S7: Chapter 07: Bringing Down the House

The fiercely hot sun beamed down onto Brett’s neck and for the third time within the hour he found himself in need of a dry towel as he baked in the arid valley. “Remind me again whose idea it was to visit the desert in the dead of summer,” he groaned into his earpiece as he kept watch of the building across from him. It took some doing, but he had finally convinced his boss to let him bring his team to Egypt in search of Gerald Mercer. Although thanks to Scott, the official documents of his request has the team on an excursion to seek an expert in missile weaponry. Besides, Scott wasn’t too keen on letting Mercer think he got off free and clear after what he did to his family.

“That would be you I think Boss. But look on the bright side at least you have me here to entertain you,” Ryan responded and changed positions at his table at the diner across the road from what they believed to be Mercer’s hideout.

“Entertainment?”

“Absolutely Boss! Listen up I got a joke for you. There’s this guy who had been lost and walking in the desert for about two weeks. One hot day, he sees the home of a missionary. Tired and weak, he crawls up to the house and collapses on the doorstep. The missionary finds him and nurses him back to health. Feeling better, the man asks the missionary for directions to the nearest town. On his way out the backdoor, he sees this horse.” 

A car passed in front of him and he paused as he checked out the driver and waited to see if it was their target. Not spotting Mercer, he resumes speaking to the guys again. “Anyway so this guy goes back into the house and asks the missionary, ‘Could I borrow your horse and give it back when I reach the town?’ The missionary says, ‘Sure but there’s something special about this horse. You have to say Thank God to make it go and Amen to make it stop.’ Not paying much attention, the man says, ‘Sure, ok,’ and goes to get on the horse. He says, ‘Thank God’ and the horse starts walking. He says ‘Thank God’ again and the horse starts trotting. Feeling really brave, the man says, ‘Thank God, Thank God, Thank God,’ and the horse just literally takes off. Pretty soon he sees this cliff coming up and he’s doing everything he can to make the horse stop. ‘Whoa, stop, hold on!’ Finally he remembers, ‘AMEN!’ And the horse stops four inches from the cliff. The man leans back in the saddle, happy to be alive and goes, ‘Thank God.’”

“Ryan?”

“Yeah Boss?”

“Go back to watching the door.”

“Sure thing Boss,” he smiled to himself hearing Dustin and Victor laughing over the communications. “Just trying to lighten the mood.”

“Dad, can you pass the popcorn please?” Yvette asked, moving the pillow deeper against her back as she adjusted beside Scott on the couch. He looked at her and smiled as she scarfed down another handful of the fluffy treat and sighed.

“You know I made the bowl for the two of us.” She laughed and handed him a kernel before filling her jaws again.

“Oh come on, Daddy! Don’t act like you’re not used to getting maybe a handful. Remember movie night? I’d pick a fun, scary movie, you’d pop the corn and we’d sit and watch until I made you walk me up to my room and tuck me in.”

“And you never shared the popcorn then either. I got wise though, popped an extra helping for myself,” he grinned and revealed a smaller container of popcorn he’d made. “I put the extra butter on yours though.”

“Great, that’s just what I need. More weight to run off. Then again the twins have been a treat with that. They are always getting into one thing or another. I feel like I’m constantly saying ‘no’, ‘stop’, ‘don’t.’ They might grow to think it’s their names.”

“Haha that reminds me of a rather rambunctious and shall I say clumsy little girl I once knew. Always breaking something or tinkering with things in the garage.”

“I had a natural curiosity!”

“I know and so did my TV remote, 8-track player, antique camera and trunk locks. Your phone’s ringing sweetheart.”

Yvette leaned over and grabbed her cell from the coffee table. Checking the caller ID, it blinked once and turned off completely and she found herself restarting it from the homepage. “Stupid thing. It’s been acting up ever since we got back from Vegas. I’m about ready to trade it in for a newer model.”

“Where’s that little inventive child I raised? She’d be able to fix it in no time! Or give it a random blinking part, keep it from receiving calls or dial out ever again!” Yvette pouted as he made fun of her and he laughed and wrapped his arm over her shoulder as she rested her head in his lap. Scott’s eyes wandered to the little white envelope on the table beside his door and he regretfully looked down at his daughter. “I’m dying Yvie.”

The words made her choke on her last handful and she instantly pulled up to look at him. “You’re what?”

