Nick looked directly at the soldiers now. “Anyone with some IED training?”
One of the young men in the back raised his hand. “I do, sir.”
“Good,” Nick said. He pointed to Stevie. “Take him with you and examine the perimeter. I don’t want any surprises.”
“Done,” the soldier said, while watching Stevie unload his duffle bag from the SUV.
Nick handed the parabolic to Stevie. “And make sure you take the metal detector as well.”
“Got it,” Stevie said, then headed toward the KSF safe house with the soldier. Nick pointed to the leader of the FBI’s SWAT team and held up three fingers in the dark. Moments later, three SWAT agents fell in behind Stevie and the soldier.
Nick’s face dripped with sweat. His body was betraying him while he resisted the urge to hand the lead over to Matt. The PTSD was kicking in as he fought to hold it together.
Matt already had his sniper rifle out and strapped over his shoulder. Nick pointed to him. “You have a shot at Barzani, you take him out, whether or not I’ve given the signal yet. Okay?”
Matt patted his weapon. He was ready.
Nick looked at Tommy. “Stay here with Eddie and make sure no one enters this street.”
Tommy gave his cousin a thumbs up.
“Okay,” Nick said addressing the group, “Unless they’ve hired some new personnel, I suspect we’re looking at a number less than ten. Their scouts have already taken cover, which means they know we’re here. They will have explosives waiting for us. I don’t know where, or when.”
Nick pointed to Steele. “Call an ambulance. Have them come without emergency signals and tell them to wait outside the community entrance.”
Steele left the circle with her phone out.
Nick looked in the direction of the safe house and pulled his pistol out from his holster. The cabins on either side were dark and unoccupied. “I want this area contained,” he said. “I don’t want anyone escaping that house.”
He looked at Matt and the crew around him. Everyone seemed prepared to run through a wall for him. It made his heart pump even harder.
• • •
Barzani saw it all. He sat in the back seat of the Jeep Grand Cherokee and watched it on his tablet as Memu kept guard from behind the wheel. They parked in a nearby condominium complex, a place where most of the units were used by renters and a new arrival in the parking lot caused no attention. Besides, none of the authorities were looking for him anyway. They presumed he was inside the safe house.
“Sarock,” Memu said from the front seat, “what exactly are we waiting for?”
Barzani had the perimeter of the complex rigged with tiny digital security cameras so they could spy their surroundings. What his crew didn’t know was that he’d programmed his tablet to accept the signal from a remote location.
“Sarock?” Memu repeated.
“Yes,” Barzani said, “I hear you. We are simply making sure we have no one following us. Patience, Memu. We are so close to our goal, we dare not take a wrong step now.”
The security guard seemed to be satisfied with the answer. Since they were backed into their parking spot, he folded his arms and kept his focus out the front window.
“Yes, Sarock,” he said.
Barzani slowly removed the metal cylinder from his pocket and kept it out of view from the front seat. At the top of the cylinder was a digital keypad with the numbers 1–4 displayed. They created a slight beam and Barzani had to cover the light with his hand to avoid Memu’s attention.
On his computer, he could see the authorities closing in on the cabin. They were in the shadows and although he could not identify each person, he knew Nick Bracco and his partner were there. He also knew his men were watching the same image on their monitors inside the cabin. It was only a matter of time before they began firing. His heart swelled with pride. Their dedication went beyond anything he could have ever hoped for.
His soldiers were about to make the ultimate sacrifice. Barzani wished to take as many American lawmen with them.
While Steele took the SWAT team around back, Nick and Matt watched the operation unfold from across the street. Matt was flat on his stomach, his rifle resting on the tripod, with his eye steady in his sight.
Nick was next to him on one knee, viewing the cabin through his binoculars. There were no lights on inside the house, so he kept switching between night vision and regular lenses.
“What are they waiting for?” Matt asked.
“They could be asking themselves the same question about us,” Nick said.
Darkness swallowed the approaching team, while Nick controlled the offensive through his wireless headset.
Nick tapped the headset. “Stevie, you heard male voices through the parabolic?”
“For sure,” Stevie said. “I caught fractions of different conversations, but I definitely heard the word Sarock several times. It’s them.”
“Good work,” Nick said.
Nick tugged on his arm sling; his shoulder began to throb from overuse. He’d stayed off the pain killers since the other meds didn’t seem to mix well with them.
“Team A, you in position?” Nick said into the headset.
“Roger.”
“B?”
“Roger.”
“C?”
“Giddyup.”
Nick licked his lips. He didn’t want any mistakes. Barzani was finally going to be put to rest.
Nick touched his headset. “Is the gas ready?”
“Ready,” came the voice.
Nick had to be definitive. He had to shake off any residual effects of the medication which kept his PTSD in check. But there was a nagging thought running through his mind, he was missing something. Like someone leaving for the airport and sensing they’d forgotten to lock the front door.
“You okay?” Matt said without ever leaving his sight.
“Fine,” Nick lied.
“You going to give the order, or should we wait for them to make a mistake?”
Nick took a deep breath. “I don’t like it.”
Matt turned to face him. “What?”
“Something’s wrong,” he said. “No booby traps. No snipers. It’s too easy.”
Matt sat up and twisted to look behind them. “You think they’ve doubled back behind us?”
“No,” Nick said. “We have that covered. There’s something else and I can’t get to it in my mind.”
Matt grabbed Nick’s good shoulder and stared straight at him. “Look, you’ve taken every precaution. Sometimes you just have to take the chance. It’s risk versus reward, and Nick, right about now the reward is quite appealing.”
Nick nodded. Since he couldn’t qualify his fears, he had no reason the hold up the attack. “You’re right,” he said. “It’s time.”
Nick tapped his headset and addressed the entire team. “They’ll have gas masks and night vision, but they can’t use both and still fire their weapons. So we gas them, then attack. Understood?”
He received three affirmative responses.
Nick looked down at Matt. “If they turn on the lights, our guys could be sitting ducks. Make sure you pick off as many as you can.”
“I’m on it,” Matt said, back into his sight, steady as a rock. His cheeks didn’t even move as he spoke.
“Okay,” Nick said into the headset. “Fire the canisters.”
A couple of loud popping sounds echoed throughout the treetops followed by glass shattering. A moment later a muted blast came from inside the house. It only took a few seconds before the smoke began to drift out of the cabin windows, up and away from the approaching soldiers and SWAT team.
From their position, Nick and Matt could see Team A rush the front door. Two soldiers, one on each side of a battering ram, swung the large metal pipe and bashed in the wooden door like it was Styrofoam. The door crashed down in one piece separating from the hinges and slamming hard against the floor. The team of eight charged in the cabin single file, organized and skillful, like it was choreographed for a film.