Harvath’s trepidation grew with Nicholas’s first SITREP.
Based on the drone’s IR camera, Damien had drastically reduced his security footprint. The night of the dinner party, the drone had picked up at least twelve figures standing guard around the property. Now, all it was seeing was five. Maybe they had put on extra guards during the dinner. Either way, Harvath didn’t like it. It seemed too light. There had to be more of them somewhere.
Rolling up the dirt road, they stopped only long enough to let Palmer bail out with his gear and head into the trees. There was a piece of high ground with an excellent view of the main house and surrounding buildings. If he could make it there, he’d be in a position to offer the team good protection.
The black SUV kept moving until it got to the top of the road and stopped once again. This was as far as it could take them. Harvath, Ashby, and Mordechai would go the rest of the way on foot.
Once out of the vehicle, Harvath radioed Nicholas for an additional SITREP. Nothing had changed. Stepping into the tree line, they moved toward the edge of the property and waited for Palmer to get into place. He had the harder trek because it required him to cross a wide expanse of terrain with no cover. If he got caught out in the open, he would be cut down.
Nicholas, though, was doing everything he could to make sure that didn’t happen. The drone had become a game changer for all their operations. As it flew quietly overhead, you would have had to have known it was on station and be actively looking for it to have had any chance of ever finding it.
Once Palmer was tucked in behind Harvath’s LaRue PredatOBR rifle with its HISS-XLR extended long-range thermal weapon sight and Surefire SOCOM suppressor, he radioed his status to the team. The operation was ready to go to the next phase.
Using hand signals, Harvath directed Ashby and Mordechai to follow him. They wore night vision goggles and carried suppressed H&K submachine guns — Harvath and Ashby the MP7A2, Mordechai the MP5SD.
They stayed in the trees, treading lightly upon the blanket of twigs, branches, and fallen leaves. Harvath moved slowly, purposefully. Part of it was his training; part of it was that he still had visions of the trip wire and crude rebel antipersonnel device he had almost triggered in Congo. He kept his eyes open and his senses alert.
When they arrived parallel to the farm buildings, they stopped and Harvath quietly radioed for another report. Nicholas replied that there was some sort of activity now at the rear of the main house. Two armed men appeared to be loading a truck. The ground in between, though, was all clear.
Once again, Harvath signaled his team to move forward.
It had been decided to cut onto the property at this point, in order to avoid the livestock pens. They didn’t want to spook any of the animals and raise the alarm. Stepping out of the trees, they crossed the open ground quickly and pressed themselves up against the metal skin of an outbuilding. Two hundred yards away, they could see the manor house. None of its lights were on. The guesthouse just beyond it was also dark.
Harvath chose their next position of concealment and signaled for Ashby to head for it while he covered her. Then he sent Mordechai. When Ashby signaled that she was ready to cover him, he followed.
Structure by structure, they moved ever closer to the house until they could hear the sounds of men loading the truck in back.
According to Nicholas, two more armed men had just joined the party. They were loading supplies into the truck, utilizing a service entrance through the hillside beneath the house.
Thirty yards away was a stack of discarded pallets. They were halfway behind the house and would not only provide concealment, but looked like they would provide an excellent line of sight as well.
Harvath’s only problem was that if bullets started flying, it would be like hiding behind a wall of toothpicks. Unfortunately, they didn’t have any choice. After scanning the area, Harvath sent Ashby running toward it.
As soon as she was there, she took a moment to look around and then waved Mordechai over. Once he was in place, it was Harvath’s turn.
Joining them behind the pallets, Harvath dropped to the prone position and tried to peer through the jumble of slats to see what was happening at the truck. All he could see were tires, a bit of the undercarriage, and light spilling from the entrance. As he prepared to roll over onto his left side and peek around the pile, they heard a woman’s scream from somewhere inside the tunnel.
Mordechai tried to leap to his feet, but Ashby was faster. Grabbing hold of him, she yanked him back down.
“Let go of me,” he whispered. “We have to move, now.”
Placing her index finger against her lips, she warned him to be quiet.
Harvath waited until Mordechai had calmed down, and then rolled out from behind the pallets onto his left side.
Boxes had been stacked five high and three deep near the entrance. What was in them, though, he had no idea.
He was preparing to roll out a little bit more when he heard a voice from behind.
“Stop!” the man shouted.
Harvath looked over his shoulder just in time to see the man — one of Damien’s security detail — take a round through his head courtesy of Chase Palmer.
There was a spray of blood, bone, and brain matter. It was one hell of a way to start a gunfight.
The man’s shout immediately drew the attention of his colleagues back by the truck, who swung their weapons around on their slings and brought them up to fire. Harvath and Ashby, though, were faster.
Their shots happened in unison. There was a quick pop, followed by an even faster pop, pop. One shot to the head, two to the chest, and each man fell to the ground.
“Move, move, move,” Harvath ordered as he jumped to his feet and the team advanced on the truck.
When another one of the security agents stuck his head out of the entrance, they showered him with rounds.
As soon as they got to the truck, Harvath and Ashby took cover, but Mordechai kept going. Harvath yelled for him to stop, but he didn’t listen.
Charging the service entrance, he stepped off his line of attack, just in time to miss a hail of bullets that came whizzing past. When the same shooter as before peeked back out, Mordechai was ready for him and took him down with shots through his mouth and left eye. What he wasn’t ready for was the man’s colleague.
Mordechai was moving too fast. He couldn’t keep his balance and bring his weapon to bear. He tried to pivot, but as he did, he stumbled and went down hard. It was all the advantage the shooter needed.
Sweeping his weapon down toward the fallen Israeli, the security operative began to apply pressure to his trigger. As he did, his head and chest exploded when Harvath stepped out from behind the truck and double-tapped him.
Ashby raced forward to guard the entrance as Harvath helped Mordechai off the ground.
“Are you okay? Can you fight?”
The Israeli nodded and got to his feet.
“Don’t do that again,” Harvath admonished. “Stick with the plan.”
Before Mordechai could respond, they heard Nicholas’s voice over the radio. “You’re about to have company. The guards from the front gate are headed your way, fast. They’re in an open-air side-by-side.”
Harvath wasn’t surprised. They had heard the gunfire or someone had called down for reinforcements.
Hailing Palmer, he asked, “Do you see them yet?”
“No, not yet. Stand by.”
Seconds later, Palmer said, “I’ve got them.”
“Take the shot.”
Exhaling, he pressed his trigger and then acquiring his second target placed his TReMoR reticle on Number Two’s head and pressed the trigger again.
As he watched the side-by-side careen off the drive and slam into a tree, he said over the radio, “All clear. You’re good to go.”