"Sounds like a plan," Nick said. "Short and simple, I like it. Remember, there aren't any good guys inside that villa. Everyone in there is a legitimate target. Anyone have something to add?"
No one did.
He reached up to scratch his ear. "Okay, let's do it. Weapons free."
Kalicklickclick.
Four safeties came off as one.
They slipped through the opening in the hedge and sprinted for the back of the villa. They reached the end of the house with no sign of alarm. The tractor they'd seen in the satellite photo was parked behind the villa, between the house and the building with the wine press. There was a window high up on the wall of the building and a door directly opposite the villa. The door was partly open. Dim light showed through the opening.
"Better check that out first," Ronnie said.
They moved to the open door. Ronnie took a quick look.
"I don't see anyone. Take my six."
He stepped inside the building, Nick behind him.
The interior was a large, open space. A single bulb hung from the ceiling. There was a small office to the right and several tables. Massive hand-hewn beams of dark wood supported the roof. They looked as though they'd been there a long time. A large wooden tank stood near a set of high double doors at the far end that opened onto the vineyard beyond. Rows of wine barrels stacked two high and six across ran along both sides of the room. A main aisle went down the middle, with narrow aisles branching off between the barrels. There was no one there.
They went back outside. A heavy wooden door marked the rear entrance. Ronnie went to it and tried the handle. It clicked open. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Nick.
"Open it up and toss in a grenade," Nick said. His voice was quiet over the radio link.
Ronnie pulled open the door with a quick movement, ducked behind it and threw in a flash bang. He followed it up with another.
They looked away and covered their ears. The grenades went off with a deafening blast. The ground vibrated under their feet. Inside the house, someone screamed. Someone began firing. A stream of tracers poured through the open door.
"Up there," Selena yelled.
A man leaned out of a window and began firing at them with an automatic rifle, sending spurts of dirt from the ground at Selena's feet. She shot him. The rifle flew from his hand and he fell back out of sight.
A dark object came out of the house and landed between Lamont and Selena.
Lamont reached down, grabbed the grenade and hurled it away. He threw himself against Selena and took them both to the ground. Nick and Ronnie hit the dirt. The grenade detonated and sent a rain of dirt and rock over them.
Ronnie pulled a fragmentation grenade from his belt and threw it into the hallway beyond the open door. The explosion ripped through the night. More screams came from the house. Smoke billowed out of the opening.
The gunfire from the villa became constant, a steady ripping sound that sent hundreds of rounds toward them. Men began firing from windows on the second floor.
The house was a death trap. They kept firing and retreated behind the tractor. Bullets hammered into the metal with sharp, ringing sounds. It was poor shelter. They were too exposed.
"Into the winery," Nick yelled. "Lay down covering fire."
It was a short distance away. They ran for the open door, firing as they went. Lamont yelled and went down, his leg shot out from under him.
Selena let go with a long burst at the house as Nick and Ronnie grabbed Lamont and dragged him past her into the building. The bolt on her MP-5 locked open as she backed into the winery. Nick slammed the door shut behind her. Bullets thudded into the thick wood. Selena dropped the empty magazine and reloaded.
Ronnie was bent over Lamont, tying a makeshift bandage around a ragged wound on his lower leg.
"How bad?" he asked.
Lamont spoke between gritted teeth. Beads of sweat covered his forehead "I think the bone's broken. Hurts like a bastard."
"You want morphine?"
"Nah. Maybe later. After we get out of this."
"Now what?" Selena said.
Nick looked around.
"They'll be through that door pretty quick. They have to come in after us. Lamont, can you handle your rifle?"
"No problem. I just can't stand."
"Ronnie, you help Lamont and set him up to cover the door. Get behind those barrels over there. You take the other side. How's your ammo?"
"Still got plenty."
"I'm good," Lamont said.
"Selena, you take the same side as Lamont. I'm going to make sure they can't get through those doors in the back."
He turned and ran to the rear of the building. The big doors were closed but there was nothing to keep them from being pulled open. There were heavy U-shaped brackets on the doors. A long, heavy plank stood upright nearby. Nick lifted the plank and dropped it into the brackets. The doors were safe for the moment.
He moved to where Selena crouched behind one of the wine barrels. Something heavy slammed into the door they'd come through. It splintered and flew open.
Two men came through the broken door, rolled to the sides and came up firing. Covering fire came from outside. Bullets smashed into the rows of wine barrels, punching through the oak. Red streams of wine fountained out onto the floor.
Lamont leaned on a barrel, firing around it. Ronnie was on the other side. Everyone was shooting at once. The building filled with the sound of the guns.
Selena was caught up in the adrenaline high of the firefight. Almost as if something had taken control of her body, she moved out and shot one of the men who'd burst into the building. She felt like she'd stepped into a different dimension of time. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, except for her. She watched the second man start to turn his weapon toward her, his movements like a stylized ballet. She fired, felt the steady recoil in her wrists and arms. She watched the bullets stitch across his chest and drive him to the ground.
She ran toward the doorway. She felt powerful, invincible. She dropped a magazine and inserted another on the run.
"Shit!" Nick yelled. "Ronnie, go!"
Selena ran past the tractor, weaving and bobbing as fire from the house tried to bring her down. She ran through the open door toward a light at the end of a hallway. Someone came out of a room on the side, silhouetted against the light. She cut him down.
She reached the front room. Several men stared at her in surprise. Someone raised his weapon and fired. The rounds went past her with an eerie, whining sound. Her bullets took him in the chest and blew him backwards. She swung her MP-5 in a slow arc around the room, firing until the bolt locked back. She ejected the empty magazine and reached for another.
A man stood in the far corner aiming his rifle at her. Time speeded up again. Selena froze.
This is it, she thought. She fumbled with the magazine and waited for the impact.
Shots sounded behind her and the man spun and collapsed. Ronnie came up beside her.
"You all right?"
"I'm fine," she said. "Thanks."
"You're welcome."
Nick came up to her. He looked angry. "That was a damn stupid thing to do. What the hell is the matter with you?"
"Nick," Ronnie said. He put his hand on Nick's arm.
"It's all right, Ronnie," Selena said. "If he wants to be an asshole that's his problem."
"I count four dead bandits in here," Ronnie said. "Plus the ones we came through."
He walked over to one of the bodies.
"These guys look like mercenaries," he said. "The targets were never here. It was a setup."
"Gutenberg found out we were listening," Nick said.