Page 41 of The Shadow Code (Heroes of War #3)
T hey’d left headquarters under protest. Lockwood had refused to green light a field team without firmer intelligence. Too vague, too risky , he’d said. But Ellie hadn’t been vague. She’d looked Jack in the eye and told him exactly where Granville was.
‘You have to trust me,’ she’d said. ‘He’ll be there tonight.’
Jack had stared at her for a long moment. ‘Who told you?’
‘Someone who doesn’t want to be named. Someone who’s risked a lot.’
It wasn’t much to go on, and Jack hadn’t looked convinced. His eyes had narrowed, but he hadn’t pressed. If he knew who she was protecting, it wouldn’t just jeopardise Sinclair - it could compromise the entire operation.
That conversation was behind them now, but its weight lingered.
Jack gripped the wheel tighter as they took a bend too fast, the tyres spitting gravel.
Ellie sat beside him, the cipher note still clenched in her hand.
She hadn’t spoken since they’d left HQ, but her mind hadn’t stopped.
Wickhurst Point. If Sinclair was right, her father would still be alive, a hostage at the farmhouse.
But if they were late, if even a sliver of the timing was off …
She pressed her palm flat against her thigh, trying to still the tremor.
Every mile felt like both progress and peril, like they were hurtling towards either rescue or reckoning.
She turned slightly, watching Jack’s profile in the gloom. He hadn’t asked again. Hadn’t pushed. But she could feel the tension rolling off him, steady as the tyres on the road, and she wished she could tell him the truth.
‘Are you all right?’ Jack asked, his voice low, cutting through the hush.
She didn’t answer at first. Outside, hedgerows blurred past in a stream of rain-streaked shadow.
She glanced down at the crumpled paper in her hand: the co-ordinates Sinclair had given her.
‘We’re heading straight into it,’ she murmured.
‘If they’re holding Pa at Wickhurst Point … if the extraction’s close …’
Jack’s knuckles tightened on the wheel. ‘We’ll find them. We’ll get him back.’
‘But will we be in time?’ Her voice cracked. ‘What if Granville’s already handed him over?’
He didn’t reply right away. The wipers hissed across the windscreen, beating time with her pulse.
‘Your father’s the asset,’ he said quietly. ‘They won’t risk harming him.’
Ellie nodded, but the knot in her chest refused to ease. The car surged forward through the rain. Somewhere ahead, another MI5 vehicle carried two agents and whatever hope they had left.
The Point, once a haven for smugglers, lay just ahead, a jagged spit of land barely more than a smudge on the map. The road narrowed, slick with mud and rain, and the hedgerows closed in like claws.
‘Granville won’t take any chances,’ she said.
‘He’s probably got someone watching the road.’ Jack squinted into the dark.
As they crested a rise, he squeezed the brake. At the foot of the hill, a figure in a long coat stepped from the hedgerow and turned towards them. A torch flashed once, twice, then a third time. Three quick bursts of light.
Jack leaned forward, scanning the curve of the road. ‘That’s our signal.’
Ellie pressed closer to the window as the coastline unfolded below, a stretch of wild black water broken only by the flicker of lanterns near a huddle of weathered buildings. Smoke curled faintly in the air, laced with coal and salt. Beyond the point, the estuary yawned, wide and waiting.
She gripped the edge of her seat, her heart hammering in her chest. Please let Pa be there. Let this be the place it ends.
As if sensing her thoughts, Jack said, ‘We’ll find your father and stop Granville. I’ll make damn sure of it.’
He nodded towards the inlet behind the boathouse. ‘My contact said it hasn’t been used in years.’ He changed gear with a rough crunch. ‘Might be perfect.’
Rain fell harder, hammering the windscreen like rifle fire. The wipers scraped across the glass, rhythmic and relentless, mirroring Ellie’s pulse.
She turned to him suddenly. ‘Do you think he’s still alive?’
Jack blew out a slow breath. ‘Don’t think like that. He has what they want, and that buys time.’
She nodded, but her breath hitched as goosebumps rippled across her arms. She couldn’t explain it, but instinct warned her – and up ahead, the darkness beckoned.