“I got my test results back today and it’s been confirmed.”

“Daddy! I didn’t even know you were sick! I mean I attributed the weight loss to exercise and Vivica but…why didn’t you tell me?” She asked looking up at him as tears began to well up in her eyes.

“Because I didn’t want you to look at me like that,” he sighed and dropped his head into his hands. “I’ve tried to be the best father I could for you. Teach you all of the things you needed to know and be there for you when you needed. That’s why I told you everything finally. In case I never got another chance to. I was afraid to tell you. I thought you would hate me for it and I didn’t want to lose you; not when I needed you most. But you needed to know.”

“Daddy…”

“It’s not a concern for right now, Tumblelina. Doctors gave me at least two years; anything can happen from now until then.”

“What? A—are you…is it…”

“Cancer. My doctor wants to start me on Chemo but honestly that scares me more than anything and I didn’t want to make a decision without talking to you first.”

“Dad, if this can save your life, why are you waiting?”

“Because I’m not so sure how effective it will be. Other than buying me a few more days, weeks or months it’ll dramatically reduce my independence, make me violently ill and bald.”

“But it will reduce the spreading and maybe even eradicate whats there now!” Yvette paused and turned away from Scott as she felt a pool of fresh tears. “You can’t go. I still need you. And what about the twins? This isn’t right! It’s not fair.”

“I know it’s not Yvie but we do what we can with the hand we’re dealt. I’ve started video documenting a lot of things for my grandchildren so they will have a piece of the old man when they get old enough to understand. And Yvette I don’t want you to mourn me while I’m still here. Let’s not waste our time on tears. You are the best thing that has ever happened to me Princess you need to know that.”

“Then do this, for me. Please?”

“Alright. I’ll give it a go.” He stiffened up his lip and wiped away the tears that had fallen from Yvette’s eyes and smiled. “Let’s not let this ruin movie night. Gotta eat the popcorn while it’s still warm!”

“Daddy!” her lips trembled as she spoke the word and Scott squeezed her tighter against his side.

He leaned over and gently kissed her forehead, biting his cheek as he listened to her soft moans of anguish and regretted having said anything to her tonight about his illness. “Thank you Yvie.”

“For what?”

“Finally forgiving me and coming home. I thought you would stay mad at me until…and when you got hurt I was so afraid of losing you. But as I said, we can’t waste time crying now. We have lots of things to do and very little time for it. Please, I need you to be strong for me ok?”

“Does Vivica know?”

“I-I told her. And we both decided that it would be easier to end things now rather than become too heavily invested.”

“Dad, you’ve been with her a little over two years now. How much time does it take to become too heavily invested? Now is not the time to push people away! You can’t do that to her, Daddy. Call her.”

Scott thought a moment realizing Yvette had a point. The pain in her eyes was something he’d hoped to avoid, he was never good with her when she cried and always tried to keep a smile on her face. But tonight he was the cause of those tears for the second time in a row. Scott settled his back against the sofa cushions and wiped Yvette’s face for the final time and kissed her again. “I will. But tonight I just want to have a quiet evening with my baby girl, ok?” Grabbing his tub of popcorn he smiled as his daughter snuggled against him and they resumed their movie.

“Look alive, we have movement at the bottom right window,” Victor reported and pulled back from his position to gain a better vantage of their objective.

“Is it Mercer?” Brett asked, hopping into his jeep and scooping up his binoculars.

“I’m not sure. Ry you got a visual?”

“Nothing yet. What about you Dustin?”

“I have a visual but it’s not Mercer. It looks like Tobias Eales. I thought he was stuck in customs? What happened with that?”

“He used his connections at the British Consulate to get himself free. It hung him up for less than a day.”

“Ah. Well Eales is not alone, he’s arguing with someone; I can’t see who.” Dustin zoomed in with his spy cam and leaned more on the volume to try and get audio on the conversation. He saw the person arguing with Eales shove him back through the door before connecting with a fist. Moments later a gun was revealed and Tobias Eales fell to the ground. “Shots fired! Shots fired! I have no visual on the shooter. Eales is down, I repeat Eales is down; shooter’s out the back!”

