Page 20 of The Sniper (Club Southside #9)

CHAPTER TWENTY

REYNA

D aniels was pacing. He never paced.

They had returned to the Cerberus war room which was now thick with tension. The air was electric with frustration and something darker—something Reyna didn’t want to put a name to. She watched Daniels move, his jaw locked tight, hands fisting and flexing as if he was debating whether to punch a hole through the wall or through someone’s face. Preferably Artemis’s.

“We’re not playing defense anymore,” he growled. “I’m done reacting. It’s time we end this.”

She crossed her arms, forcing her voice to remain steady despite the adrenaline coursing through her. “We end this. You’re not walking into this alone.”

Daniels turned on her, his dark eyes blazing. “Like hell I’m not. I’m the target. She wants me, not you.”

Reyna took a step closer, refusing to be intimidated. “She wants more than you, Daniels. She wants to burn Cerberus to the ground. You might be the one she says she wants to kill, but it’s Archer and me that she wants to hurt. Think about it, she kills me, my pain and suffering are over. She kills you? It eats me alive for the rest of my life. You walk into her trap; you give her everything she wants.”

“Then what do you suggest?” he snapped, running a hand through his short hair. “We let her keep the upper hand? Keep playing cat and mouse until she decides to take another shot at us?”

“No,” she said, steel in her voice. “We set the terms. But you don’t go in alone.”

The muscles in his jaw tightened, his fingers twitching like he wanted to grab her—shake some sense into her. His frustration wasn’t just about the mission. It was about her. About them. About the fact that they both knew damn well neither of them would survive losing the other.

Fitz, sitting at the table with his arms crossed, cleared his throat. “Enough. Both of you.”

Daniels didn’t look away from Reyna, his glare burning into her. She didn’t back down.

Fitz let out a long-suffering sigh. “Artemis set up a meet. Rooftop in the industrial district. It’s too obvious, too exposed, which means she’s got something planned.”

Daniels turned to him. “Then I walk in, flush her out.”

“Like hell you do,” Reyna snapped. “You go in blind; she drops you before you even get two words out.”

Daniels turned back to her. “So, what? I send someone else in my place? She’ll know the second it’s not me.”

“No one’s saying you don’t go,” Fitz cut in. “But you’re not going in alone. Reyna takes the high ground.”

Daniels didn’t like it. Reyna could see it in the way his shoulders tensed, the way his lips pressed into a thin line. But Fitz wasn’t asking. He was making a call.

“Last time I checked, Fitzwallace, I didn’t work for you.”

Fitz grinned and took a sip of whiskey. “And why is that? When this is done, we really need to have a long chat about your professional future. I’ll even throw in a collar for Reyna.”

Daniels snorted.

“Artemis is expecting you to be desperate,” Fitz continued. “Expecting you to come alone. Reyna’s your insurance policy. If she tries anything, she goes down.”

Reyna lifted her chin, victorious. “Sounds like a plan.”

Daniels glared at her before turning back to Fitz. “Fine. But the second I say take the shot; you don’t hesitate.”

Reyna met his gaze, her voice steady. “I never do.”

The rooftop was silent, save for the faint hum of the city beyond. The skyline stretched in all directions, dark buildings illuminated by the occasional flickering streetlamp. The wind cut sharp and cold, ruffling the edges of Reyna’s black tactical gear as she settled into position.

She lay flat against the rough rooftop of the building opposite, her beloved Bravo-51 Spec Ops rifle steady in her hands. The Desert Tech SRS A2 Covert was great if stealth was your primary goal, but for accuracy and comfort of use, Reyna always returned to her Bravo-51. Through the scope, she tracked Daniels’s every move.

He was a dark figure against the moonlit rooftop, his stance casual but coiled tight like a spring ready to snap. He wasn’t showing it, but she knew he was on edge. Knew he was still pissed she was even here.

She was pissed, too. But that was their thing, wasn’t it? They were always toeing that line between frustration and need, challenge and surrender.

Through her earpiece, Fitz’s voice crackled. “Eyes on target?”

She swept the rooftop ahead, scanning the perimeter. Nothing but concrete and rusted rooftop machinery. Then?—

“Contact,” she murmured.

Artemis stepped into view. Alone. Unarmed.

