glare at his worthless face as the light leaves his eyes.

I walk over to his still form and place two more bullets in his heart.

Noticing his phone peeking out of his pocket, I snatch it up. Wasting no time, I rush back the way I came, swiping the keycard of one of the guards we'd killed on our way in, and take off toward the boat quickly.

I know Mel's distraction team is likely already evacuating. We'd expected the mission to take 10x as long because we thought we'd have to search for and find Leo. I have no idea how they found him so fast, but it almost meant I didn't have time to take Aire out.

I feel the smile start to tug at the corners of my mouth before I can stop it.

I'll have him in my arms before the sun comes up... before even 30 minutes has passed.

The realization has me pushing harder, moving from a jog to a run. I run with everything I have because I'll be damned if I wait another second longer than necessary to look into his eyes again.

I'm coming Leo.

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