Ryan hurried from the diner and hopped into the passenger seat of Brett’s jeep as he got it into gear and sped off around the corner of the building in hot pursuit of the Mini Cooper. Meanwhile Victor jumped from his position and rushed into the building to check for the victim with Dustin close behind him. Moving in tight formation, they cleared the front rooms and entered the large living quarters that opened into the main section of the two story home. Finding Tobias Eales on the floor of the living room, Dustin knelt down checking for a pulse while Victor continued clearing the area. Meeting back up in the doorway he looked over at Dustin who shook his head no, Eales was dead. 

“No suspects on site, Eales is dead,” Victor reported, “How should we proceed?”

“Search the place. See if you can find any information confirming our beliefs that Marcos Dechamps is in fact Mercer and let us know. We’re following the vehicle that left the building but he’s taking us through a lot of winding roads and being in unfamiliar territory, the driver’s got the advantage,” Brett yelled at a pedestrian as he swerved quickly to avoid hitting him and ran through a fruit stand on the outskirts of a local market. “Damn.”

“What do you want us to do about Eales?”

“Once you’ve given the place a once over call the locals, I doubt anyone else has yet. I heard no shots so I’m assuming the shooter used a silencer.”

“That’s right,” Dustin confirmed, pulling away from the body. He checked the ground for a bullet casing and hit pay dirt. “Ballistics should love this.”

“Great. We’ll meet back up once we figure out where this guy is taking us. Stay alert; there’s no telling who else Mercer may be working with out here.”

“Honey can you get the door? I’ll grab us some more popcorn and get the next movie started.” Scott started off into the kitchen as Yvette entered the foyer. Taking a peek through the peephole, she hesitated at first and checked to see where Scott was before opening the door.

“What are you doing here? You can’t be here!” she whispered anxiously.

“I know. I tried calling but you weren’t answering your phone.”

“Yeah I know there’s something wrong with it. Ethan, you have to leave. Scott doesn’t know you’re back and I’d prefer to keep it that way.”

“Sycom is under attack, Yvette.”

“What? How is that possible? I thought no one knew about your existence.”

“I’m not sure and that’s why I tracked you down, to warn you. The facility was breached and we lost several agents including Redding. The ones lucky enough to get away are all going underground now and I need you to be vigilant.”

“What happened Ethan? How did…?”

“I’ll contact you later when I know more. Take this,” he handed her a disposable cell phone as he checked the area around him again with a quick look over his shoulder. “I’m sorry Yvette. I have to go but I promise I’ll call and explain everything.” Quickly kissing her forehead, Ethan disappeared under the cover of darkness and Yvette was left standing in confusion on Scott’s front porch.

“Yvie Sweetheart?” he called for her as he came up behind from the kitchen. “Who was it?”

“Oh um…no one. I think it might have been a kid pranking you or something. A ding-dong ditch only you don’t have a doorbell,” she smiled and took a handful of popcorn from the bowl in his hand. “So what’s the next movie on the list?”

“Actually, I called Vivica. And after a short period of begging and pleading I convinced her to come over so we could talk and try to work this thing out. She’s at work now and said she’ll call when she leaves in about an hour or so.”

“Good. You need to let her be here for you, she wants to be.”

“I know and I really care for her. It’s why I sent her away in the first place. But you’re right; now is not the time to push people away. But I will ask that you give us some privacy then…to talk.”

“Wait, are you pushing me away?” Yvette smiled before wrapping her arms around her father and squeezing him against her chest. “I love you Daddy and I’ll let the two of you talk,” she grinned repeating her dad’s implication of his need for privacy.

“If you want we could start the next movie. It’ll take her a little while to get across town.”

“Lead the way!” Yvette shut the door behind her and started after Scott to the living room again.

The Mini Cooper came to a stop outside a small town called Al-Simhara, an ancient rugged locale built against a river, full of rich culture and history. Brett parked just behind a small shop a fair distance from where the driver got out. Assured the man believed he’d lost the agents somewhere near the Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, Brett and Ryan had a small window of opportunity to catch him off guard. Ryan reported on their location to Victor and Dustin as he watched the top floor for any sign of change. Brett, using heat-seeking binoculars checked the number of occupants inside the place. “Alright, there are only two people inside; the driver and whoever he was coming out here to meet.”

“So how are we doing this?”

“I’ll take the front, I want you to count to thirty and enter through the back. If all goes well we’ll get shots of Mercer and have him in custody for extradition before the week is out.” Quickly and quietly they exited the vehicle. Brett waited for Ryan to get around to the back of the building before turning the handle of the door in front of him. With his gun leading him into the rooms, he cleared the lower section and started up the stairs where he’d spotted the suspects.

