Page 38 of The Player

“They’re coming,” Seth said, his voice tight with urgency. “We need to move, now.”

The helicopter descended, its lights cutting through the darkness as it landed on the edge of the airstrip. The side door slid open, revealing the silhouette of Wyatt inside, motioning for them to hurry.

But as they rushed toward the helicopter, the night erupted in chaos. Headlights flared in the distance, and the roar of engines grew louder, closer. The cartel had found them.

“Go, go, go!” Seth yelled, pushing Hope and the woman toward the helicopter as gunfire erupted around them. The sound of bullets hitting the tarmac was deafening, the air filled with the acrid scent of gunpowder and fear.

Hope barely had time to react as she scrambled into the helicopter, pulling the woman with her. Seth was right behind them, his gun blazing as he provided cover for Nigel, who was the last to climb aboard.

“Get us out of here!” Seth yelled to Wyatt, who was already putting the helicopter into the air. The chopper lifted off, but the cartel wasn’t done with them. More vehicles raced onto the airstrip, and more gunfire peppered the night as the chopper rose.

“Hold on!” Wyatt shouted from the cockpit as he maneuvered the helicopter away from the airstrip, but Seth’s attention was locked on the ground below. Through the chaos, his sharp eyes caught sight of something that made his blood run cold.

Nero Valente.

The cartel leader was there, standing by one of the vehicles, barking orders at his men. It was a sight Seth hadn’t expected, but it was also an opportunity he couldn’t ignore.

“Drop me off!” Seth commanded, his voice cutting through the noise.

“What?” Hope gasped, her heart lurching as she realized what he was saying. “Seth, no!”

“I have to, Hope!” Seth insisted, his eyes blazing with determination. “Valente is down there. We can’t let him get away. We need him if we have any hope of stopping the Cobra.”

“No!” Hope’s voice was filled with fear and desperation as she grabbed his arm, trying to pull him back. “We’ll figure it out later, but not like this. Please, Seth!”

But Seth’s mind was made up. He leaned in close, his lips brushing her ear as he spoke urgently. “I’ll be back, baby. I promise. Just trust me.”

Hope’s heart broke as she looked into his eyes, knowing there was nothing she could say to change his mind. “I love you,” she whispered, her voice choked with emotion.

“I love you, too,” Seth replied, his voice soft but firm. Then he turned to Wyatt. “Now!”

Wyatt hesitated for only a moment before lowering the helicopter back toward the ground. The moment the chopper was low enough, Seth jumped, landing in a crouch in the shadows. Hope watched in horror as the helicopter began to ascend again, leaving Seth behind.

“Seth!” she screamed, but it was too late. The chopper lifted off, the distance between them growing with every second.

The gunfire intensified as the cartel thugs realized what had happened. Bullets slammed into the side of the helicopter, making it shudder in the air. Hope’s heart pounded in her chest as she watched Seth disappear into the darkness, using the shadows for cover as he moved toward Valente.

“Wyatt, turn around!” Hope pleaded; her voice filled with panic. “We can’t leave him!”

“We don’t have a choice,” Wyatt replied grimly, his hands steady on the controls. “If we stay, we’ll all be killed. Seth knows what he’s doing.”

Hope felt tears sting her eyes as she clung to the edge of the helicopter, her gaze locked on the ground below. She could barely make out Seth’s figure, moving like a wraith through the chaos. The helicopter was climbing higher, pulling them away from the danger, but every second that passed without seeing him again felt like an eternity, a knife twisting deeper into her heart.

The helicopter continued to ascend, the noise of the gunfire fading as they gained altitude. But the battle below was far from over, and the implications of Seth’s decision weighed heavily on Hope. They had completed the mission—or at least part of it—but the cost was still unknown. They had left Valente behind, but they had saved a life.

Hope’s mind screamed in protest, but she knew Wyatt was right. Seth had made his choice—one that left her heart in tatters. The helicopter climbed higher, pulling them away from the immediate danger, but every fiber of Hope’s being screamed to go back, to fight, to get Seth out of there.

But as the helicopter gained altitude, the realization sank in like a cold knife in her heart. Seth was on his own now. And she could only pray that he would make it back to her alive.

CHAPTER 17

SETH

The night had swallowed Seth whole as he moved silently through the darkness, his every sense honed to a lethal edge. The helicopter’s noise had long faded into the distance, leaving behind only the soft rustle of the wind through the tall grass and the distant hum of engines. Seth crouched low, blending into the shadows, his eyes locked on the figures moving near the vehicles at the edge of the field. Nero Valente was among them, issuing orders with the commanding presence of a man who had never known fear.

But tonight, that was going to change.

Seth’s pulse was steady, his breathing controlled, every muscle in his body coiled and ready. He had done this countless times before—moving like a ghost through enemy territory, striking without warning, disappearing before his target even realized he was there. But tonight, the stakes were higher. He wasn’t just here to take out Valente. In fact, if at all possible, he wanted Valente alive. Seth was here to finish the op, to end the threat that the Obsidian Cartel posed to countless innocent lives.

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