Liam slipped through the broken gate. His boots, along with his team’s, trekked over loose gravel without a sound, crossing the open kill zone. The southeast wall loomed ahead, half-buried in sand. A warped door stood wedged shut, a piece of wire hanging from the lock.
“Charlie Four.” Liam cued Boone to assess the entry point.
The breacher stepped forward and crouched at the door. “Tripwire’s a joke. Barely armed. They want us to walk through it.”
“A setup.” Liam’s mind whipped through the mental catalogue of information they’d acquired for this mission. Continue? Or change the plan?
“Charlie One, Raven. I’m detecting intermittent heat spikes above the entry—ceiling void level. Could be Overwatch positions or could be equipment. Unsure. No line of sight until you breach.”
“You think we’re walking into a slaughter?”
“I think you’re walking into astatement.” Raven’s words left no room for doubt.
Liam glanced at his second in command. Rafe gave a single nod.
“Charlie Four, breach it.”
“Copy, Charlie One.” Boone went to work.
Liam and Rafe rotated and aimed their HK416s toward the perimeter, scanning for movement in the dark while Boone set the charge and Dax monitored the door.
A sharp pop blew the door.
Liam spun and led his team inside. The responsibility of being Charlie Team’s leader weighed heavy. He refused to lose one of his men, and he lumped Echo Team into that category. They’d all leave this place alive. He wouldn’t accept any other outcome.
The low-ceilinged room was lit only by his night vision goggles. He moved deeper into the building. So far, no resistance. His team worked like one body, each an extension of the other. He lowered his HK416, slid around the corner, then popped his weapon back into position and came to a halt. The smell of sweat, copper, and something burnt invaded his senses. Against the far wall, shackled to a steel pipe, five men sat slumped on the cold dirt floor, unmoving.
Echo Team. Had they arrived too late?
“Raven, Charlie One. Heat signatures?”
“Affirmative, Charlie One.”
Alive.
Liam closed his eyes for a second in relief. Time to get these men home. “Charlie Two, door. Charlie Three, Charlie Four, with me. Go!”
Rafe snapped into position to cover the door. Boone cleared the corners, while he and Dax hurried to Echo’s side. Dax dropped beside the nearest man and began cutting restraints.
Liam crouched beside a man whose face was bruised and beaten almost beyond recognition. “Carr, can you hear me?”
The man stirred. One swollen eye cracked open. “Liam?”
“Yeah,” he said. “You’re going home.”
Carr shifted and groaned. “Don’t… trust the gear. They were…listening.”
Liam cut his friend free and helped him to sit up. “We know. Raven found the breach.”
At Raven’s name, Carr lifted his gaze to Liam. “She’s the reason for the rescue?”
He nodded.
The creak of wood jerked Liam’s attention upward
“Movement above—” Raven warning cut short.
“Ceiling!” Boone shouted.
