Page 37 of Hunted

Ethan wasted no time, jogging over to where our instructor stood by the door.

Blue team’s leader went with another approach: Sebastos motherfucking Varco waltzed over like he had all the time in the world, earning Pearce’s ire.

“Just for that, blue team, you get to go in the box first.”

Blue team groaned collectively, more than a few of them shooting dirty glares Seb’s way. ‘The box’ was a soundproof, windowless room in the far corner of the preparation space. It was designed so that whoever was second to run through the compound couldn’t do so at the advantage of having seen the first team’s run-through via the camera screens and speakers fixed to the wall either side of the entryway door.

Seb smirked, leading his team down to the back corner and shutting the door—but not before shooting me one last, lingering promise of violence in the form of a shark-toothed smile.

Keep smiling, buddy. The only one grinning by the end of the day will be me, when I gut⁠—

“Here’s our mark.” Eth waved a file in front of my face before flipping it open to reveal⁠—

Of fucking course.

That was why the behemoth was conveniently missing.

Our mark was Hunter fucking Beckett.

“Yikes,” Mercy muttered, grimacing.

I was inclined to agree.

“Got a plan, boss?” Dak asked, looking to Eth for answers.

Ethan’s face was uncharacteristically sombre. “Right, so we have no idea how they’ve set up the layout of the compound today, but we know that the big bastard is somewhere in the middle of it, waiting for us. We know that we have to capture—not kill—and I cannot stress that enough, Travers.”

Bodie scowled. “I might be big, but I’m not that stupid.”

“Sixty seconds, red team!” Pearce called.

Eth took a deep breath. “Fuck. Okay. We go in guns blazing. Addie and Dak first—they’re our best shots. Mercy and I will take up the rear, leaving Ace, Aidan, Cohen, and Bodie to fan out and take up watchdog positions. Use your comms. The codeword is beefcake if you lay eyes on the target. Then Ads and I will take him down. The rest of you will restrain and help drag him out, except Ads and Dak who’ll lay down cover fire in case they’ve got something else up their sleeve on the way out. Got it?”

“Got it,” we said in unison, grabbing a set of comms each from the supply table and stepping up to the door. I hated those things—those uncomfortable pieces of plastic that made you feel like your thoughts were never quite your own.

Pearce eyed me as I approached the entryway first, his lips popping open like he wanted to say something. In the end, all that spilled from them was a countdown: “Three, two, one, GO!”

And if I hadn’t been watching him that split-second longer than I ought to have been, I would have missed him mouth the word duck. I would have failed to react instantly, wouldn’t have even been given the opportunity to trust a man I’d had so little to do with, and I would have been shot in the helmet, given my stature.

As it was, I did react immediately, and Bodie, who was standing directly behind me, copped a round to the chestplate of his bulletproof vest.

“Ooof,” he groaned, stumbling backwards into Mercy.

I didn’t wait to see him fall, as much as I would have liked to. Instead, I snatched my Glock and returned fire, not giving a single fuck who was inside the building shooting live rounds at recruits. Down the first hallway, a body dropped at the end and my lip twitched with the ghost of a smile.

This was my purpose.

This was where I felt alive.

Dak and I entered the hallway at the same time, guns raised, eyes scanning every inch of every dark space. At the first doorway on the left, I swung around the frame, popping off two quick shots at the armed dummy in the corner. I heard Dak do the same at the door on the right, then we moved on down the hall.

Behind us, the rest of our team cleared both rooms, confirming no other hostiles were hiding out waiting for our backs to turn.

Ahead, where the first body fell, the hallway diverted into a T-shape, which completely screwed Ethan’s initial strategy.

“Plan, boss?” I murmured, knowing he was right behind me, watching my back like always.

“Split into two teams. We’ll go left. Dak, take your team right. Locate the big guy but do not engage unless you have to.”