Page 85 of Edge of Desperation

“We’ll keep an open mind,” General Parks commands. “If it turns out Lace is the one behind all this, I have no qualms with Aurora killing her.”

“No shit,” Carver says shocked. “I thought you were gonna kill us when you found out she went with us to kill Dmitri and Oleg.”

General Parks’ head snaps in my direction.

“Dammit, Carver,” I bite out. “Keep your fucking mouth shut.”

“How was I supposed to know you didn’t tell him tha?—”

I hang up on him.

“Something you forgot to mention, Rivers?” General Parks asks, his brow cocked.

I spend another ten minutes giving the general the cliff notes version of how Aurora killed Dmitri while I killed Oleg. I only leave out one detail because I’m not about to explain ‘fire in the hole’.

My phone pings, and I glance at the screen to see the red dot hovering in one location. “I think they’ve finally stopped moving. They’re at the Port of Baltimore.” I forward the location to Bennett and hit the accelerator. We’re only fifteen miles behind them.

Turning into the docks, we park our vehicles out of sight behind some storage containers. Everyone makes sure their guns are loaded, and we grab extra magazines.

Carver straps his knives to his thigh with a scowl on his face. “Aurora doesn’t have her duffel bag.”

“Duffel bag?” General Parks asks, perplexed.

“It’s got all her goodies in it for her extracurricular activities,” Carver explains. I smack the back of his head. “Ouch, what was that for?”

Dumbass!

I raise my brow at him. “Carry extra.”

Carver grins. “We do have Lykos, I guess.” He scratches the top of Lykos head.

“We go in hot,” General Parks orders. “Shoot to kill. We take Lace alive since we still don’t know if this is a setup or not, and I won’t have the blood of an innocent girl on my hands.”

“Oorah,” we say in unison.

Slowly, we ease our way toward Aurora’s cell. There’s a dark blue SUV parked in front of a warehouse with two guards on the ground and one on the roof. They’re heavily armed and looking for threats.

“Bennett, take the guy on the roof,” I order. “As soon as Bennett makes the shot, Thomas and Carver, take out the two on the ground.”

“You want to make that much noise?” the general asks.

“I’m hoping if we cause enough of a distraction out here, Aurora can do some damage inside,” I admit.

“Is she really that good?” he asks hopefully.

“Better than you can imagine,” I say with pride.

“Then let’s give her a distraction.”

“Roger that.” I signal to Bennett to move forward.

Bennett’s shot rings out, echoing through the sky, and the man on the roof drops. The other two spin around, hunting for the source of the gunfire, only to meet their own death as Carver and Thomas fire at the same time, hitting each of them in the chest. Four more men run out the door and start shooting wildly. We return fire, ending the fight before it even begins.

“Lykos, guard,” I command. Lykos’ ears perk up, and he moves in front of us, taking a defensive position. “Track Aurora.”

Lykos whines briefly and sniffs the air. He takes off in a sprint for the entrance, and we chase after him. He barks and paws at the door until I open it, and he takes off again.

I hear Aurora yell, “Zwickel!”

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