I smile. “I honestly don’t know yet,” I say. “But how about we take it day by day and see where we go?”
He returns my smile. “I can live with that.”
Chapter Thirty-Two
Volt
“Alpha One, in position,” I say.
“Copy that, Alpha One. Hold position and standby.” Doc’s voice sounds in my earpiece.
“Copy that,” I reply.
I’m sitting on a thick branch of a tree outside the compound that gives me a vantage point inside. Tonight’s the night Emiliano is making his move on us. We listened to his entire plan as he laid it out in the conference room with his men. As plans go, it’s not a bad one. But the fact that we know what he’s doing and spent the day preparing for it strips him of any tactical advantage and gives it all to us.
A cool wind rustles the leaves in the trees around me and makes the bough creak ominously.
“No, no, no, you bastard,” I tell the branch beneath me. “We’re not playing that Rock-A-Bye Baby bullshit.”
I check my watch and see that it’s closing in on midnight. The attack is supposed to take place just after. I pull my night vision goggles down and scan my sector.
“Alpha Fourteen,” comes Adam’s voice. “Three black SUVs just turned onto Pharaoh Road. They’ll be to the compound in thirty seconds.”
“Alpha Sixteen,” Monk says, his voice low. “We have movement in the southern woods. Squad of eight. All heavily armed. A minute out.”
“Alpha Twelve,” Spyder checks in. “Eight hostiles on the western flank. A minute out.”
“Alpha Ten,” Domino says. “Eastern flank is clear. No hostiles.”
“Alpha Eight,” comes Cosmo’s voice. “Northern flank is clear. No hostiles.”
“Stand cool, everybody,” Doc says. “Let them all get into the killing box. Once they’re in, do your thing, Alpha Six.”
“Copy that. Alpha Six standing by,” Nitro replies.
“Hey, did somebody call Sheriff Singer and tell him to not send his guys when things start poppin’ off out here?” I ask.
“Affirmative,” Doc replies. “Singer is standing down.”
I nod and sweep the area again but see nothing. A moment later though, I watch Pharaoh Road and see the headlights from the SUVs drawing near. I look closely and see men standing on the running board, all dressed in black with tactical vests, pants, and balaclavas. They all appeared to be toting the same MP69s the guards on Zavala’s property used.
I key open my mic. “Bogeys inbound. Ten seconds from the gate. I count six hostiles per vehicle. That’s eighteen hostiles,” I say.
“He can count. Bravo,” Monk says, earning the laugh of some of the men.
“All right, settle down,” Doc admonished them.
“Sixteen with the SUVs, sixteen on foot,” I report. “Total of thirty two.”
A couple of the guys whistled low on the line. The odds weren’t in our favor. But I knew that going in. We were never going to have great odds against Zavala and had to rely on our skill and training for a tactical advantage.
The SUVs roar into the compound, and the armed men are jumping off the running board before it even comes to a complete stop.
“Bogies have made entry,” I say.
“Bogies have breached the western wall.”
“Bogies have breathed the southern wall.”