Voices were heard arguing through the wall beside him and Brett heard a door open downstairs and pressed himself against the wall. Footsteps on the stairs turned his head slightly and he sighed realizing it was Ryan coming into the home. The back staircase poured out onto the one he stood upon which was an advantage to them; there was only one way out. “Who were they?” one of the men yelled at the other.

“I don’t know.”

“Did they see you take out the Ambassador?”

“I don’t know.”

“Well what do you know?” Neither recognized the voices inside and Brett motioned to Ryan to move forward and get a picture of the two men standing in the room across from him. Keeping his guard up, Ryan snuck around the corner and snapped off a quick shot before swiftly pinning himself against the wall again. He looked down at the image and frowned. Shaking his head no towards his superior, Brett returned the gesture with a look of confusion. 

According to the picture on the camera in Ryan’s hand, neither man inside that room was Gerald Mercer. They had spent three days tracking him to Eales’ location only to end up with nothing. They quietly slipped out of the home and started back to the jeep.

“What now?” Ryan demanded as he took another look at the image.

“Now we’re back at square one! Fuck!” Brett growled and kicked the tire of his jeep.

“This makes no sense! We had Intel Eales knew Mercer’s location!”

“Get the locals to this location. Let them know where to find Eales’ killer. And then call Dustin. I want the name of that fucking informant so he can tell me why we’re out here on a wild fucking goose chase. Fuck!” he yelled again and slipped behind the wheel of his jeep. Ryan jumped into the passenger seat and dialed up the other half of their team while Brett circled around the market and started back towards them. 

“Call me later?” Yvette asked as Scott walked her to the front door.

“Absolutely.” Yvette gave her father a quick kiss on the cheek and started for Brett’s truck. As she pulled out of the driveway her cell phone rang. Reaching down to retrieve it, she frowned seeing the black screen again and listened to it beep as it seemingly went dead. “Yeah you’re definitely getting traded!” She growled and threw it to her passenger seat but the ringing continued. Checking her pocket again, she realized it was the phone Ethan had handed her a few moments ago and pulled to the side of the road to answer.

“Yvie…need you…help…” His voice broke through on the other line. “Come…Copeland…warehouse…”

“What? Ethan you’re breaking up, I can’t understand you.”

“5^th and Copeland…warehouse…Yvie?”

“What’s happening? Ethan?” The call ended abruptly after what sounded like gunfire and Yvette quickly peeled away from the curb and sped off in the direction of the address she could make out through the static.

“Ethan!” Yvette whispered as she approached behind him. He motioned for her to get down and she snuck over to the side of the building where he hid. “What’s going on? Your phone call, you sounded frantic.”

“I got a call shortly after I left you at Scott’s. One of my lookouts spotted the van leaving Sycom and heading through D.C. I followed up on the tip and found them here. From what I’ve been able to tell, it’s a group of about twenty, heavily armed. The front gates are secured with a passkey and a five digit code. So far three vehicles have entered the facility and none have left. Two security guards on the front door, no telling how many more inside. The van parked just behind that left port and the crew emptied into the hangar just beside it.”

Slipping to the ground near him, Ethan handed Yvette a pair of binoculars and she looked off into the direction he instructed. “Hmm, that’s strange. There are no cameras looking towards the street but I got one on the hangar and another just on the gate for visitors. Movement on the second floor but none in the hangar so there must be an elevator of some kind inside those doors. Wait a second; is that Chief Justice John Sullivan, Senator Julie Pierce and Congressman Robert Ames?” she gasped noticing three respected members of government inside the building.

“All members of the Delegate,” Ethan explained. “We need to get in there and retrieve the files they confiscated from Sycom. There are agents in the field in covert operations who are in very grave danger the longer these people have possession of that information.”

“And what if we can’t retrieve that data?”

“Then destroying it is the next best thing. Yvie, we worked on highly classified missions. There was a myriad of sensitive information on those computers that we cannot let fall into the hands of our enemies. They’ve already shown what they are willing to do in order to protect themselves and we cannot allow them to murder any more agents in cold blood.”

“Ok, then what are we waiting for?”

“I called a few of my guys; they’ll be here shortly with gear.”

