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Ostap sighed heavily and rubbed his eyes. Not even years of training and practice could properly prepare him for such a mission, especially when he was having to play babysitter to a pair of eggheads who seemed fragile enough to crack under the slightest pressure. “What do you want to do about it, then? Walk up and say hello to them, introduce ourselves and offer to help them?”
“Is that an option?” Oles’ voice was dead serious, and Ostap gave him a long glare until the technician finally turned away. The four sat there for a moment, each of them lost in their own thoughts, until Carl happened to turn and glance back at the hill. He quickly sat back up on his knees and grabbed his binoculars before tapping wildly at Ostap’s knee.
“Look. On the edge of the compound. They’ve got company.”
Ostap peered out toward the compound that he was supposed to be guiding the technicians toward. In addition to the trio inside, there were half a dozen individuals lurking near the close side of the wall. Each of them wore blue jeans and leather jackets and wielded rifles and pistols along with pipes and crowbars. They cut imposing figures and looked as though they were aware of the trio inside the compound. The three individuals—including Dr. Evans—seemed oblivious to the presence of the other people as they were still focused on watching something across the street.
After watching everyone down the road closely for just a few more seconds, Ostap put everything together and realized precisely what was going on. This realization came just a few seconds before the shooting started.
Chapter 3
The Waters’ Homestead
Outside Ellisville, VA
Dianne stood on the porch with the rest of the group, frozen by Sarah’s words for a few seconds before Mark put his hand on her arm. “Mom?” His touch and the single word spurred her to action, and she began giving hasty instructions to the rest of the group, speaking in a low tone as she glanced around at the woods in front of the house.
“Mark, get upstairs and get ready with the rifle like we talked about. Stay in touch by radio and let me know what you see, okay? Jacob and Josie, I want you two in the basement with Tina, Jason and Sarah.”
“Oh like hell I’m going in that basement,” Tina replied. The wrinkles on her face deepened as she pulled back her lips into a sneer. “Sarah, you and Jason get down there and watch over the kids. I’m going to take a few of these assholes out myself.”
“Easy, Tina; we don’t know if whoever’s out there is with the gang. But that’s still a good idea.” Dianne nodded to Sarah in confirmation before Jason, Sarah, Jacob and Josie hurried inside and headed down the stairs, picking up a few weapons and ammunition along the way.
“That’s bull and you know it,” Tina grumbled at Dianne. “There’s no way someone’s here without having some sort of nefarious motive.”
“I know,” replied Dianne. “So let’s go out and greet them. Mark? Upstairs, now. Stay hidden and tell me what you see. Tina and I are going to stay around the side of the house until you give me a headcount and description of who’s out there.”
“Got it, Mom.” Mark nodded and bounded through the door, racing upstairs with his rifle in hand. Dianne and Tina stood on the front porch near the edge of the house, scanning the area in front for signs of movement, not wanting to show themselves out back until they knew what to expect. It only took a moment for Mark’s voice to come through on the radio.
“Mom?”
“What do you see, Mark?”
“Two guys in blue jeans, one wearing a blue jacket and the other in a black jacket. They’re down by the barn where you… where you shot that guy who was trying to break in.”
“Are they trying to break in?”
“I’m not sure. They’re just kind of… standing around?”
“Are they looking at the house?”
“Not really.”
“Okay, good. Keep watching them. Tell me if anything changes.” Dianne turned to Tina. “Go around to the other side of the house and keep your eyes open. I’m going to the back to see what these idiots are trying to do.”
“Will do.” Tina hurried off to the other side of the house. Dianne, meanwhile, took a deep breath and walked around the side she was closest to, keeping her rifle at the ready and continuing to scan the trees as she went. With no signs of movement near the house, Dianne eased around the corner near the porch and raised her rifle to look through the scope at the lake and barns at the other end of the property. It took her a second to locate the two men that Mark had described, but once she did she saw that they were just as he had described.
They stood in front of one of the larger barns, looking around as they pawed through a large duffle bag held by the one in the blue jacket. After a moment the one in the black jacket pulled out a tool that looked like a pair of gardening loppers. The man in the black jacket held the tool near the lock to the shed and Dianne realized that it was actually a pair of bolt-cutters, and that they were trying to cut through.
“Seriously?” Dianne whispered to herself in frustration as she tried to decide what to do. She wasn’t about to negotiate with the men—even if they weren’t with the gang, she had gone through enough talking to last a lifetime. Neither of the two options she saw open to her made her happy. The first, giving off a warning shot and trying to scare them off, was a bad idea because they might return fire or come back later. The second, to shoot them at a distance and kill them, seemed overly cold-hearted to her. Cold-hearted? She thought to herself, Really? Cold-hearted? I’ve killed four people so far. I think we’re beyond cold-hearted.
As Dianne sighted in on the two men, getting ready to fire on them before they broke through the lock, a shot rang out from the far side of the house. Before she could pull back from the scope she saw the man in the black jacket drop the bolt-cutters and heard his distant cry of pain. He dropped to one knee while his partner whirled around, trying to trace the direction the shot came from as the sound echoed across the fields and trees.
Dianne started to move back around the house to both get into cover and figure out where the shot came from when a second one rang out, sending the already-kneeling man toppling over to the ground. Blood and gore was painted onto his companion and part of the front of the barn, and Dianne could see through her scope that part of his head and skull had been blown away. A second later, on the radio, Tina’s voice came through clear and harsh. “One down, one to go. You gonna do any shooting or what?”
“Tina? What are you—”
“Shoot more and talk less, girl, or else that other one’s going to get away and warn his friends!” Dianne kept her sights trained on the fallen man for another moment before moving to look at his companion. The second, uninjured man was stumbling back, a pistol having appeared in his hand. He looked around frantically, trying to place the origin of the gunfire while simultaneously checking to see if his friend was alive or not.
