Chapter 36 THE FIRST STRIKE
"You want us to hit a Harbinger distribution hub?!" Kael queried, his eyes wide with shock and surprise. "Are you trying to get us erased before the week is out?"
"Maybe you can talk sense into her," Jax said, his boots crunching on a stray bolt as he paced. His face was flushed, the veins in his neck standing out against his tan skin. "I've tried all the speeches I could think of."
He looked at the ledger on the table like it was a live grenade.
"I want to hit a specific hub," I corrected Kael without looking up from the blueprints Leo had printed out. "A hub that Viper manages on the very edge of the district." I turned to Jax, tryiing to get him to see things my way. "It is low-hanging fruit, Jax. It is the weakest link in Kanan's financial chain... for now."
"Viper is your meal ticket, Si!" Jax shouted. He stopped pacing and slammed his hand onto the table, making the ledger jump. "If we burn her operation, she’ll be looking for blood. And she’ll start with the people she pays to protect her."
"Exactly," I said, finally meeting his gaze. My voice was calm, a sharp contrast to his frantic energy. "She will be looking for blood but she won't be looking at us. She’ll be looking for the shadow."
Jax narrowed his eyes. "What shadow?"
"The one we are about to create," I replied, smirking. ""If I hit Kanan directly, he will know it is personal," I explained, leaning back. "He will look for a grudge. Then he will look for a face. But if his outer operations start falling to a sophisticated, well-coordinated external force... he won't see a person. He’ll see a rival and a business threat. I want him to think there is a new wolf in his woods, Jax. One that doesn't care about his name or his reputation."
Jax let out a long, jagged breath. He looked over at Leo and Mina, who were watching us from the lounge area.
Leo looked intrigued, his fingers already hovering over his keyboard, while Mina looked terrified.
"You’re talking about starting a war with no army," Jax whispered.
"I am the army," I said. "No, we are the army. And you are my anchor. I am not asking you to fight his soldiers, Jax. I am asking you to help me dismantle his machine piece by piece until he has no choice but to call for help. And who do you think he’ll call when his own people can't stop the leaks in this?"
"Anyone else but us?"
"No," I volleyed back. "He'll be looking for a small time but competent fixer with no alliance with any other gang that knows the region and can operate discreetly."
Jax stared at me for a long moment. I could see the conflict in his eyes. He hated the risk. He hated the chaos. But I could also see the silent realization that my logic was sound. He knew that as long as we were just street-level fixers, we were expendable. If we became the only solution to a massive problem, we became untouchable.
"Fine," Jax grumbled, though his jaw remained tight. "What's your plan?"
A grin split my face. "A fire."
"Dear God." Mina muttered.
Jax sighed. "Ok. But if this goes south, I’m dragging you out of there by your hair. I am not losing you to a warehouse fire."
"I am not planning on burning, Jax," I said. “I meant metamorphically.”
We spent the next six hours preparing. I wasn't going as Siren. I wasn't going as Elena. I was going as a ghost. I dressed in a high-tech tactical suit with a full-face matte-black helmet. No tattoos. No identifiable gear.
The target was a nondescript warehouse near the docks. Officially, it was a storage site for "imported textiles." In reality, it was where Viper’s crews moved the high-volume narcotics before they were cut and distributed to the local gangs. It was the artery that fed the Harbingers' street-level power.
"Cameras are looped," Leo’s voice crackled in my earpiece. "You have an eight-minute window before the security pings the main server. Go."
I moved through the shadows of the loading dock. I didn't use the front entrance. I used the ventilation shaft I had identified in the blueprints. I dropped into the warehouse with a silent grace, landing on a stack of wooden crates.
The smell of raw chemicals and stale air hit me. I saw the guards below: four of them, dressed in casual street clothes but carrying submachine guns. They were relaxed, laughing over a game of cards. They thought they were safe because they were on Harbinger soil.
I moved along the steel rafters, my heart beating in a slow, steady rhythm. I didn't want to kill them. Deaths brought too much heat. I wanted a clean sabotage.
I reached the central control panel for the temperature-regulated storage units. I pulled a small, silver device from my belt and plugged it into the port.
"Digital virus uploading," I whispered.
The device began to rewrite the cooling protocols. Within minutes, the temperature in the units would rise, spoiling millions of dollars worth of product. It was a silent, invisible hit that would bleed the Harbingers dry before they even realized they were under attack.
Suddenly, a heavy thud echoed from the other side of the warehouse. One of the guards stood up, his hand on his weapon. "Did you hear that?"
"It’s probably just the rats, man," another replied, not looking up from his cards.
"No. That sounded like metal."
I held my breath as the guard began to walk to my position, pressing my back against the cold steel of the rafter. He stopped directly beneath me, his flashlight beam cutting through the gloom. The light danced inches from my boots.
I gripped the hilt of my combat knife. If he looked up, I would have to drop him.
And I wasn’t too sure if I actually could kill someone. Yes, I have gotten used to Sinenna’s fighting. But I don't know if I could get used to taking a life.
A cat suddenly scurried across the floor near the loading dock, knocking over a stack of empty cans.
The two men jumped, startled, and quickly turned to the direction of the noise.
"See? Rats," the other guard laughed.
The first guard hissed a curse and walked back to the table. I let out the breath I had been holding. I waited for the upload to finish, then slipped back out through the vent.
I reached the getaway car two blocks away. Jax was behind the wheel, his eyes fixed on the rearview mirror. He didn't say a word as I climbed into the passenger seat and pulled off my helmet. My hair was matted with sweat, and my skin was flushed with adrenaline.
"Is it done?" he asked as he pulled away from the curb.
"The product is ruined," I said, a slow smile spreading across my face. "Viper is going to lose her entire quarterly projection by tomorrow morning. And the best part is, the logs will show a remote hack from an IP address in another district. She’ll think a rival gang is trying to squeeze her out."
Jax looked at me, a mixture of awe and dread in his expression. "You’re a terrifying woman, Si."
"I am a woman with a plan, Jax," I corrected him.
We drove back to the garage in silence. When we arrived, Kael was waiting by the door. He looked travel-worn and anxious.
"Boss," Kael said, stepping forward. "I have an update on Miller."
"Tell me," I said, my voice hardening.
"He is officially back in the city," Kael reported. "He’s hiding in a motel in the old district. He looks like he hasn't slept in a week. He is spooked, Si. He kept talking to himself about 'the guys' who threatened him. He thinks they are still watching him."
"Did he mention a name?" I asked.
Kael shook his head. "No. But he’s meeting someone tomorrow at a diner near the river. He said it was his 'last chance to get out clean'."
I felt a surge of excitement. Miller was the key to everything. He was the one who could confirm that my "accident" was a hit.
"Stay on him," I ordered. "If he moves, you move. I want that meeting."
I walked up to my loft, the weight of the ledger heavy in my bag. I felt more alive than I had in years. I was finally hitting back. I was finally the one in control.
"The trap is set," I said.
"Yeah," Jax replied, his face grim. "Now we just have to make sure we don't get caught in the jaws."