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Then everything went silent again.

The gunner had no visible targets. He was just sending a message. A very clear one.

“Sound off,” he said into his radio.

“No injuries,” McGraw said.

The unflappable Charlie Wicker came on right after. “I want to talk about my compensation package.”

Coleman ignored him. “Bruno, do you have a line on that guy?”

“Negative. He’s completely shielded. At best, he’s using cameras for targeting. At worst, the gun’s remote controlled.”

“Wick?”

“I’m still lined up on the knoll. Can’t even see the gun placement.”

“Any movement?”

“The explosion seems to have lit a fire under them. Looks like they’re retreating and that they’re going to just leave their wounded man.”

“Joe, did you copy that? Those guys are coming in your direction.”

Maslick, who was still covering the tunnel exit, responded immediately. “I copied.”

“Do not engage,” Coleman said. “I repeat, do not engage. I don’t want to do anything to give away your position or change their mind about running. Just stay sharp and watch for Obrecht.”

“Roger that.”

Coleman crawled forward through the downed leaves and branches. The Gatling gun was fully visible now, moving smoothly back and forth on what he guessed were electric motors. It seemed likely that there was a similar weapon on the sout

hern end of the wall but the damage there was significant enough that he doubted it was something he’d have to deal with. They must have been mounted beneath the wooden promenade behind the fence, keeping them hidden from Dumond’s drones.

“Let me know if you acquire a target, but no one shoots without my express order. We can’t afford to draw that kind of fire.”

He swept his scope over the scene again. The smoke continued to thin, and now he could see a single open window in one of the attic dormers. No doubt there was a sniper just inside and even less doubt that he was top-notch.

“Bruno. You see that window?”

“Yeah, but I got nothing.”

It had gone quiet enough that Coleman could hear his own breathing and the light breeze rattling the leaves. It was a sound he was depressingly familiar with—the sound of an operation dead in the water.

Back in the day, this was about the time he’d be calling in air support. Paint the compound with a laser and let the flyboys drop something nasty from the stratosphere. There were times he really missed the navy.

Coleman finally made a decision and enabled Rapp’s radio frequency again. “There’s a Gatling gun placement on the north side of the wall,” he said. “Remember Herat?”

If Obrecht’s men were monitoring their communications, they would have no idea what he was talking about. Herat was a city in Afghanistan where he and Rapp had been pinned down for more than an hour by a sniper in the upper floor of a hotel.

As expected, there was no response, but hopefully the message got through. Rapp was in a position to flank Obrecht’s men, and if he could just take a little of the heat off, Coleman’s team could advance. If not, they would be forced to leave him. Kennedy’s orders were clear: At the first hint of Swiss authorities, they were to get the hell out of Dodge.

“Come down and regroup around me,” he said, after killing the connection to Rapp again. “One way or another, we’re going to have to move fast.”

CHAPTER 29

NEAR GEORGETOWN

WASHINGTON, D.C.

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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