21

"Set your eyes on the target. Fire."

Carmen squeezed the trigger on the gun in her hands at Coltons command.

Needless to say, she hated everything about carrying a gun. She hated how heavy it could feel, how dangerous one small item was, the fact that the gunshot made her ears ring, and how easy it was to fire something that could kill someone before she could even blink. Aside from hoping she would never use it on someone, she knew she wasn't as good of a shot as the rest of the agents here.

Carmen flipped the safety on the handgun before emptying the clip and placing it on the table like Colton had taught her to do. Colton took a closer step beside her to examine her work lying at the end of the gun range.

The outline of the human target had three bullet holes in the paper, one in the shoulder, one in the center of the chest, and one near the bottom of the right rib cage. Carmen tightened her ponytail and watched Colton's mouth twist to the side.

"What? Not good enough?" she asked, failing to mask her defeat. This was the best target practice she's done since she got here.

"No, it's definitely enough. It's just that your aim is a little all over the place is all," he explained. "But right now, my main priority is making sure you're hitting the target at all, and if that was a real person, they'd be dead. So, I'd say this is a success."

Carmen pressed her hip into the table allowing a few inches of space between their torsos in the confined area. "But is it going to be good enough for tonight?"

Colton contemplated this. It would be enough for right now - in a calm and controlled environment - with someone she trusts. But would it be enough out in the field, surrounded by enemies who are also trying to take shots at her, while she's stuck with the brother she loathes?

He exhaled slowly and tipped his head in a quick, maybe, sort of gesture. "Just... dodge and weave."

Carmen laughed. "Dodge and weave? That's the best advice you're going to give me? Come on, I need one of your super inspirational pep-talks."

"Super inspirational?" He cocked an eyebrow.

She nodded.

He fought the smile that threatened to appear. "Do what you can to get out of there in one piece. And, whatever you do, don't kill my brother."

"Wow." She rolled her eyes. "I feel motivated already."

She pushed off the table, brushing past Colton so closely that when he inhaled he could smell her perfume.

It made him feel drunk in the best type of way.

"Do you and Clay have a plan for tonight?" he asked as he followed her to the doorway.

Carmen laid her hand on the palm scanner. "Yeah. Surprisingly, it didn't take as long as I thought it would to agree on the steps to take. He actually had some good input."

The door opened as the two of them slipped out to head to the workshop that Carmen's been working in for the past 2 weeks.

2 weeks of planning with Clayton, training with Clayton and biting her tongue to give him any sort of attitude. She was keeping her promise to Colton of maintaining peace. Ainsley was no longer part of the peace-keeping problem. Now, it was just the older McGuire brother.

Nearly every waking moment that Carmen wasn't in the training room, gun range, or screening room, she was in the workshop on the bottom level of The Compound in a room that Clayton set up for her to create her tech in. It wasn't all that she was used to, and she still lacked a few necessities, but Carmen could think her way out of nearly any situation. So, she made do with what she was given.

Here, she successfully made the bypass device for locks, and the device Kendra asked her to create in order to disable the surveillance system at the Sovetsky Distribution Center.

The room was relatively smaller. It consisted of a large mechanics cart that held the tools Carmen needed. Two computer monitors sat on the steel table Carmen had pushed against the wall to the right of the door. She had a vast amount of metal scraps and scribbled notes scattered across the table. Colton eyed the welding tool and blow torch on the far side of the room. "Do a lot of welding?" he asked.

"You know I make my chips from scratch, right?" Carmen asked as she walked over to the table to power on one of her monitors. "I chose the size, shape, the wiring going on inside. It's all done by hand."

"Impressive," Colton replied.

Carmen smiled while connecting the lock bypass and device to disable the cameras to her computer. "Thanks."

Colton leaned against the cement wall. "What are you doing? I thought you finished them already."

"I did," she told him, "I'm running a few tests to make sure they're functioning fine."

Colton's phone chimed in his pocket, and he pulled it out to read a text from his brother. "Shit," he cursed and looked up at Carmen. "You guys gotta go. Now."

