The black SUV rolled silently into the tree line, engine cut, lights off. The Hamilton estate rose ahead like a fortress.
Ryan crouched beside the hood, pulling the long rifle from its case. He screwed on the suppressor with practiced calm, every click muted but sharp in the night. His eyes swept the perimeter, counting.
"Two at the gate and two more by the front door, as predicted." he whispered.
Brooklyn adjusted the straps on her vest, her pistol heavy at her hip, silencer in place. Her eyes didn't waver from the house. "Then four bodies stand between me and the truth."
Ryan frowned. "Four lives, Brook."
She smirked. "Warm-up."
He didn't argue. Just breathed once, sighted in and squeezed the trigger. Pfft. The first guard crumpled without a sound. Before the second could react, another muted shot dropped him where he stood.
At the front steps, the two guards leaned lazily against the columns, unaware of death crawling toward them. Ryan took his time, one precise shot each. Both fell in eerie silence.
"Clear." he muttered, breaking down the rifle.
Brooklyn was already moving.
She strode up the stone steps, drew her pistol and without hesitation fired a single round into the lock. Crack. The door swung open under her boot.
Inside, the house was cavernous, sterile, its silence unnerving. Her footsteps echoed faintly against polished marble floors. She swept each hallway with sharp, predatory precision.
A faint melody drifted from above... soft piano notes, the kind of playlist meant to lull restless minds into sleep. Brooklyn followed it upstairs, her gun raised, finger steady on the trigger.
She pushed into the master suite.
Gabriella Hamilton lay sprawled in silk sheets, breathing deep, lost in her curated dreamscape. A glass of red wine sat half-finished on the nightstand.
Brooklyn's lip curled. She stepped forward, grabbed Gabriella's ankle, and yanked.
The woman shrieked as she tumbled from the bed, silk nightgown twisting around her legs. She hit the floor hard, panic flooding her eyes as she scrambled upright.
Before she could scream again, Brooklyn smashed the butt of her pistol across Gabriella's face. The impact sent her reeling, blood welling instantly at her hairline.
Brooklyn leveled the pistol at her face.
Gabriella froze, chest heaving, terror pouring out of her in ragged breaths. "P-please... what do you want?"
Brooklyn crouched, her voice a low growl. "Oh-no, I'm the one asking questions here."
Gabriella's hands shook uncontrollably, palms raised. "Alright, alright, whatever you want..."
"Good." Brooklyn's eyes narrowed. "Now tell me, are you the architect behind Operation Sky Sintel?"
Gabriella blinked in confusion, panic deepening. "What?"
Brooklyn's shot cracked into the floorboards inches from Gabriella's thighs, splinters flying. The woman shrieked, jerking back.
"I don't like that answer." Brooklyn hissed.
Gabriella whimpered, words tumbling out. "No....no, I'm not the one who created that! I didn't even know what it was until it hit the news. I was just paid to stage the false strike footage in the Chihuahuan Desert. That's all, I swear!"
Brooklyn tilted her head, studying her like prey caught in a trap. "So you were just another pawn?"
Gabriella's face twisted with fragile pride. "No… I'm not a pawn."
"Then what are you? The mastermind?" Brooklyn's tone dripped venom. "Please. You and Pierce are the same. Pawns for the same man... guess the apple really doesn't fall far from the tree, huh?"
Gabriella's eyes fell, shame flickering across her features.
Brooklyn leaned closer, pressing the barrel of her gun against Gabriella's cheek. "Give me the name of the one calling the shots."
"I don't know him!" Gabriella cried, voice breaking.
Brooklyn's voice dropped to a whisper, almost disappointed. "What a shame."
Bang.
The bullet tore through her left thigh. Gabriella's scream shredded the silence, raw and piercing. Blood soaked the silk fabric instantly, pooling across the floorboards.
She collapsed, writhing, hands clawing at the wound. Tears blurred her vision.
Brooklyn grabbed a fistful of her hair and yanked her head back, forcing her to meet her eyes. Gabriella sobbed, broken.
"I'll ask one last time." Brooklyn hissed. "Who is the mastermind?"
Gabriella's resolve shattered. "Langston!" she screamed. "Langston Corp! They're the ones behind it... all of it!"
Brooklyn's mouth curved into a cold smile. "See? That wasn't so hard, was it?"
Gabriella was trembling uncontrollably now, blood streaming down her thighs. "Please… please… take me to a hospital. I'm bleeding out."
Brooklyn's eyes stayed locked on her, calm as ice. "I'm sorry but it seems too late for that."
The pistol rose in one smooth motion.
Bang.
The silenced shot echoed like a whisper. Gabriella's body went limp, eyes wide but lifeless, crimson pooling beneath her.
Brooklyn stood over her, chest rising slow and steady, expression unreadable. She holstered her weapon, turned toward the window where the moonlight cut through and muttered to herself...
"Langston, huh?"
And she walked out, leaving silence and blood in her wake.