Code of Shadows

Chapter 7 - The Heist

The chill of the Prague night seeped through my clothes, the cold air biting at my skin as I crouched in the shadows. The embassy loomed before me, its stately architecture outlined against the night sky, a fortress of secrets waiting to be uncovered. I had a perfect view of the grounds, noting every guard's position, every potential escape route. I adjusted the microphone in my earpiece, my mind sharp and focused. Ethan's voice crackled through the static, calm and composed. "Alex, what's the status?"

"All clear," I replied, my eyes sweeping the area, picking up every detail. Inside the building, Jim and Claire were mingling with the guests, their covers as diplomats flawless. They moved with ease, blending in, each step deliberate, each smile practiced. Jack was in the van nearby, his fingers dancing over the keyboard, his face illuminated by the soft glow of the screens. He was our eyes and ears inside, looping the security cameras, silencing alarms, creating a perfect illusion of normalcy. Sarah was tailing Golitsyn, camera in hand, her movements precise and calculated.

"Jack, take us up," Jim's voice came through the comms, steady and confident. Jack's role was crucial—he was controlling the elevator that would take Jim and Ethan to the secure room where Golitsyn was heading. The plan was meticulous, every detail accounted for, each piece falling into place like a well-rehearsed dance. But something gnawed at me, a nagging feeling in the back of my mind. My instincts were on high alert, sensing that something wasn't right.

Suddenly, a sharp noise blared in my earpiece, followed by Jack's voice, strained and filled with panic. "The elevator! It's going up—too fast! I can't—" His scream was cut off, replaced by a sickening crunch, the sound of metal against metal. Then, silence.

My heart pounded, a wave of fear surging through me. "Jack? Jack, respond!" I demanded, but there was nothing, just a cold void on the other end. A chill ran down my spine, the kind that comes with the realization that something has gone terribly wrong. The kind that signals death.

"Abort mission! Abort!" Jim's voice broke through, urgent and commanding. I saw Ethan and Jim moving quickly, their path towards the exit clear in my sights. Claire was already heading towards the rendezvous point, her expression calm but her movements quick. My eyes flicked to Sarah's position. She was in the parking area, photographing Golitsyn as he left with the disk. Her eyes were focused, her hands steady. Then, as she stepped back to avoid being seen, a car parked nearby exploded, the blast tearing through the night.

"Sarah's down!" I hissed into the comm, adrenaline spiking, my mind racing as I watched her crumple to the ground. This wasn't just a failed mission—this was a setup. We were being hunted, picked off one by one. Someone had planned this, someone who knew exactly how we operated, who knew our every move before we made it.

Ethan's voice came through, tense and urgent. "Get out! Now!" His tone brooked no argument, a command meant to save our lives. I moved, my body acting on instinct, my mind searching for a way out, a path to safety. I needed to regroup, to find a way to fight back, to turn the tables on whoever was doing this to us.

As I scanned for an escape route, I saw Jim in the distance, moving along the bridge. He was running, trying to make it to safety. Suddenly, he stumbled, his body jerking forward as if hit. My breath caught in my throat as I watched him fall over the side of the bridge, disappearing into the river below.

"Jim!" Ethan's voice broke through the comms, raw with disbelief. There was no response. I could feel the panic rising, but I forced it down, focusing on the immediate task—survival. I had to stay alive, had to figure out who was behind this.

Another explosion shattered the night, the sound reverberating through the air, the shockwave knocking me off my feet. I turned, my eyes widening in horror as I saw a car engulfed in flames. My blood ran cold. This wasn't just a mission gone wrong. This was a massacre.

Panic clawed at my chest, but I forced it down, focusing on survival. I ducked into an alley, my heart pounding, every nerve on edge. I needed to get to the safe house, to regroup, to figure out our next move. But as I moved through the shadows, every sense heightened, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching, waiting. The hunter was still out there, and they knew how to hunt. They were closer than I'd thought.

I reached the end of the alley, the street beyond empty, the city eerily quiet in the aftermath of the explosion. My mind was racing, trying to piece together the fragments of what had happened, to understand who was behind this and why. But there were no answers, only questions, only the cold certainty that we had been outmaneuvered, outplayed. Someone had betrayed us, and now they were coming to finish the job.

I slipped through the shadows, every step careful, every movement deliberate. The safe house was close, a place to regroup, to plan, to strike back. But as I moved, a thought struck me, chilling in its simplicity: what if the safe house was compromised too? What if the traitor was one of us?

The night was dark and full of dangers, each shadow a potential threat, each corner hiding a knife. I had to be ready for anything. Trust no one, expect betrayal. That was the rule of the game, the law of survival. And I intended to survive. No matter what.

The darkness of the alley seemed to close in around me, a silent witness to the violence that had just unfolded. I had to get to the safe house, to find Ethan, to make sense of the chaos. But as I slipped through the shadows, the feeling of being watched only grew stronger. Someone was out there, waiting. And I knew, deep in my bones, that the real hunt had only just begun.