“Right,” she blew out a breath and closed her fingers into tight fists as she felt them shaking. Ethan looked down at the gesture and up to her face, focusing on her eyes which were darting in several directions as she reflected over the situation. It had been a little over a month since she was put in a coma and just as much time since the last operation she’d conducted. Though her aim was getting back to where it was before the shooting, she wasn’t exactly 100% up to the first-rate status she used to be.

“Yvie, are you ok?” Yvette nodded and offered him a stiff smile. “Are you sure you’re up to this? If not my guys and I can handle it alone.”

“Earlier I thought I heard gunfire on the line,” she responded, ignoring the obvious concern in his voice that was equally as apparent on his face. She needed to hold up her bravado to fool herself and prepare her mind and hope that it didn’t reveal how truly nervous and utterly helpless she actually felt.

“That was the front gate opening. I think they designed it to be loud to alert them of any and all entries. It pops like fireworks; noisy but effective.”

A large truck pulled around the corner from where the two hid and Ethan nudged his daughter and quietly they made their way over to where it parked. A team of combat clad men hopped out of the front and back of the vehicle and like well trained soldiers fell in line to receive orders from their commander. Ethan walked behind the truck, changed into something more suited for the mission ahead and instructed Yvette to do the same.

Once everyone was wearing similar garb, he handed out specific orders that each was to carry out. Yvette watched and was impressed with the way her father commanded his team. They were very well trained and obviously prepared for what lied ahead. From what she could tell the squad was perfectly structured with a professional in nearly every skill set; regardless of what they faced inside, one or more of the twelve men was more than capable of accomplishing the objective. The plan of attack was well thought-out and highly feasible.

“Yvette, I know we’ve never officially worked together in this capacity and I wanted you to know…”

“I’ll be fine, Ethan. I’ve done this numerous times before.”

“I know, but I’ll still worry. When we get in there, I want you to stay with me, the others have their orders but I need to know you’re safe.” Yvette sighed and turned away and Ethan grabbed her by the arm and redirected her attention back towards him. “I mean it Yvie.”

“Ok Dad, relax. I’ll stick with you.” Ethan felt a swell of pride expand his chest hearing that word and a smile turned his lips up at the corners. They were few and very far between but when she referred to him as “dad” it made everything he’s done over the past decade worth it. Giving the command, his Alpha team took positions on either side of the door, preparing to storm the building.

With flash bangs in hand, the first troopers kicked in the doors and easily took the guards stationed out front. Once they were neutralized the second squad took point while teams one and three flanked the corridors and swept the adjacent halls. Ethan and Yvette along with two other men, identified as Nelson and Walters, entered the doors at the rear and started for the stairs as one of the tech pros took out the electricity rendering the entire building in complete darkness. Equipped with night vision goggles and infrared, heat tracking weaponry, each team moved to their designated zones, dispatching any and all resistance they met. Ethan motioned for one of his men to take lead and he swooped around in front of Yvette, who stayed true to her promise and remained at her father’s side. 

Once the doors to the main room were breached on the second floor, chaos erupted! A round of gunshots ripped through the silence and into the hallway, splintering the wood paneled walls behind Ethan. He pulled Yvette behind him and returned fire as his men each guarded the doors ensuring no one got out alive. Making use of the grenades in their possession, a loud bang erupted inside the tight quarters of the room and echoed throughout the building. Screams could be heard from the men trapped inside the smoke and fire filled room and the sound of glass shattering preceded thumps as a few of them leapt to their deaths through broken windows.

The commandos entered first, followed closely by their team leader and Yvette. Ethan quickly fired on a man standing near the wall, preparing to draw his weapon while the other two agents in his company cleared the room of enemies. They began sifting through the ashes of the place looking for anything remotely familiar to the missing files from Sycom’s office but came up empty handed. “It’s not here!” he roared and slammed his hand onto the table. Spotting a man crawling in the direction of a door near the back of the room, he rushed towards him and scooped him up violently. “Where did you take the files confiscated from your heist?”

“Go to hell,” the man coughed up a mouthful of blood and Ethan decisively stuck his gun to his leg and blew out his knee. The man bellowed a thunderous cry of mercy as Ethan began digging the barrel of his firearm into the fresh wound.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t quite catch that.”

“Please! Stop!” he begged only to find Ethan applying more and more pressure until he finally cracked. “The hangar, it’s all in the hangar out front. Now please! Stop!”

