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“Titus and I’ll keep them busy.Go.”
Shay nodded and led her children into the darkness.
CHAPTER 26
SHAY LOOKED BACK at the pool of deep shadow where her children hid, nodded once, and said a silent prayer that Wade hadn’t gotten lazy in retirement.
The door to his root cellar opened quietly on well-oiled hinges.
Good man, she thought.
The door was built into a mound of earth, a small protrusion in the terrain of Wade’s property, fifty yards from his home. It was far enough away from the captain’s house that one would be forgiven for thinking it was unconnected.
She crept along the bottom of the mound in bare feet, having shed her boots before emerging to remain silent. It had drizzled earlier and she felt the cold, wet grass beneath her feet, sensitive to the smallest twig snap. Around the side of the mound, facing the house, was a single man, clad in black, rifle raised, murmuring.
Overwatch.
She didn’t know how many attackers were skulking around the perimeter of the house, but on a quiet night across the expansive lawn they would surely hear her weapon, even suppressed for sound and flash.
She approached the man from behind and plunged the Goodman into the mercenary’s neck. She drove it to the hilt. With her other hand, she grabbed the top of his head and bent it forward, keeping him from making a sound. The mercenary spasmed, then crumpled as she released the blade. She grabbed his rifle and radio to prevent them from clattering to the ground.
Overwatch down.
She retreated to the top of the mound, proned out over her AR-15, and sighted on the house. She didn’t have to wait long. A silhouette rounded the corner low and crept beneath a window.
It had been a while since she’d fired one of these. She took a breath, let it halfway out, and took the slack out of the trigger. When the round leapt from the rifle it was almost a surprise.
But a pleasant one.Just like riding a bike.
The crouching mercenary dropped, his figure dark and still.
She donned the earpiece from the overwatch’s radio and listened.
“Do you copy? Simpson?”
She didn’t know if Simpson was overwatch or the dead man beneath the window. But there were two down now, she hadn’t heard the boom of Wade’s shotgun yet, and she could hear the uncertainty in the voice over the radio. A mercenary, confident in the infallibility of his unit and their element of surprise, suddenly alone in the dark. If her children hadn’t been cowering below her in the root cellar, Shay might’ve smiled.
Instead, she keyed the radio. In her deepest voice, she said, “Abort.”
She doubted they’d buy it. But it would cause more confusion, and they’d know their channel had been compromised. And with two of their men not answering hails, they were likely to fall back. They were mercenaries, paid to take out a mother, two children, and an old man. They weren’t expecting opponents who fought back.
Shay waited several moments, and strained her ears. The root cellar was behind the house, between it and the woods. The road they had come in on was on the other side of the house. She didn’t want to leave the cover of the mound, but it was time to press whatever momentary advantage she had.
She ran for the house.
Crossing the wide lawn felt vulnerable, waiting for bullets to rip into her at any moment, but after what felt like an eternity, she made it to the nearest wall of the house and its deep shadow. She crept around the dead man and was about to clear the corner when she thought better of it. She turned back to the dead man and took his impact helmet. There was a night optical device affixed to it. She put it on, lowered the NODs over her eyes, and saw the night awash in crisp green detail.
She spied around the corner. Two figures, far apart, advancing on the house. Shay yanked her head back as one took aim.
CHAPTER 27
“MADISON?” YELLED CHASE. He pressed his earpiece, willing it to transmit a sound from his daughter. Willing her to be alive. “Mads!”
Finally, he heard a low whisper, barely audible. Her words made the hair on his neck stand on end.
“Mom said not to make a sound.”
“Copy,” he said. “Don’t talk. Just tap once for yes, twice for no. Is everyone okay?”
