One Rough Man - Brad Taylor [166]
“Stand by. He’s now on foot.”
Lucas felt the tension grow. The endgame was approaching. Pike was a dangerous man, someone to fear, but he couldn’t possibly stand up to the concerted effort of the entire team. Maybe he can kill one or two, but there’s no way he can kill us all.
He saw the blip stop inside the courtyard at the back of a house on the east side of a small street. This was it.
“All right. Team leaders get over here.”
He pointed out the house, dictating where the vehicles would stop and where they would dismount and set up fields of fire.
“We wait until he comes out, all night if we have to. Once he’s out, we open up, killing him. Pretty simple. Any questions?”
One team leader asked, “What about the girl? Isn’t she part of the mission?”
“Yeah, she is, but I can’t predict whether she’s with him or not. If she’s with him, smoke her. If not, we’ll find her later. I’m through messing around with this guy.”
RETRO AND I COVERED THE BACK DOOR and a corner window from the courtyard at the back of the house, waiting on the call from Knuckles. My earpiece gave a hollow echo, Knuckles speaking in a calm monotone, “Execute, Execute, Execute.” The call brought back memories of assaults past. I tensed up, waiting to see if someone would attempt to run from the rear of the house. My mind’s eye ran through what was occurring in the house, the team flowing like water through the rooms looking for a threat. I heard no gunfire, which could be either good or bad.
Five minutes later I heard the all-clear given, and the back door was opened by Knuckles.
“What did you find?” I said.
“Nothing. We found the cell phone, but it’s the only thing here right now. No other targets. The house looks like it’s lived in, but there’s nobody home.”
“Great. That figures.”
“What do you think? A stay-behind?”
“I don’t know. I suppose that’s the best course of action. We don’t have anything else. I could stay, you could give me another couple of guys, and we could sort it out when the owner returns. How’s that sound?”
“I’m good with that, but maybe we’re getting ahead of ourselves. Let’s turn this place upside down first. Maybe we’ll find something of interest. In the meantime, maybe whoever owns this phone will return while we’re still here.”
“Let’s get busy. I’ll start upstairs.”
A HUNDRED METERS DOWN THE STREET, Bakr had finished with the device and was sitting before his dinner of moldy bread and nuts when he perked up at the sound of another car, only the second one he had heard all day.
LUCAS PULLED PAST THE TARGET HOUSE, parking on the east side of the narrow street. The position gave him a full view of the right side of the street and clear fields of fire to the front door of the target. His satellite imagery display showed the beacon superimposed directly over the house. Pike had moved inside. He waited until he saw the follow vehicle stop short on the other side of the target about a hundred meters away before telling the team to deploy into firing positions. He watched one man exit the follow vehicle and move nonchalantly to the corner of the house where his car was parked, taking cover behind a concrete planter. Another man sauntered across the street, attempting to cover the back of the target house.
BAKR PEEKED OUT the front window. His heart skipped a beat when he saw a car stop right in front of his house with three Caucasian men inside. That was not natural at all. He continued watching from the corner of the window, wanting to believe his paranoia was getting the better of him, but feeling the adrenaline start to flow. He saw one man with a rifle walk to the corner of his house and take a knee, peering over the planter out front. The man made an attempt at hiding the weapon under his jacket, but the barrel could still be observed poking out under the hem. Bakr had seen enough.
He raced to the basement,