Page 101 of Silent Target

His rifle fires.

A machine gun on the eastern ridge goes silent.

A second position opens from higher ground.

Shark fires from the rear vehicle.

The muzzle flash disappears.

“Two down,” he reports.

A rocket streaks toward us.

“RPG!” Falcon shouts.

Rook swerves.

The projectile passes over the hood and explodes against the cliff. Rock crashes onto the road, blocking the path ahead.

Fathom looks through the rear window. “The bridge is gone. The road ahead is blocked.”

“We’re trapped,” Mac says.

Rook’s voice remains calm. “No. They are.”

Caleb smiles.

I know that smile now.

It means someone has made a terrible mistake.

“Cobra,” Caleb says.

“I’ve been waiting.”

“What do you have?”

“Three directional charges and eight pounds of C-4.”

“Can you collapse their eastern position without bringing the ridge onto us?”

Cobra sounds offended. “Of course I can.”

“No unnecessary casualties,” Rook orders. “Force them out of position.”

“Understood.”

Cobra slips from the rear SUV and disappears into the forest.

Gunfire pounds the canyon.

Mac ducks lower while I reload magazines and pass them to Fathom.

He takes one from me. “You’ve done this before?”

“My father believed daughters should know how to survive.”

“Remind me never to argue with him.”