Reyna’s grip tightened on the rifle. Something was off.

Daniels took a step forward, his voice calm but laced with steel. “You wanted me. I’m here.”

Artemis tilted her head, the faintest ghost of a smile crossing her lips. “How very predictable of you.”

Reyna adjusted the scope, watching every movement. Artemis was too relaxed, too smug.

“Where are they?” Daniels asked.

“Who?” Artemis spread her hands, the picture of innocence. “I came alone.”

“Bullshit.”

Artemis let out a soft laugh. “Paranoid, are we?” She took a slow step forward. “You should be.”

Reyna’s pulse thrummed. She shifted her aim just slightly, targeting the space right between Artemis’s eyes.

Something was wrong.

This wasn’t an ambush. This wasn’t an assassination. This was something worse.

“Daniels,” Reyna murmured into the comms. “She’s too confident.”

Artemis’s gaze flicked to the rooftops around them, her smile sharpening. “Hello, Reyna.”

Reyna froze.

Artemis wasn’t looking at her. She couldn’t see her. But somehow, she knew.

Daniels didn’t react. Didn’t flinch. “If this is some kind of mind game, it’s boring.”

“Oh, this is more than a game,” Artemis purred. “This is about truth.”

Reyna scanned the rooftops again. She couldn’t see a sniper or any other backup. What was Artemis playing at?

And then she saw it. A small black box near Artemis’s feet, but from this distance, there was no way to tell what it was. It could be a bomb, in which case she’d kill Daniels, or it could be nothing at all. She focused the scope on Artemis’s hands. As she narrowed the focus, she spotted it. Shit.

“She’s got a detonator, most likely with a dead man’s switch.” If Reyna put her down, Artemis would release the switch detonating the explosives.

Daniels took a slow step back. “What are you playing at?”

Artemis’s smile widened. “I have a story to tell. One that will shake your precious Cerberus to its core. The truth about the people you work for, the things they’ve done, the sins they’ve buried.”

Reyna’s blood ran cold. Artemis wasn’t here to kill Daniels. She was here to expose all of Cerberus’s secrets. Cerberus missions. Raids. Ops that were never meant to see the light of day. And not just any ops, but the ones they’d been doing against the human traffickers—specifically the auctions. The same ones Artemis’s sister had been caught in. Reyna’s gut twisted. Taken out of context, they could destroy Cerberus.

The silence stretched across the rooftop like a taut wire, ready to snap. Artemis stood at the edge, silhouetted by the dull glow of the city skyline, her posture relaxed, but Reyna wasn’t fooled. Everything about this was calculated. The way she moved, the way she kept Daniels just a few feet away, watching him like she already knew his next step.

Instantly, the screen of the rooftop billboard across the street flickered to life.

“Kill that feed,” snarled Fitz into the comms.

Daniels took another step back, his body going rigid.

Artemis smiled. “Time’s almost up, Agent Daniels. How much are you willing to lose?”

Reyna’s breathing was sharp and quick. They had seconds—maybe less.

“Fitz,” she whispered. “We need a blackout. Now.”

Fitz was already working. “On it.”

Reyna’s trigger finger twitched.

“Take the shot,” Daniels ordered.

It wasn’t just one billboard, it was all the digital billboards lining the industrial district, the massive LED display on the opposite rooftop, even the goddamn ads playing on the sides of city buses.

Reyna’s stomach dropped.

“Oh, shit,” Fitz muttered in her earpiece.

Daniels stiffened. “What did you do?”

Artemis’s smile was slow, sharp. “I told you, Agent Daniels. This isn’t just about revenge. It’s about truth.” She turned, gesturing at the flickering screens. “And the world is about to hear it.”

The audio crackled, then a distorted voice echoed over the rooftop. A masked figure appeared on the screens, the image grainy but clear enough. It was old footage. Cerberus operatives breaching an underground auction. The camera angle was shaky, likely taken from someone’s body cam. The feed cut to a woman—bound, terrified—being dragged from a holding pen by a masked buyer.

Reyna’s hands clenched around her rifle. They’d saved that woman. But no one would see that part. Artemis had edited this to fit her narrative.

