Page 112 of The ARC Unit: Breach

The camera gave us nothing after that. I listened to Jackal breathe hard once, then Hawk calmly narrated the pursuit from hundreds of meters away.

“Runner just crossed the gravel. He is now cutting behind the greenhouse. Thirty meters from east hedge.”

Jackal did not answer.

“Twenty.”

Raven touched the map and showed me Jackal’s position turning before the runner’s did.

“He’s cutting him off,” I whispered.

The comms picked up a crash through brush.

Then Jackal’s voice came through, breathing harder now, “Got him.”

His voice had changed completely just like in training. None of the man who put Hawk in a headlock over the last clean coffee mug existed in it.

Wolf answered, “Hold him there.”

“Copy.”

The farmhouse was secure less than three minutes later, leaving the rear structure as the only active problem on the property. One of the guards inside had fired through an upstairs window toward the courtyard when Bear approached the east door. Hawk called the angle before the second shot came.

“Rifle, upper north window.”

Wolf stopped the crossing.

“Smoke the yard.”

Bear sent a canister into the open space between the buildings. White smoke spread low across the gravel, swallowing the direct sight line from the window and giving Wolf and Viper enough cover to move toward the rear wall. Hawk kept the window pinned from the ridge without firing while Bear worked the pedestrian door.

“Frame reinforced,” Bear said. “Lock isn’t.”

A heavy metallic strike came over comms, followed by another before Bear said, “Open.”

Viper went first, and the gunfire inside lasted less than ten seconds before the channel fell quiet again. Wolf’s voice returned, colder and more controlled than the chaos around him.

“Site secure. Raven, bring the support units forward. Mercer stays with you until medical is inside.”

I finally let out the breath I had been holding through half the operation.

Raven keyed the German support channel and sent the waiting teams toward the property. Ambulances and investigators would take the main road once the perimeter was controlled, while Raven and I drove in through the service approach after Wolf cleared us.

The farmhouse looked smaller when I saw it through the windshield, and that bugged me more than I expected. A place capable of holding this much violence should have looked larger somehow, more dramatic, like evil required architecture grand enough to announce itself.

We parked behind Bear’s vehicle, where a detained guard sat on the ground near the wall with his hands secured behind him. Jackal stood several feet away, watching the tree line while another operator from the German support team took custody. The front of Jackal’s shirt was streaked with dirt from the pursuit and a fresh tear ran along one sleeve.

Wolf met us near the rear steps.

“Main house is clear. Eleven women alive between both buildings. Two need immediate medical attention. One guard dead, four detained.”

The clean delivery could not soften the number. “E-eleven?” I asked.

“Eleven here.”

The emphasis on here kept the number from sounding like good news. I looked toward the second building.

“The others?”