Carmen looked over her shoulder. "We aren't supposed to leave for another three hours?"

"Yeah, well, our eyes on the ground just warned us that the brothers showed up to the center earlier than expected. I guess there's some sort of mechanical malfunction they needed to come take a look at. Clayton says you need to move before the place gets too hot with their body guards."

He could tell by the way that her shoulders tensed that her anxiety had to have set in.

Carmen began disconnecting the tech, her heart pounding quickly in her chest.

She didn't expect for Colton to appear at her side, a warm hand falling on top of her own causing her to freeze.

She slowly met his eyes.

"You've got this," he whispered, "Alright? Just remember everything you've learned. Clayton will be right there with you. He's not going to let anything happen to you. Don't forget that."

"If I screw up." She swallowed hard. "Your mom will have my head on a stick."

He shook his head. "No way. That's not really her style, she's more of a throw your body in a river with weights attached to your ankles kind of person."

Carmen was so stunned by the response that she couldn't stop the nervous laugh that escaped her. "You are so not funny."

"Aw, man. Really? Because it made you smile."

She rolled her eyes and pulled her hand out from under his.

Colton placed both hands on her shoulders, forcing her to look at him. "But I'm serious. Not about my mom's murder tactics. You're perfectly capable of doing this. I believe in you. You need to believe in you."

"What if I freeze up? What if something goes wrong because of me?" There was no hiding the fear in her tone.

"You can do this, Carmen. Any time that you start to doubt yourself just imagine my voice in the back of your head reminding you of how much faith we have in you. Okay?"

Colton's reassurance had eased her uncertainty in the slightest; it was enough that she felt comfortable giving in with a small exhale blowing past her lips and straightening her shoulders back.

"I can do this," she assured herself as Colton dropped his hands to rest in his pockets. "In and out. Easy as pie."

"Exactly," he agreed. "And if you start to get a little too freaked out, keep in mind that you have a highly trained killing machine with you."

He and Carmen started to exit the room and make their way down the halls once she'd retrieved what she would need for the mission. She grunted in a display of offense taken. "I don't need your brother to do my dirty work."

"Cleaning up after us is sort of his thing," Colton remarked. "Don't get too worked up over it."

Carmen snickered in response.

The pair came to a halt when they began to hear distant voices coming from down the hall behind them. When Carmen glanced back, she was met with the sight of Ainsley half-limping down the hallway. Luke was beside her, his hands locked on her hips to keep her from swaying. She had one hand pressed to her healing gunshot wound and the other balled into a fist at her side. There was nothing but agitated annoyance written across Ainsley's face, and genuine concern on Luke's.

Carmen held back a smirk. She was all too aware of how much Ainsley hated being coddled, and based on the way that Luke was hovering over her sister right now - it was clear that he hadn't gotten the message on that.

"Luke," Ainsley snapped, "let me walk!"

"You're not even supposed to be out of bed. Doctor's orders." Luke didn't release his hold on her.

Ainsley rolled her eyes. "That idiot doesn't know what he's talking about."

"His degree says otherwise."

Ainsley, who had finally grown tired of the treatment, whirled on Luke instantly. "Luke. Do you like your hands?"

Luke hesitated, almost unsure of how his answer would impact her next move. "I think so."

"If you want to keep them, then keep them in your pockets." Ainsley turned when Luke's hands slipped away from her waist and were stuffed into his cargo pants pockets. "Unless I'm on the ground, I don't want anyone hovering over me."

Carmen looked to Colton and held up a hand as she started to back away in Ainsley's direction. "Give me a minute."

Carmen met Ainsley halfway in the hall, Ainsley leaned into the wall for support and took in her sister's appearance. "You ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," Carmen replied.

"You're going to be fine," Ainsley told her. "Plus, I threatened to do some very unkind things to Clayton if something happened to you, so."

Carmen laughed and dismissed her sisters very serious threats with the wave of her hand. "As long as we get in and out without being seen, we should be fine. Clayton and I have already cooked up a plan to draw the brothers out so that we can get inside the building."

