Page 85 of Hunt Me

Knives. Chemicals. Whatever tools Morrison prefers when he wants information.

My stomach lurches.

“We go in tonight,” I say. “Full tactical. Erik leads entry, Dmitri handles extraction logistics. I’ll kill their security systems before we breach.”

“No.” Nikolai’s tone leaves no room for argument. “We gather intelligence first and confirm the target location. We also need to identify all hostiles and plan the operation properly.”

“We don’t have time?—”

“We don’t have room for mistakes.” He turns to face me fully. “If you’re wrong about the location, we expose ourselves for nothing. If Morrison realizes we’re coming, he moves her somewhere we can’t find.”

Every instinct screams at me to move now. Break down doors. Tear apart anyone standing between me and Iris.

But Nikolai’s right.

Going in blind gets us all killed.

Gets Iris killed.

“How long?” My hands shake against the keyboard. “How long do we wait?”

“Six hours. We’ll have full reconnaissance by then.”

Six hours.

Three hundred sixty minutes while Morrison has her.

I force myself to nod.

Six hours.

I can work for six hours.

Back at the penthouse, I convert my living room into a command center. Laptops cover every surface. Monitors line the walls. Erik’s already coordinating with his former Spetsnazcontacts—men who know how to breach secure facilities without triggering alarms.

Dmitri works the political angle, calling in favors from city officials who might look the other way during a “training exercise” near the harbor.

Nikolai handles the big picture. Contingencies. Escape routes. What happens if Morrison moves Iris before we strike?

I handle everything else.

Building schematics download onto my center screen. I study the warehouse structure, memorizing every corridor, every room, every possible choke point. The northwest corner office has reinforced walls. Soundproofing.

Interrogation room.

My jaw clenches hard enough to ache.

“Coffee.” Dmitri sets a mug beside my keyboard.

I don’t drink it.

Can’t stop working long enough to lift the cup.

“When did you last sleep?” he asks.

“Irrelevant.”

“Alexi—”