“Take the shot, Lex. I said, take the shot!”

  The voice crackled urgently through the earpiece.

  I peered through the scope, perched high on the rooftop across the boulevard. Below me, a woman stood calmly on the sidewalk, coffee in hand, the wind tugging at her coat’s hem. This could be her last sip.

  “Lex! I said take the shot!”

  Then — bang.

  The bullet tore through the air, striking her clean in the head. She crumpled, coffee splashing across the pavement in a dark, spreading stain.

  Screams erupted around her.

  “Aah!” A woman nearby shrieked, frozen in horror at the bloodied scene.

  Security forces swarmed in an instant.

  But I was already gone.

  ****

  Somewhere deep in a hidden corridor behind the mission hub...

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  “What is wrong with you, Lex? When I say take the shot, you take the shot!”

  I looked up, distant.

  “Hey! I’m talking to you!” The voice barked again as a heavy hand slammed down on my shoulder.

  I shrugged it off. “I took the shot.”

  “You hesitated,” the voice snapped sharply.

  A stern figure hurried toward me but stopped when another man’s voice echoed from the stairwell.

  “That’s enough.”

  He stepped down from the elevated walkway leading to the operations center.

  Citrus, one of the agency’s senior operatives, moved with controlled fury, locking eyes with me.

  “I think you’re slipping. Again. You’re supposed to be the best at this.” The man beside Citrus spoke sharply. “It’s time to leave the field.”

  “Yes, Director Nox,” Citrus said quietly, glancing at me.

  “You hesitated,” Nox repeated, his voice colder now. “That hesitation cost us.”

  I said nothing, standing silent.

  “Because you hesitated, the hit’s out in the open. It wasn’t supposed to be public. We clean up in the dark, not in the chaos of daylight.”

  Still I stayed silent.

  “I hope silence is a satisfying excuse for what happened today.”

  Finally, I met his gaze, calm but razor sharp.

  “I took the shot,” I said. “And that’s what matters. She’s gone.”

  Without another word, I turned and walked out of the operations center.

  ****

  The car was waiting when I reached the lot. It drove me far from the mission hub, beyond the city’s outer walls, stopping near an abandoned bay nestled beside a small forest.

  The driver’s voice was low, almost a whisper.

  “Your mission will be delivered soon. Have a good evening, Project Seven.”

  I glanced over. He closed the door quietly behind me and vanished.

  I stepped through the trees toward a quiet house tucked at the bay’s edge.

  No agency. No orders.

  Just silence.

  Then, a small, joyful voice rang out from the porch:

  “Dad!”