Ainsley nodded, impressed. "Good."

Ainsley removed her hand from her shirt to reach behind her and remove something from her back pocket.

Carmen narrowed her eyes at the item that Ainsley rotated in her hand. It took a few moments for her to recognize it.

"Is that the knife that dad gave you?" Carmen asked.

Ainsley nodded, swiping a thumb down the red handle. "I hate that I can't go on this mission with you." Ainsley looked up at her sister, with what Carmen would have thought was worry. "This knife has gotten me out of some serious shit. Take it with you. Just in case."

Carmen stared at the knife. Growing up, it was Ainsley's prized possession. She could only imagine that the significance could have grown with her father's passing. She knew how big of a gesture it was for Ainsley to be entrusting her with it.

Carmen reached forward and took the knife from her sister. Just as Carmen tried to pull it towards herself, Ainsley tightened her grip for a brief moment to draw Carmen's attention. "Remember how I told you I threatened Clayton if you don't come back in one piece? Same goes for you if you ruin this knife."

Carmen knew Ainsley was half-serious, and it was the only reason she felt comfortable to chuckle lightly. "I promise to sacrifice myself for this knife if I have to."

Ainsley released her hold on the knife and gave Carmen a more intense stare that revealed exactly how worried she was for her sister.

"Just come back, alright?" Ainsley spoke in a hushed tone.

Carmen nodded. "We've still got some catching up to do, don't we?" She slipped the knife into her back pocket. "I'll see you when I get back."

Ainsley pursed her lips and dipped her head once. "Go kick some ass."

With that being said, Carmen turned back to Colton - who was waiting patiently at the end of the hall - and hurried to walk with him to the elevator.

When they arrived on the second level, they went to the foyer to find Clayton waiting by the entry way. He was wearing a dark grey t-shirt with black tactical pants. Connected to his pants, located on his hip, was a black handgun.

He was typing on his phone when he heard the ding! of the elevator. When his head swiveled in their direction, he was already shoving his phone back into his pocket. Seeing Clayton waiting for her finally had the reality of the situation settling in Carmens gut. She fought the urge to sprint back to the safety of her bedroom and hide in the closet so that no one could force her to go on this mission. This was an opportunity to prove herself to not only Kendra and the rest of the team, but to Clayton as well. Maybe if this goes smoothly, then their fighting might finally cease.

Clayton met his brother and Carmen half-way as they stood in the center of the foyer. He looked to Carmen expectantly. "You ready?"

Carmen nodded without hesitation, but her stomach was in knots. "Ready."

"My mom had our van parked out front," he explained.

While Clayton and Carmen went about planning this mission, they decided that when they arrived at the distribution center, they would need to be undercover before entering the building. When this was decided, Kendra decided to get a van that was designed to pose as an electric company. There was a cluster of radio towers nearby the distribution center that would offer a good reason to keep the van so close by without seeming suspicious. Carmen made sure to have a computer of her choice put into the van to help her kick off their plan.

Things had gone smoothly so far, and this mission should be fool proof. But still, Carmen was as anxious as ever.

Clayton looked to his little brother. "We have to go. Keep an eye on things here?"

Colton pointed to Carmen. "Her first rodeo. Not mine. Remember?"

"Smartass," Clayton remarked before making his way to the front doors of The Compound.

Carmen, who had her hands hovering in front of her, was anxiously scraping at the nail polish on her fingernails. Colton caught this out of the corner of his eye and faced her fully. "Hey," he started.

Carmen paused her fidgeting and met his eyes, her own slightly wider than they were moments ago.

"Remember what I said, alright?" He smiled tenderly.

Her head dipped once. "I know."

She held his gaze with anticipation for a sparing moment. But she knew that there was more she could say; and knowing that she was on a ticking clock to prove herself was what pulled her eyes to the door. Instead, she turned away from him – giving a sideways glance. "I'll see you later."

"Be careful," Colton responded sincerely.

