Ambush

Cruz had every available agent mobilised within minutes, the facility's exits sealed, a tactical team dispatched to sweep the surrounding blocks.

By the time they reached the street where the footage had been recorded, the sedan was gone.

"They wanted us to see that," Reed said, scanning the empty pavement where Viper had stood. "This isn't reconnaissance. This is theatre."

"Theatre with a purpose," Cruz said. "They're establishing dominance before the real fight even starts."

Ethan stood at the centre of it all, adrenaline and exhaustion tangled together, watching agents comb through a scene that had already told them everything Viper intended it to. "So what do we do? Wait for the next warning?"

"No," Cruz said firmly. "We move first, for once. That convoy attack last night wasn't random. Meridian Defence Logistics has three more scheduled transports over the next week, all carrying pieces of the same experimental technology. If Shadow Protocol wants it badly enough to forge documents and attack federal convoys, we intercept the next shipment before they do."

"That's exactly what they'd expect," Noah said.

"Then we make sure it isn't what they get," Cruz replied. "Reed, pull the transport schedule. I want eyes on every route before tonight."

They regrouped at the command centre by mid-morning, exhaustion held at bay by adrenaline and strong coffee, poring over transport routes and satellite imagery until a plan began taking shape.

The next shipment was scheduled for that evening, moving experimental targeting systems from a secure facility in Queens toward a military installation upstate.

"If we split resources across two possible ambush points," Reed said, tracing routes across the holographic display, "we cover both likely interception zones without spreading ourselves too thin."

"Ethan and Noah take the primary convoy route," Cruz decided. "Reed and I take the secondary. Olivia and Sophia—"

"I haven't even met Sophia yet," Ethan interrupted.

"You will, the moment she arrives," Cruz said. "She's our best chance at tracking Shadow Protocol's digital footprint in real time tonight. Olivia stays here with her, monitoring communications."

Olivia's jaw tightened, clearly unhappy with the arrangement, but she didn't argue.

They moved into position just after sunset, Ethan and Noah stationed along an overpass overlooking the convoy's primary route, night vision equipment and comms checked twice over.

The convoy rolled into view precisely on schedule, three armoured vehicles moving in tight formation beneath the overpass lights.

"Too quiet," Noah murmured, scanning the surrounding rooftops. "They should have hit by now if they're coming."

"Maybe they're not coming this route."

"Maybe," Noah agreed, though his tone carried little conviction.

The convoy passed beneath them without incident, continuing along its route toward the highway on-ramp half a mile ahead. Ethan allowed himself one careful breath of relief—

—and then the world exploded.

The lead vehicle detonated in a violent orange burst, flame and twisted metal hurling outward across the road, the shockwave rattling the overpass beneath Ethan's feet. Gunfire erupted immediately after, muzzle flashes strobing from rooftops on both sides of the street.

"Ambush!" Noah shouted, already moving. "Wrong route, they hit the secondary convoy!"

Ethan's stomach dropped. "Reed and Cruz—"

"Are exactly where this attack is happening," Noah finished grimly, sprinting toward the stairwell. "Move!"

They raced down from the overpass as chaos consumed the street below, armoured vehicles disabled and burning, agents scrambling for cover as gunfire tore through the night.

Ethan spotted Reed pinned behind a shattered vehicle, returning fire toward a rooftop position, and Cruz further ahead, dragging a wounded agent toward cover.

"Cover me!" Ethan shouted, sprinting across open ground toward Reed's position as bullets sparked off pavement inches from his feet.

He slid into cover beside the detective, chest heaving. "You're hit."

"Graze," Reed said through gritted teeth, pressing a hand against his shoulder. "Where's Noah?"

"Flanking left." Ethan risked a glance over the vehicle's crumpled hood, spotting three shooters positioned along the rooftops, moving with the same brutal, coordinated precision he'd come to recognise as Shadow Protocol's signature.

A fourth figure emerged from the shadows near the convoy's wreckage, moving unhurried through the chaos, and Ethan's blood ran cold as he recognised the featureless mask immediately.

"Viper's here," he breathed.

"Then this was never about the convoy," Reed said grimly. "It was about drawing Cruz and me out into the open."

Cruz's voice crackled urgently through Ethan's earpiece. "Multiple hostiles converging on my position. I need immediate—"

The transmission cut off entirely, static hissing where her voice had been a half-second earlier.

"Cruz!" Ethan shouted into the comm, receiving nothing but silence in return. He turned toward Reed, dread coiling tight in his chest. "She's not responding."

Reed's expression hardened, pain forgotten entirely. "Then we move, now, before Shadow Protocol finishes what they came here to do."

They broke from cover together, sprinting through smoke and gunfire toward Cruz's last known position, and as they rounded a burning vehicle, Ethan's stomach dropped entirely.

Cruz lay motionless on the pavement, and standing over her, blade already drawn and gleaming in the firelight, Black Viper turned slowly to face them.

"Right on time," the modulated voice said. "I was starting to think you'd disappoint me."

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