Styles found a spot where he wanted to park the Yukon. It was in the middle of a large cluster of shrubs that also had a monster maple tree with branches hanging directly overhead. It was a good hiding spot from both the ground and the air.
"I'll be right back. Get your gear ready." He made a quick ten-minute sweep of the area and came back satisfied no one was nearby. He saw Phillips just tucking her ponytail up into a camo watch cap, pulling it down to the top of her ears and farther down the back of her neck.
Surveying her, he said, "Good job. Now let me paint you." He applied a combination of green and brown paint to her face, neck, ears, and hands. Finished, he stepped back and nodded. "You'll be invisible from twenty feet away in the woods." Next he applied the paint to himself. Finally, he grabbed his own gear. Phillips noticed he had three throwing knives. "One last thing," Styles said. "Hold out your fingers." Doing so, Styles applied Nu Skin to her fingertips, then his own. "This will eliminate fingerprints."
"Better than gloves."
"Oh yeah. Are you ready?"
"Absolutely."
"Okay, be sure you have your comm in place. Stay ten feet behind me and off to my right. When I stop, you stop. When I move, you move. Don't use the comm set unless I do. We'll use basic hand signals. Every minute we'll pause, and you use your smartphone for a camera view. We don't want to walk into anything. You good?"
"Yeah. Thanks for the shot at this."
Styles turned and stared at her hard. "If you weren't ready, you wouldn't be here."
She nodded.
Phillips's heart was racing. She was ten feet to Styles's right when he motioned for her to stop and signaled her to look up and to her right. She got down on one knee and scanned hard. Then she saw what he'd seen: a guard in a tree platform. She saw Styles motion with a slashing gesture across his throat. She knew what that meant. She very carefully and quietly repositioned herself next to the base of a medium-size tree. She used a low branch to rest her AR-15 on. She quietly clicked the safety off. She turned on the EOTech scope. Looking through it, she placed the holographic red spot on the bridge of the guard's nose. She breathed in once, twice, and when the air was out of her lungs, she gently squeezed the trigger. To her ears, the action was loud, and she instantly was afraid she'd been heard. She saw the guard thrown backward out of the tree stand, never attempting to break his fall. He hit with a thud. She froze. Then she remembered to breathe again. She looked over at Styles. He nodded and then motioned for them to move on. He signaled one of three, meaning two more guards to go. Forward they moved. They came upon the two up in the trees, with Phillips removing one more, and Styles the second.
They were just behind the tree line observing the cabin on their end. He motioned for her to take out the guard on the roof closest to them while he zeroed in on the second at the other end of the small complex. She moved off slightly to the right for a better sight line. She took up her position, lowered her rifle, and nodded that she was ready. Styles motioned back, In three.
Both took aim, and three seconds later, two rifles spat out two barely audible rounds that penetrated one guard in the center of his forehead, while the second entered just in front of an ear. The action of the weapons reloading was the only noise actually heard. The two men crumpled silently.
Styles nodded approvingly at Phillips and directed her to start at the first cabin while he took the second. He had decided that each taking a cabin would reduce the time factor, with the added benefit of demonstrating to Phillips his faith in her. They advanced on the complex. Taking care, they reached the first two doors and simultaneously entered. Styles's was empty, but he heard a slight thud next door. Ten seconds later, he was back outside and watched Phillips exit. She nodded. Slowly they made their way to the next two cabins. There were men in each, one in Phillips's and two in Styles's. In three seconds, those men were down, and as before, a quick search of the bathroom and bedroom revealed the cabins were clear.
Back outside, they made their way to the fifth cabin. Several voices could be heard inside. Styles motioned that he would go in first, with Phillips right behind. They entered as virtually one and found four men sitting around the kitchen table playing cards. They looked up and with surprise on their faces were all shot in the middle of their heads. The remaining cabins were empty. Checking the back, they regrouped as they heard voices coming from the front. They were talking excitedly.
"Sounds like reinforcements," whispered Styles.
"Yeah. The loudest one is throwing a fit about not seeing the guards on the roof."
"Let's go."
They quickly made their way back around one end of the cabins and came face-to-face with two guards heading for the ladder that led to the roof. The two groups saw each other at the same instant. Styles was faster. From his hip, he shot both men in the chest. He heard Phillips shoot twice and saw both men's heads jerk hard.
They scurried to the front corner and looked around carefully. One man was close to the other end of the cabins, while the second man was just entering one.
"I'll take the far guy; you watch that door," Styles directed.
Styles took aim and shot the far guard right between the shoulder blades. He put two more rounds in him to be sure. He simultaneously heard a screen door open, and Phillips's AR spat twice, sending that guard bouncing off the doorjamb and falling back inside.
"Make sure he's dead," Styles instructed.
As Phillips headed for the cabin door, Styles took up position in front of a truck. No one else appeared.
Rejoining him, Phillips confirmed he was down.
"That clears this. We'll hit the roof and prop the guards in position. Then we secure the house. Remember, you hold up outside and keep watch. Don't come in until I signal you. If anyone should approach, warn me; I don't want a body lying outside if we can help it."
Phillips nodded. Ten minutes later after skirting the trees, they were at the main house. Phillips veered off, found a good spot, and set up to monitor everything. Once she was out of sight, Styles looked and saw two more guards outside of the house. Both had arms at the ready. Five feet behind the tree line, he took aim and center punched each man in the middle of his forehead. Quickly, he crossed the drive and dragged each man around to the side of the house, depositing the bodies behind shrubbery. Then he carefully approached the front door. He hugged the wall, hoping it would keep him out of sight from the security cameras. He got to the door undetected. He turned the knob and found it to be unlocked, which surprised him. He eased it opened and looked in. No one in sight, and no sounds could be heard. He opened it slightly farther, slipped inside, and silently closed it behind him. He immediately crouched down and surveyed the room. It was a massive entrance hallway decorated in lavish silk hanging from the ceilings and opulent Middle Eastern furnishings that continued into the massive living room.
Staying tight against the wall, he slowly made his way through the massive chamber. He could now vaguely hear what sounded like two voices coming through one of the several doorways that led from the rear of the room. He scanned for any cameras and saw none. He made his way toward the sounds. The door to the room that the conversation was being held was partially open, allowing Styles to observe it was a conference room. Two men were inside and appeared to be disagreeing about something. Styles listened for a few moments and discerned that it was about the decadent behavior of Westerners. Inwardly, he shook his head. He'd already decided that Ryyaki Ali was not one of them. He opened the door slightly with his silenced gun barrel and shot both men dead center in their chests, hoping that would keep them in their chairs. One did, but one fell. Styles quickly entered the conference room and hid behind the door. Thirty seconds passed, yet no one else approached.