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He pulled the pin and tossed it up the stairs out the open door.
“Might want to cover your eyes for this one.”
I’d been around flashbangs before and knew the drill. We all looked away, a loudpopsounding as the thing went off, followed by the groaning of the men up on the roof.
“That’s our cue,” I shouted. “Come on! She’s right up there!”
It was one of those moments when your training either made you or broke you. Deep down, all I could think about was that Vic was up on the roof, that if we didn’t do this just right, she was done for, and it’d be our fault. Being a merc was about putting those fears aside, no matter what was at stake.
The boys and I swung up to the roof, raising our guns and taking aim. There was the helicopter, three guards, a tall, well-dressed man who had to be Jurgen, and Vic.
We fired. The guards were stunned, not even having a chance to go for their weapons before we brought them all down. Jurgen, however, must’ve been looking away as the flashbang went off. He spotted us, saw what we’d done, then reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a pistol. That in hand, he grabbed Vic and brought her close, using her as a human shield.
“Hey, prick!” I yelled. “Let her go!”
“Alright!” he shouted. “Here’s what’s going to happen! You’re going to let us get on this thing and leave. If one of you so much takes a step, I’ll put a bullet through her pretty little head! Understand?”
Rage like I’d never felt before ran through me. All I could think about was rushing over there and ripping the asshole’s head clean off. It was a non-starter, however. He had Vic, and I didn’t want to risk anything while he had a gun to her head.
In those moments, something occurred to me. Jurgen had Vic. Butwehad Pyke. As if he was trying to communicate with me, a glint flashed to the left up in the hills where he was positioned. There was no doubt in my mind that he had the situation under his control.
“Don’t one of you make a move,” I said. “Just…raise your hands and let him come to us.”
“Good boys!” Jurgen said, inching out from behind the helicopter that blocked Pyke’s shot. “Just be good little vermin and—”
He didn’t get a chance to finish his sentence. The moment he stepped out from behind the other side of the helicopter, a muzzle flash lit up in the distance, a red spray erupted from the side of Jurgen’s head, and he dropped into a heap.
The shot was perfect. Pyke, wounded as he may have been, had aimed true.
Vic stood still for a moment, clearly in shock, her eyes wide as she realized what had happened.
She was stunned. I hurried over to her throwing my arms around the princess, unable to resist pulling her into a tight hug.
“You’re safe,” I said. “Now, let’s get the hell out of here.”
39
KID
“Any of you guys know how to fly a helicopter?” Hank stood with his hands on his hips as he looked over the bird.
“I do,” I said, giving the craft a once-over of my own.
Hud seemed incredulous. “You’re not serious, are you? You want to take this thing out of here?”
“Let’s do it,” Ajax said. “It’s only a matter of time before the local police are here, and the last thing we want is for them to find a bunch of mercs standing in the middle of a pile of bodies.”
But before we did anything, we needed to check on the princess. She still appeared stunned, as she regarded the scene.
“You alright, Princess?” Ajax asked.
Saying nothing, she looked around with a blank stare. For a moment, I worried that she might’ve gone into the sort of fugue state that I’d seen so often when civilians were exposed to immediate and sudden combat.
Vic didn’t stay like that for long, however. She shook her head and snapped back into the moment.
“Let’s get the hell out of here.”
“Atta girl,” I said, putting my hand on her shoulder.