When Carmen finally rushed after Clayton out the foyer doors, and the set of double doors clicked shut behind them, Colton finally allowed the worrying to set in.

**

"You're totally sure that you've got it figured out?" Clayton broke the silence that had been haunting the van for the past hour.

Carmen was seated in the passenger seat with her computer propped in her lap as she rapidly typed away.

"I know what I'm doing. Okay?" Carmen shot back. This entire plan was her idea, so she figured that Clayton was going to have some reservations, but she'd hoped that he would keep them to himself while she went to work on initiating that very plan.

They knew that the odds of them getting into building with the Sovetsky brothers and most of their security still in there would not only be hard, but damn near impossible. So, Carmen spent a few days doing some digging.

After a few days of scouring through the Sovetsky brothers e-mail accounts after she hacked them, she was able to put together that the brothers were scheduling shipments to a separate property that wasn't their regular distribution center. Carmen brought this information to Clayton and the two did some research only to figure out that the building they were scheduling shipments to, was owned under a fake name and was assumed to be abandoned. Clayton only needed a single day of surveillance and for Carmen to break a repetitive code in their exchanged e-mails to realize that they were storing the weapons, they've been selling to Russian spies, inside the building.

Carmen found the security company that the brothers hired to install a security system on that building. But Carmen knew that the security system ran on a network that she would have no problem getting into.

By hacking into the security system, like she was in this moment, their plan was to set off the alarm for the secondary building. Because that building has more sensitive shipments that the brothers can't risk being stolen, they would scramble and abandoned this building immediately to go check out the alert. Most of their security would likely follow, and it would give Clayton and Carmen a window of opportunity to get inside undetected after Carmen took down the surveillance system.

She was almost done getting through security system on the second building when Clayton spoke up again, "As soon as they get the alert, they'll leave. But we need to be quick. They could call in more security for this building to make up for who they're taking, or they could come back quicker than we hope."

"The second building is well over an hour away. It should be plenty of time," Carmen replied, trying not to break her focus.

Clayton shifted in his seat and watched out the window carefully at the setting sun. "Just make sure that you'll be ready to install whatever it is you're using to jam the surveillance. We can't risk getting caught on their cameras."

"We won't." There was complete confidence in her tone that almost took him by surprise. She indeed knew far more about this stuff than he did, but sometimes he forgot that she was the same girl that remained hidden from the CIAs watchlist for the past couple of years. The fact that she didn't even do it on purpose is what still boggled his mind to this day.

He stared ahead at the massive bay that was located at the back of the distribution center, the bay was bordering Long Island. Even from far away, he could see the myriad of boats used for transporting their product, wading at the river's docks. The river slightly rippled with the light breeze outside and the orange tinted sky reflected a shimmering gleam off every movement.

Clayton nearly jumped out of his seat when Carmen finally exclaimed with joy, "Done! They should get the alert that the system went off in the next few seconds."

Carmen closed her computer and turned to put it in the back of the van. She retrieved the small black backpack that she had filled with the things she would need to not only dismantle the cameras inside, but also to bypass the electronic lock that Kendra warned her that she would be running into at the security room.

The van was parked by the radio towers, so they were far enough away that they wouldn't be spotted by the brothers. But they did have their eyes on the 4 SUVs that were parked outside the building.

Moments after gathering everything they would need, the side doors to the building opened and Carmen watched as a sea of people filed out, quite quickly.

She recognized two of them immediately as the Sovetsky brothers. They both had panicked and angry expressions on their face. One of them was screaming commands at their guards who were all piling into the SUVs. The brothers got into the same vehicle, and moments later, each SUV sped away from the building and towards the road so quickly that they kicked up dust and gravel while peeling out onto to the road.

Clayton waited until the SUVs were completely gone from sight before he started to pull their own van closer to the building. The electric panel for the entire building was located in the back, they couldn't pull all the way around without alerting the rest of the guards that were still inside the distribution center.

Carmen pointed to the large dock where the metal gas drums were positioned by the edge of the dock, ready to fuel a boat at any time. "Park there. It's the closest we'll get."

