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The next night, we gather at the seemingly-deserted industrial area on the outskirts of Chicago—Grandmother’s hideout. Hadria, Scarlett, Ricky, Mario, and a handful of other Syndicate members crouch beside me, eyeing the vent that Sarah told us about, the one that leads to the underground part of the warehouse.
We’re not relying solely on Sarah’s information, of course. There’s no trust built there yet, so Ricky has gotten hold of some old blueprints for the buildings. The problem is, it’s not like Grandmother would have gotten any excavations or new builds approved. Still, the blueprints give us an idea of what’s above the surface.
And Sarah has given us at least an idea of what’s below the ground.
I catch Hadria’s eye and she nods. Together, we rappel into the vent, the darkness swallowing us whole. I hear Scarlett and Mario follow, along with a few other men and women who volunteered to come along. Ricky stays above as our lookout.
The vent opens into a dark, old tunnel, just as Sarah said. She told Hadria that this was how she liked to get in and out when she didn’t want Grandmother to know what she was doing. Apparently, her attack on Scarlett and me that night hadn’t been sanctioned.
I don’t know whether to believe her or not. Whenever I see her looking at Hadria it’s with something approaching awe, and I don’t think that’s good for Hadria’s ego—or Sarah’s mental health.
Also, I don’t see why Hadria should get the hero-worship while I get blamed for taking Sarah’s place. But I guess that’s what second-in-command is for: making the boss look good and taking the bullshit getting flung up from below.
“What’s so funny?” Hadria asks softly, as we hit the ground in the tunnels and unclip our lines.
“Nothing.” I pause, then add, “Just—you and me. We actually do make a good team.”
It’s hard to see Hadria in the dense darkness of the tunnels, but at last I hear her reply. “We do.” She snaps on the light at her shoulder. “Come on. Let’s move before the next two land on us.”
Scarlett and Mario come down next, and then another two and another and another until we’re all in. After that, we follow the rough map Sarah drew for us, keeping our footsteps soft in the eerie silence. But it’s not long before we come upon guards, who engage us in a hail of gunfire.
The scene erupts into chaos, filled with the deafening roar of gunshots, bullets ricocheting off the steel walls. But we move with strategic precision, Syndicate members efficiently taking down guards as we push forward for another ten minutes with no further interruptions.
“Strange,” I mutter, scanning the shadows ahead. “No assassins yet.”
Behind me, Scarlett says the first words I’ve heard from her since we got down here. “Grandmother will be keeping them close. For protection.”
“Like my father keeps his cannon fodder close, too,” Hadria says, and then looks surprised that she’s actually making conversation with Scarlett.
I jerk my head forward. “We need to get a move on. Our quarry knows the wolves are at the gate by now; I don’t want her to bolt. I don’t want to waste another two weeks tracking her down again.”
We delve deeper into the tunnels, and finally begin to encounter heavier resistance, which lifts my spirits. More enemies means we must be going the right way, after all. And despite everything that’s happened between us, Hadria and I fall into our old rhythm, fighting side by side with seamless teamwork born of years of trust.
But I can’t help noticing how well Scarlett and I move together, too, anticipating each other’s actions like we’re two halves of the same whole. I catch Hadria watching us, something like grudging respect in her eyes as she takes in Scarlett’s skills.
“She’s good,” I say to Hadria, after Scarlett pulls off a wall-run to avoid a frantic shooter, then takes him out with a quick, silent snap of the neck. “You have to see that.”
“She’s been trained by the best,” Hadria agrees.
“You don’t sound like you think that’s a good thing.”
“I don’t.” She reloads her gun and motions the rest of our people to go forward, with us hanging back to take the rear. “Because the last thing we need is someone as good as you on the other side.”
“She’s not on the other—” I start to snap, but Hadria’s already moving.
We push deeper, deeper into the facility, and finally, we come across a woman—an assassin.
“Hold!” Scarlett calls, and the Syndicate falls back to the tunnel we just came out of. Scarlett stands by the entrance and peeks around. “It’s Scarlett,” she calls out to the woman. “You know me. I was one of you. I’m here with a group, but we’re only looking for Grand?—”
The only response is rapid gunfire, and when Scarlett looks out again, I see her shoulders droop.
“She’s gone,” she says. “I hoped, if we got to talk to any of them, we might be able to convince them…”
“Keep pushing forward with the others,” I tell her. “Hadria and I will go this way.” I nod at a tunnel opening opposite us. “We’re running out of time. But we’ll try to cut Grandmother off before she can escape.”
“Be careful.”
I flash her a grin, all bravado. “Not a chance.”
