Page 134 of Controlled Burn
Want to see what she gave McKenna?
His hand shook. He opened the clip. Another exchange. Another USB.
Proof she was scheming. Laughing behind his back.
Jake’s vision went white.
She thinks I’m just a fucking toy.
The phone buzzed again.
She’ll ruin you, too.
***
Across the station, Brooks leaned back from his terminal, watching the new ping glow green across his screen.
She was trying to flip the game.
Good.
Because now?
They were both watching each other.
And that was how wars began.
Chapter 48
Collision Course
Talia
The warehouse looked calm from the outside.
Smoke curled from shattered windows like warning signs. A single flame licked the siding, taunting them with its restraint.
But the second they breached the front entrance, the illusion shattered—heat swallowed them whole.
Talia moved fast—second nozzle, hose in hand. Maddox was just behind her, sharp and silent. McKenna called orders from the street.
Watts was supposed to cover the rear. She wasn't moving.
“Move!” Talia barked, slamming her shoulder hard enough to snap her out of it.
Watts flinched, stumbled inside. King followed close, sure-footed and focused.
Inside, the world was an inferno: chemical-fed—old oil drums, paint cans, aerosol cans popping off like bullets. Everything was burned and dirty. The smoke was thick. The heat too fast. Flashover territory.
“Main line left. Check for wall breach,” Talia called, her voice steady through the mask’s comms.
“Copy,” Maddox responded.
King took the rear. Watts hovered like a liability.
Talia advanced into the dark.
Then the ceiling groaned—and fire dropped like a guillotine.
