Thirty-Eight
Court said, “Overwatch? How’s my exfil looking?”
Instead of Gumdrop replying, Zack came over the net. “I’m pulling up on N Street, one hundred yards north of your poz. Dark gray Yukon. Get inside that restaurant and haul ass out the back alley. Keep moving behind the row houses till you get to me.”
Court rose and took the older woman by the arm, and they went inside the restaurant. Quickly, Catherine King fished through her purse; he thought she was looking for some cash to pay the bill, but instead she pulled out a credit card. Handing it to the server, she said, “I’ll be back to sign.”
Now Court pulled her towards the back; the few patrons inside along with a male server gave him looks of shock, as if they were witnessing some sort of domestic situation. Court ignored them and transmitted to Zack. “Night Train, you see any hint of any oppo in your area, let me—”
“Yep. There’s a white Nissan Armada with two men in it. Right in front of me. They haven’t locked onto me, but when you two come out of that alleyway, we’re going to find out real quick if they’re just here to observe and report, or if these motherfuckers are down to clown.”
“What’s your gut?”
“My gut is we’re gonna see some action.”
Court and Catherine stepped outside now, hustling past garbage cans,moving through a narrow alleyway past carriage houses and detached garages. Court shuffled his pack from his back and began unzipping it as he walked hurriedly along. To Zack, he said, “You and me are the only shooters today, so we better hope that Snare is the only guy looking for a fight and these other guys are just going to hold back and—”
Zack interrupted. “Six…got a black four-door pulling up behind me, close. Gumdrop? Can you ID from a traffic camera?”
“Stand by,” Jill said, and Court moved to Catherine’s right, held her arm in his left hand so his right hand could hover closer to his pistol on his hip. His blue backpack swung on his left forearm, half unzipped.
Hanley came over the net now. “Six, I’m with Gumdrop monitoring drone footage. I’ve got two men entering the restaurant you just left, moving with purpose. Cannot confirm they are Gauntlet, but by their actions we should presume they are hostile.”
“No argument from me on that,” Court said.
Zack spoke up now. “One man exited the black sedan behind me, passenger side. He’s approaching my poz, tactical gear, generic police vest, his mask is up. Hasnotdrawn his sidearm. Also, the dudes in the Armada are getting frosty. Raising their masks, shuffling their hands below my view. I’m gonna say theyareabout to go kinetic. You two need to find cover in the alley because shit’s about to get spicy.”
Gumdrop spoke next. “Night Train. Vehicle behind you is registered to Gauntlet Group security division, Falls Church office.”
“But of course, it is.”
“Fuck,” Court said out loud, and then he pulled Catherine behind a wooden one-car garage, out of view of N Street, just twenty-five yards to the north.
“What are you doing?”
He reached into his pack. “Gumdrop, let me know if that pair leaves the restaurant via the alleyway.”
“Roger.”
“What is happening?” Catherine demanded now.
“Lots of voices in my ear are telling me you and I are about to run for our lives. Take off your coat.” She did so, as quickly as the intensity in his voice demanded, and from the backpack he pulled a vest of thin andpliable soft body armor; he hurriedly put it on over Catherine’s head and fastened it on the sides.
“Are we about to get into a fight?”
“Dunno, you’d have to ask the other guys.”
“What about you? You’re not wearing armor.”
“I am,” he replied, and then he reached back into the bag that was now on the ground. From it he pulled a Scorpion Micro 9-millimeter submachine gun with a short silencer and a twenty-round magazine. It had an extended wire stock, but he left it collapsed, meaning the entire weapon, even with the protruding silencer, was less than a foot and a half in length.
The squat black weapon had a canvas sling, and this he put over his neck, and then he let the gun hang on his chest and zipped his coat about a third of the way up his body, effectively hiding it.
“You can’t just shoot Gauntlet officers,” Catherine King protested.
“Yeah, but Icanshoot back,” he said, and then he ushered her back out into the alleyway.
They’d taken only a couple of steps when Gumdrop all but shouted over the net. “Two men behind you!”