Reyna flicked her scope back to Artemis. The woman was watching Daniels, head tilted, expression almost amused. Before the footage could play long enough to make sense to anyone, all of the billboards and everything that had been linked to them went black.

Fitz’s voice crackled through the comms. “Power grid is down. Get that bitch—preferably alive.”

Artemis tilted her head to one side. “You won’t stop us. This is just the beginning,” she murmured. “Imagine what happens when you can’t control the narrative and the right people see the rest.”

Daniels took a slow step forward. “If you think this is justice, you’re delusional.”

Artemis lifted an eyebrow. “And if you think Cerberus are the good guys, you’re na?ve.”

Reyna pressed her lips together. Artemis wasn’t entirely wrong. Cerberus operated in the gray, pushing the line between necessary force and outright lawlessness. They worked missions that the government didn’t want to claim. Did things that weren’t exactly legal, all in the name of stopping something worse. But if this footage went public? It wouldn’t matter if they’d taken out traffickers, shut down auctions, saved lives.

All anyone would see was the blood on their hands.

“All those missions,” Artemis continued, taking another slow step toward Daniels. “The people you ‘saved.’ The ones you didn’t.” Her voice softened, mocking. “Did you ever stop to think about the ones you missed?”

Daniels didn’t move. But Reyna saw it—the tightening of his jaw, the slight twitch of his fingers.

Artemis was getting to him. Reyna breathed out, steadying herself, her mind racing.

This was too easy. Artemis wasn’t an idiot. She wouldn’t have set this up just to monologue.

“Daniels,” Reyna said through the comms, her tone urgent. “Move.”

The explosion rocked the rooftop.

Concrete cracked beneath the force, a shockwave tearing through the industrial district as the initial blast knocked Daniels off his feet. A plume of smoke shot up, debris raining down as the rooftop trembled under the force.

Reyna barely held her position, heart hammering as she scanned the chaos below.

Snipers.

Three of them.

Two positioned across the way on the adjacent rooftop, one on the fire escape of the abandoned warehouse down the block.

“Fitz!” Reyna barked into the comms.

“Yeah, yeah, I see ‘em,” Fitz gritted out. “Mitch is trying to get an angle.”

They didn’t have time. Daniels was still rattled, still exposed from where he’d fallen. Artemis was already moving, her black silhouette slipping through the smoke.

Reyna expelled her breath slowly.

One shot.

She lined up the scope, centered the crosshairs over the first sniper on the rooftop, and pulled the trigger.

The bullet struck true. The mercenary jerked backward, his rifle clattering against the ledge before his body followed.

Reyna immediately swung her rifle to the second sniper, but it was too late.

They’d seen her.

A shot ricocheted off the metal piping inches from her position, sending sparks flying. She ducked, rolling behind a rooftop ventilation unit just as another round slammed into the concrete where she’d been.

“Reyna’s compromised!” Fitz snapped.

“I’m fine,” she bit out, pressing her back against the cool steel as another round punched into the wall beside her.

“Reyna...” Daniels’ voice was sharp, commanding.

But she wasn’t listening. She was already shifting, already recalibrating.

Artemis was getting away. Daniels was still moving, dodging through the debris, but Artemis had the advantage.

Another shot rang out, and Daniels barely pivoted in time. The snipers were shooting at him, too. The bullet grazed his shoulder, but he kept moving.

Reyna pulled herself into a crouch, her hands steady as she sighted the second sniper. She squeezed the trigger; the shot hit him center mass.

“Clear,” she hissed.

“Not clear enough,” Fitz snapped. “She’s running.”

Reyna swung her scope back to Artemis, catching a glimpse of her disappearing into the shadows.

Daniels was right behind her.

“Daniels, she’s leading you into a kill zone,” Reyna warned.

“I don’t care.”

Reyna gritted her teeth. And he called her stubborn and reckless. He had both in spades, the dominant son of a bitch.

But she understood.

Because if Artemis got away now, she wouldn’t stop. She wouldn’t just expose Cerberus—she’d dismantle it. The rooftop trembled again beneath Reyna, another explosion shaking the foundation.

Daniels sprinted forward, disappearing into the smoke.

Reyna adjusted her scope, heart pounding.

She had his six.

But Artemis?

Artemis had the final move.

And Reyna had the sinking feeling she was about to play it.