Pomona. The Overlook.
On a hilltop overlooking the farm, Jane Smith stood silhouetted against the setting sun. Her leather combat suit hugged her frame, highlighting the dangerous curves that had nearly been Hunter's undoing a week ago.
She held a military-grade laser rangefinder to her eye, watching the lone figure working in the valley below.
"He's still at it," she murmured, a faint, inscrutable smile playing on her red lips.
Behind her, five figures waited in the shadows.
Three men. Two women.
The men were mountains of muscle, clad in camo t-shirts and tactical vests. Their arms were thick with veins and scars, radiating the kind of disciplined violence found only in elite units.
One was a disgraced former Army Captain, dishonorably discharged for war crimes involving local women during a deployment. The other two were ex-Navy SEALs, specialists in direct action and assault.
The women were equally lethal.
A dark-skinned woman, Ebony, leaned against a rock, sharpening a combat knife. She was a close-quarters specialist known for torture. She wasn't an Ace yet, but she was hungry for the title—and she hated Jane for holding it.
The other woman was tall and seductive, a cleaner who resented Jane for taking all the high-paying contracts over the years.
"Jane," Ebony sneered, breaking the silence. "We've been watching your boy play Minecraft down there all day."
She gestured toward the farm with her knife.
"The Company put you in charge, but my time is money. If you've lost your nerve because you failed once, step aside. We'll handle it."
Jane lowered the rangefinder slowly. Her expression didn't change. She looked at Ebony with the calm indifference of a queen addressing a peasant.
"I told you why we waited," Jane said smoothly. "The target was under LAPD surveillance until yesterday. If we moved too soon, we would have exposed the Company."
She turned back to the valley.
"As for now? Go ahead. The surveillance is gone."
"But remember," Jane added, her voice dropping an octave. "I reported the failure for a reason. This target isn't normal. I tried sniping him. I tried close quarters. I failed both times."
"If I hadn't run," she lied effortlessly, "I wouldn't be standing here."
She didn't mention the "punishment." She didn't mention being pinned to the wall, disarmed, and thoroughly dominated. That was personal.
But her warning was real.
Jane had spent the last week analyzing Hunter Sun. His file said he was an eighteen-year-old orphan with no training.
Reality said he was a monster.
His strength, speed, and reflexes were beyond human. He had sensed her sniper shot before she pulled the trigger. He had countered her CQC moves like she was moving in slow motion.
And now, this farm.
It felt... staged.
Jane knew about acting. She had been playing the role of a dutiful, busy businesswoman for her husband John for years. John thought she ran a tech startup; in reality, she was assassinating warlords in Colombia.
She knew what a performance looked like.
Hunter's behavior over the last week—the sudden isolation, the manual labor, the casual disregard for cover—screamed "trap."
He knows we're here, Jane thought. He's inviting us in.
She wasn't sure what the trap was, but she wasn't about to walk into it first.
"Is it a setup?" she wondered.
She looked at her "teammates." They were eager, arrogant, and expendable. Perfect cannon fodder to test the waters.
If Hunter killed them, Jane would know his capabilities. If they killed Hunter... well, she would step in at the last second to steal the kill.
She wanted to put a bullet in him herself. Maybe stab him in the kidney for good measure. Or perhaps... cut off the very tool he had used to humiliate her that night.
The thought made her smile widen, a flash of genuine bloodlust in her eyes.
"The sun is setting," Jane announced.
Ebony glared at her, then checked the horizon. The sky was bleeding purple and orange.
"Fine," Ebony spat. "We move at dark."
She signaled the team. The ex-SEALs checked their weapons. The disgraced Captain cracked his knuckles.
Below them, the farm was swallowed by the long shadows of twilight.
The game was about to begin.
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