Page 93 of Her Fearless Warrior

“If we can avoid this traffic ahead, maybe another half hour? I’ll see what we can do to cut the time down,” Gideon promised.

“Linc, I want updates,” Kostya said.

* * *

“You got it,” Linc replied. Then hung up. He turned his attention to Jase and Leila. He and Jase had worked together for years. They had a rhythm. He was good at going places and not being seen. He could track. He was going to be on the ground. Linc was going to be up high.

“There’s only one way in by car, which is the driveway. But there are multiple points of entry through the woods on either side of the cabin. I’m going to take to the roof and take my shots when I can get them.”

“I’m going to head to the woods,” Jase said.

“Why don’t we just drive away?” Leila asked reasonably.

“The blue truck will block off our escape route,” Linc said.

“Okay,” Leila said.

“I want you inside the house, in the bedroom facing the lake. Get in front of the window facing the east. You’ll be able to pick off anybody who gets by me. Jase, you take the west side of the woods. Leila, I want you to take Roscoe into the bedroom with you. Somebody will think twice before entering the bedroom if they hear a dog barking.”

He saw the fear behind Leila’s resolution. Goddammit, this was the same woman who was just screaming in the middle of the night because of her nightmares, and now this. How much more was she going to have to put up with?

He pulled her into his arms and gave her a fierce kiss.

“I love you. You can do this, baby.”

“I love you too. Stay safe.”

25

Linc got on the roof and relied on Jase to explain to Leila how to handle the night vision goggles. He would just rely on his rifle’s night vision scope. Jase and he had their normal communication system. She would have to use her phone. At least they had an extra set of body armor though it was huge on her. But they had to work with what they had.

He called Leila.

“Yeah?” she answered.

“Keep this line open. Keep it on mute unless you have info. Whisper. I’ll do the same.”

“Got it.”

He settled in, keeping his rifle moving slowly so that he could cover both sides of the driveway. He waited. It took eight minutes before anyone had anything to say.

He was the one to break the silence.

Linc picked up his phone and also whispered in his mic, “Incoming. Just one. Twelve-hundred meters out. I’m waiting.”

The man was wearing night vision goggles. The longer Linc could hold off shooting him, the better. He didn’t want to alert these people of his presence and he wanted to take out as many targets as he could as fast as he could, when he started shooting.

Linc counted. He was at thirty-three when he heard Jase. “One down.”

Nice.

“Did you tell Leila to wait until they were closer before she should shoot?” Linc whispered into his mic really quietly so Leila wouldn’t hear.

“Dude, she knows the range of her pistol. She’s got it covered.” Linc could barely hear what Jase said, but he did. He should have known Leila would have it covered.

Linc waited some more, then he saw another target coming on the other side of the driveway, still about eight hundred meters out. They were moving slowly. Cautiously. Normally, this would be smart on their part, but they didn’t know they had a sniper on them.

“One is in range of the house,” Leila said.