Chapter 18 - The Shadow Operative
The pungent smell of burning rubber and cordite filled the air as I rolled behind a heavy steel lathe, keeping my weapon raised toward the entrance where the masked shooter stood silhouetted against the moonlight.
Marcus was already out the door, his truck engine roaring to life outside as he tore down the gravel logging road.
"Ethan, report! What's happening?" Caleb shouted through the comms.
"Third party! Rogue operative in the shed!" I yelled back, keeping my eyes fixed on the figure in the doorway.
The masked shooter didn't fire again. Instead, she lowered the barrel of her carbine, reached up slowly with one gloved hand, and pulled off her balaclava.
In the dim moonlight filtering through the shattered windows, my breath caught in my throat.
It wasn't a stranger. It was Agent Sarah Lin—the lead tactical liaison from the San Diego federal field office whom Miller had supposedly suspended weeks ago for "insubordination."
"Agent Lin?" I lowered my pistol slightly, my mind racing. "What are you doing here?"
"Saving your life, Reynolds," she said, her voice sharp and breathless as she kept scanning the tree line outside. "Miller’s arrest was just the tip of the iceberg. The syndicate had moles inside the Justice Department who weren't even on our radar. Marcus Vance wasn't running a rogue op—he was the extraction team for the high-level files."
"Did he get away?" I asked, pushing myself up from the concrete.
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"He thinks he did," Lin said, a grim smile touching her lips. "Before I dropped that halogen light, my tech dropped a high-frequency micro-tracker onto the rear bumper of his truck. He’s leading us straight to the inner circle's underground bunker."
I stared at her for a moment, weighing the risk. Then, I nodded. "Let's ride."