Clayton followed her direction and turned off their van.

As soon as they got out of the van, they closed their doors quietly, and crept around the back of the building. Clayton took the lead and Carmen followed suit as they stayed as close to the wall as they could without sinking into it. When they came up to a corner, Clayton kept one arm behind him, keeping Carmen from going around as he slowly peeked his head out to get a good look.

"Clear," he whispered.

Carmen hurried around him and found the electric panel located against the wall. She set her bag on the ground and rummaged through it to pull out her wire cutter, electric tape, and the jamming device for the cameras.

"You have to make it quick," Clayton piped up from behind her.

As if she wasn't already nervous enough, she now had Clayton in her ear reminding her of their time limit. Carmens hands, fumbling for her devices, froze and she closed her eyes while drawing in a breath.

She recalled Colton's soothing voice to remind her that even if she was starting to anxiously doubt herself – he didn't doubt her for a minute.

That was worth something.

She took one more moment to collect herself. Then, she opened her eyes and quickly got to work.

Clayton watched in astonishment as Carmen raced to clip certain wires and somehow connect them to her device. She seemed to know this very panel and wire setup like she'd designed it herself.

He almost chuckled at the thought that if normal human beings have a brain controlling them, Carmen must have a circuit board instead.

She finally powered on the device and watched intently as it did its scanning. Her knee nervously shook as she watched the small screen light up with the blue prism in the center. Carmen finally pressed the prism and a small lightbulb at the top of the device turned green, and a light beep sounded.

The cameras were disarmed.

She did it.

Colton was right, so far it was as easy as pie.

After stuffing everything back into her bag, Carmen closed the panel and rose from her knelt position.

While slinging the bag back on, she looked to Clayton. "I didn't want to give them anything that could potentially trace back to us, so this thing only has a five-hour life battery and it has to stay installed in there. There was no way of doing this without leaving some sort of trace, but at least they won't know who did it."

Clayton seemed half-pleased. "I can live with that."

The pair suddenly heard a voice coming from the other side of the building in the direction they came. Before Carmen could properly react, Clayton had already gotten a hold of her arm and was pulling her further down the wall. They suddenly rounded a corner where a heavy steel door was located to enter the building.

They didn't wait to listen for what the voice was saying, or who it even belonged to. Clayton quietly opened the door and ushered Carmen inside. He closed it behind him as quietly as he could while Carmen scanned the room that they'd just went into.

It was a relatively small hallway, but there were three total doors. One located at the end of the hall with a small window, one in front of them and a large metal door that almost seemed to be split down the middle. Carmen could only assume that was an elevator.

Clayton was the one who had studied the blueprints of this place, he knew the ins and outs. He would know how to get to the security room from here so that Carmen could bypass the lock and get to the computer where the sensitive information was being held.

After taking a look at the doors, Clayton noted that door before them had a logo of a staircase imbedded into the metal.

"The security room is on the third floor, we can take the stairs," he told her as he crossed to the opposite side of the hall and grabbed a hold of the door handle to the staircase.

However, when he tried jiggling the handle, the door wouldn't budge.

He frowned and gave it another pull. "What the hell?"

Carmen side stepped him to see what was wrong. After he pulled at the door a few more times, Carmen stood on her toes and peered into the small window of the door. The staircase was dark, save for a fluorescent light that flickered repeatedly, clearly on the end of its life. It was a smaller staircase with concrete steps, however when Carmen peered closer – she could see that half of the steps had caved in. Even with a long-distance jump, they could never get up to the second floor, let alone the third.

"Stairs are out of the question," Carmen informed him as she took a step away from the door.

Clayton decided to take a look at what Carmen was seeing and let out a frustrated sigh. He started to look back and forth between the elevator door and the third door.

"Why don't we just go through that one?" She asked, motioning to the door at the end of the hall.

He shook his head slowly. "That one goes out into the main parts of the building. If there's any one of their guards still here, then that's where they'd be."

Finally, his gaze locked on the elevator. "Elevator is the only option."

