The target two was Elena Rostova. Luca’s team arrived in the Brooklyn warehouse district, and it went badly.
Rostova was waiting ard and prepared for confrontation. There were brutal shootouts in close quarters.
Luca’s people were good, but Rostova’s were better. She was a forr KGB officer with decades of experience.
She took out two of his n before they cornered her. She was wounded and bleeding, with no way out. When she went for her weapon the last ti, that’s when Luca shot her at center mass, leaving no choice.
Elena Rostova died in that warehouse.
That was two down.
The next plan was to proceed strategically to capture the remaining 10. We knew it was going to be tough, but we had our team, and we damn near well knew we were not going down this without a fight.
I assessed our plan and knew we had a lot of work, planning, and strategy to do.
And it was ti to prove to them once again that they ssed with the wrong bastard.
Target Three was Lee Paul. Timothy’s FBI team t him at his Queens apartnt. Paul saw them coming and imdiately surrendered.
"I’m done," he said with his hands raised. "I’m cooperating. I get a full immunity deal, and I’ll tell you everything about Charles’s network."
He was smart and calculating, trying to save his own skin.
Timothy arrested him, and he started talking before they even reached the vehicle.
Three down. We had nine to go.
The complications started imdiately. So students had already anticipated the counterattack and disappeared. They must have been smarter than we assud, or had an insider giving them information, or had better surveillance equipnt than we had underestimated them for.
"They’re scattering," Ted reported. "Going underground and wiping digital footprints."
"Can you find them?" I asked.
"Give ti."
But ti is what we don’t have.
The longer this drags out, the more dangerous it becos.
One week later, we had constant operations around the clock.
We’ve captured or killed seven of The Twelve.
There were five remaining, which we referred to as the most dangerous five.
Everyone was exhausted, running on adrenaline and coffee.
Katherine was already showing the strain. She was barely sleeping and had dark circles under her eyes. I could see her pushing herself too hard.
"You need to rest," I told her.
"I’ll rest when it’s over."
"Katherine-"
"Don’t. Just... don’t."
We’ve been working together but growing apart.
Too focused on the mission - no intimacy, no connection... just the war, and we’ve also been sleeping in separate rooms now. "More efficient for rotating watch schedules," she had said.
But really, we were avoiding each other, avoiding feelings, and avoiding everything except the fight.
The target Five was Yvette Foster. She was a forr MI6, and Charles trained her in London in the ’90s.
She was currently located at the Queens warehouse, an abandoned industrial complex.
Katherine, Luca’s team, and I breached tactically, going in with weapons raised and covering angles.
The warehouse was empty.
"Sothing’s wrong," Katherine said.
Then I saw the wires and explosives everywhere.
"GET OUT!" I scread. "IT’S A TRAP. EVERYONE OUT!"
We ran back toward the entrance, and the explosion hit.
The sound was deafening and devastating; the entire building collapsed. We made it out seconds before the roof caved in.
Luca pulled up. "You okay?"
"Yeah. Katherine?"
She’s there, covered in dust. Bleeding from a cut on her forehead, but alive.
"Yvette?" I asked.
"The search teams found her body in the rubble; she was inside. I guess she chose suicide over being captured."
"Just like Diane," Katherine whispered, staring at the covered body. "Charles taught them loyalty unto death."
That night, we regrouped. We had eight students neutralized, with four remaining.
And these were the most dangerous four.
Everyone was exhausted, injured, and running on fus.
But we can’t stop. Not now and definitely not when we’re this close.
Katherine was at the window staring out at Manhattan.
"What are you thinking?" I asked.
"That this has to end. Soon, before soone we love actually dies."
"We’re close-"
"Are we? There are four students still out there. Four trained killers who’ve evaded us for a week. Who knows what they’re planning next?"
She’s right. This could go on for months, years, or even longer.
My phone rang, and it’s Ted.
"I found them. The final four."
Everyone went silent.
"Where?" Katherine demanded.
"That’s the thing, they’re not hiding. They’re planning sothing... sothing big."
"What?"
"I intercepted their communications. It’s encrypted and took days to crack." Ted pauses. "They’re targeting Elliot at Columbia, tomorrow. During his biochemistry exam."
Katherine’s face went white. "What?"
"They know he’s your weakness, Katherine. Your brother. The one person who can break you completely, and they’re going after him. All four of them, tomorrow at 9 AM."
"We lock down Columbia," I said imdiately. "FBI, NYPD. The National Guard, if necessary."
"No," Katherine said.
Everyone looked at her.
"What?" I ask.
"We use Elliot as bait to draw them out and end this."
"Absolutely not-"
"It’s the only way." Her voice was steel, cold, and determined. "They co for Elliot, and we’re waiting. We capture them, and it ends tomorrow."
I stared at her, not recognizing this woman.
War has changed her, hardened her, and made her willing to risk everything.
"Katherine, we can’t risk Elliot-"
"Elliot’s already at risk!" She was shouting now. "Every day! As long as these four are alive! Every mont he’s on that campus, he’s vulnerable!
So we end it tomorrow in a final battle. We control the environnt, we set the trap, and we finish this."
She’s right. Logically, she’s right, but emotionally? Using Elliot as bait?
"He won’t agree," I said.
"He will. It’s logical. Statistically sound, and Elliot will understand."
There was silence with everyone waiting for my decision.
Tomorrow at Columbia University was the final confrontation.
Four of Charles’s best students against everything we can throw at them.
And the winner takes all while the loser dies.
"Fine," I said. "We do it. But Katherine, if anything happens to Elliot-"
"It won’t. I won’t let it."
She walked out, already planning ahead, and left standing there.
Wondering if we’ll all survive tomorrow.
Or if the remaining four will finally destroy us.
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