Page 28 of Peak’s Code

Peak slowly raised his pistol, and Maeve touched his arm. She leaned close enough for him to feel her breath. "There are at least four of them."

"How do you know?" he breathed.

"The spacing of their shadows." She pointed toward the shadows on the wall. "They're moving as a stack." Peak listened harder, and he knew that she was right. He heard four sets of boots, and each was maintaining perfect distance. They were professionally clearing the room.

The first man stepped into the chamber wearing black tactical gear and a helmet, and had his night vision goggles flipped up. He carried a suppressed rifle and wore no club colors or identifying patches. The second man followed, and then a third. Each man was covering a different angle. Peak had seen enough training videos over the years to know exactly what they were looking at. These weren't hired muscle. These men were former special operations. Which meant missing their shots wasn't an option.

Maeve's hand slid into her jacket, and Peak caught her wrist. "What?" She slowly opened her hand, and a small cylindrical object rested in her palm.

"What is it?" he whispered.

"Flashbang,” she said.

He stared. "You've got a flashbang in your pocket?"

"I forgot about it,” she said.

"You forgot you kept one in your pocket?” he asked.

"I've had a stressful day." Peak couldn't help it. He smiled, and she looked offended.

"Why are you laughing at me?” she asked.

"You keep pulling things out of your clothes."

"I have good pockets,” she defended.

"You've got a Mary Poppins jacket."

She smiled. "For the record, I've heard that before."

The lead operator stopped near the steel door and crouched beside the keypad. "They bypassed maintenance mode."

Peak's smile disappeared, and he looked at Maeve. "They know."

She nodded. "They know someone with technical training was here."

The operator stood. "Split up and find them." The four-man team immediately separated. One headed left, one right, one stayed near the door, and the last started walking directly toward Peak and Maeve's hiding place. Peak checked his magazine; he had twelve rounds, but that wasn’t going to be enough. Not against four trained operators.

Maeve leaned close. "Wait."

"For what?" he asked.

"Let him take three more steps,” she said. He trusted her and watched as the operator advanced. Maeve silently pulled the pin on the flashbang, and Peak's eyes widened.

"You said wait,” he said.

"I changed my mind.” She tossed it, and the cylinder landed perfectly between the four operators.

One of them shouted, "Flash!" But it was too late. The underground chamber erupted in blinding white light and a deafening concussion. The operators staggered, but Peak was already moving. He exploded from cover, driving his shoulder into the nearest man before the ringing in the tunnel had even faded. The operator hit the ground hard, his suppressed rifle skidding across the concrete. Peak grabbed it, liking how the odds were changing in his favor. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, the hunters had just become the hunted.

Maeve

The flashbang detonated with a blinding burst of white light. The blast slammed into Maeve's chest like a freight train, even though she'd turned her face away and covered her ears. The operators weren't so lucky. Four men staggered blindly through the underground chamber, shouting over one another as their training battled instinct.

Peak exploded from cover. He hit the nearest operator like a linebacker, driving him into the concrete hard enough to knock the air from the man's lungs. Maeve didn't watch because she was moving too. Peak could handle himself, but she had another job to do.

She sprinted toward the steel door, and the keypad hung open where she'd left it, wires spilling from the panel. The lock was still disengaged. She grabbed the door handle, but it didn't move. "Damn it." It wasn’t electronically locked anymore; it was mechanically barred from the other side. Someone had dropped the emergency deadbolt. She wasn't getting through without another way.