Carmen laughed once with the assumption that he was kidding.

But when Clayton looked back at her in question, her smile dropped instantly. "It's also the dumbest option."

Clayton made his way to the elevator door and pressed the button to call the lift to their floor. "Got any better ideas? I've studied the blueprints to this building, this is the only semi-safe way up that won't get us busted."

Knowing that she really didn't have anything to rebuttal with, she exhaled heavily and stepped to the side with him as the elevator finally came to their floor. Once the doors opened, they waited a moment to see if anyone was going to come out.

But no one did.

So, Clayton stepped inside first and Carmen reluctantly followed as she took in her surroundings. There was a single yellowish fluorescent light located above them imbedded into the ceiling of the elevator. The entire cage itself was a thick, rusted metal. It hardly even looked safe to be standing in.

Aside from them, the elevator was empty - save for the button panel by the door.

Clayton pressed the button for the third floor, but Carmen remained off to the side of the door.

She could already envision the doors opening to reveal one of the guards standing by and shooting both of them before they even got a chance to draw their guns. At least this way, they're somewhat out of sight.

Out of nowhere, and only after a few seconds of lifting to its destination, the elevator gave an aggressive shake, followed by several terrifying creaks.

The lights flickered a couple times and the lifting sensation had halted.

The elevator stopped. But the door hadn't opened.

"No fucking way," Carmen cursed under her breath.

Judging by the fact that only the second floor was lit up on the button panel, Carmen could only assume that the elevator had gotten stuck and wedged between the second and third floor.

As if claustrophobia wasn't already a fear Carmen was worried about developing, she definitely wasn't feeling good about it now.

"No, no, no." Clayton began to rapidly press the button for the third floor.

Carmen rubbed at her forehead in an agitated manner. "I knew this would happen."

"Oh." Clayton whirled on her. "Did you? So, you're psychic now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Oh please, this thing looks older than my grandparents and you really didn't think we'd run into problems?"

Claytons' facial expression changed, and he shook his head slowly. "The entire reason the brothers came earlier than expected was because they were having a mechanical issue. The elevator probably got affected by it too."

"Ah! Perfect." Carmen tightened her grip on the straps of her backpack, biting back anything else she had to say to that.

Clayton clenched his jaw and reached into his pocket to pull out his phone. As he typed at the screen, Carmen watched curiously. "What are you doing?"

"Calling Luke to come fix this mess," he replied and held the phone to his ear.

Carmen fell silent and waited a mere 10 seconds before he pulled the phone away from his face, which had now shifted from annoyed to confused. He tapped his screen a few times before cursing.

"What?" Carmen asked.

Clayton held up his phone so she could see.

The call had failed due to a lack of service.

It all started to click in Carmens mind. "This elevator must be made out of thick copper and steel or something, cell signals have a hard time getting through."

She gave him a petty glare. "Willing to bet you didn't think about that when you were studying the blueprints, did you?"

"This isn't my fault so don't even start," he retorted with wide eyes.

"Oh, it's not?" She scoffed. "I'm sorry, whose idea was it to take the elevator again? I do recall me suggesting that it was an awful idea."

Clayton leaned against the elevator walls and folded his arms over his chest. "Do you really think that's going to help right now?"

"I'm gonna make a wild assumption and say that nothing is going to help us right now, Clay." Before he could even reply, she turned on him and sat on the metal ground with her legs folded under her.

It's not like they are going anywhere at the moment anyway.

Carmen tried to keep her frustrations in and messed with her shoelaces to distract herself from her thoughts. But one thing was painfully clear, and she couldn't ignore it: her and Clayton were stuck in this elevator, with no way to call for help.

-

updated 4/30/23

Sorry for such a long hiatus!! I post publishing updates frequently in my conversations tab so I definitely suggest taking a look at that if you're curious about when I will update next. But I was writing my next couple of books (not related to this series) between updates & am now waiting to hear back from other agents that I've queried :) super excited and also super grateful for the support I've still received despite my absence. <3