“See, now that wasn’t so hard,” Ethan remarked. He pulled back, took aim and shot the man point blank in the head. Blood and brains splattered against the wall and his lifeless body slid down to the floor. “Let’s move.”

“What if he was lying?” Yvette asked as her father turned towards the door.

“We’ll find out soon enough.” Ethan, Yvette and their team moved swiftly from the main building towards the hangar they’d surveyed earlier. The truck that left Sycom parked just inside the large doors and he believed this is where they would locate stolen Intel from their database. Entering in standard formation once again, Ethan led his daughter inside the largest of the hangars as the rest of his men continued clearing the main building. Nelson and Walters searched the back of the room while Yvette and Ethan each took a side.

“Eagle Eye 7412 and Aerial 35, are these yours?” Yvette asked, coming across a stack of boxes and flash drives. Ethan smiled and rushed over to her and began searching through the box beside hers.

“It’s all here.”

“Are you sure?”

“Well we’ll have to get it back to HQ and check for certain but it looks intact. Come on, let’s get this loaded on the truck and get out of here.” He pulled up his walkie and changed frequencies to call the other men inside the main facility, “Operatives to my location, mission objective completed.” Ethan smiled towards Yvette and nudged her arm with his. “Good work Sunshine.”

She nodded in return and moved towards the doors preparing to leave. But the sound of footsteps caught the team off guard and Yvette turned towards Ethan with a terrified look on her face. Upon earlier assessment of the building they estimated about twenty armed men standing guard and another four spread throughout the building. What they heard outside could easily be another dozen or more. From where they stood with just the four of them inside the hangar, they were undermanned and surrounded. The door to the outer room exploded in gunfire and Yvette threw herself to the floor, taking cover behind a cement block while Ethan holed up in a corner of the room opposite of where she hid. 

He could see the terror in her eyes as debris blew by her in ripples of bullet vapor. Despite earlier declarations of her readiness, Yvette was far removed from being prepared for this kind of action so soon. Feeling his paternal nature take charge, Ethan braved the waves of gunfire flooding the hangar and rushed towards his daughter. He reached for her, pulling her into his chest and away from the walls just as they exploded around them. He could feel her take a breath and sighed in relief as the shell shock in her nerves gave way and the agent he’d known as a well-trained mercenary resurfaced.

Yvette pushed away from her father and got to her feet. Walters and Nelson were both dead and lying beside the main doors; she was determined to not let that be her. Noticing a large barrel of fuel beside the tanker truck, Yvette crawled towards it and kicked it to the other side of the room. Ethan took a deep breath realizing her intentions and prepared himself for what would be a sizeable explosion.

Twisting the crates in front of him to absorb some of the blast radius, he snatched Yvette down with him and kept her covered with his body as rounds continued burning holes into the walls. Ethan spotted a fire blanket and tossed it over the two just as the gunfire stopped and the doors to the room flew open. Keeping watch through a small notch in the blanket, Yvette waited until several of the men filtered into the room before taking aim at the barrel and firing.

Almost instantly the entire room became engulfed in a ball of orange flame and a large explosion sent shockwaves throughout the building rocking the framework and collapsing one part of the hangar. Large panels of sheet metal came crashing down from the ceilings and rafters onto the men standing inside the room. Those that weren’t enveloped by fire were smashed by pieces of falling scaffolding as more of the structure toppled over and through the door. The sounds of their screams haunted Yvette through her closed eyes and she was too afraid to look up at the destruction eating its way through the room.

The wretched stench of burning flesh filled the air, crawling into her nostrils and seeping into her skin. And Yvette found herself choking on the poison filtering in from the exploded barrels of chemicals. The room shook with aftershock tremors as the flames grew higher and out of control. The metal walls around them melted into nothing as the fire disintegrated everything it touched. A large beam above their heads snapped and crashed down on top of them, hitting Yvette, knocking her out and splintering the gas mask she wore even more.

Looking up, Ethan noticed the tanker hadn’t yet exploded and realized he had very little time before the truck became sucked in by the flames and took them along with it. Wrapping his arm around Yvette, he kicked out the door behind them and hastily withdrew into the bushes behind the warehouse. A second, larger explosion shook the structure and formed a huge mushroom cloud into the sky, quaking the ground beneath their feet. Ethan turned back in time to watch the entire facility go up in smoke and the hangar itself crumbled completely to the ground.

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