The second burst of bullets came even closer to hitting Sean but a roll in the opposite direction caught them off guard and Sean narrowly escaped the second burst of fire. He wouldn’t avoid a third.
The CIA team had two options: charge headlong into the fire or stop and take aim. Their H amp;K MP5’s offered significantly better accuracy than Sean’s handgun. Sean was also offering an excellent target for the Russians to concentrate on and as such, he gave the CIA team an ideal opportunity to press home their advantage.
“If you have the shot take it!” screamed the Team Leader.
Four shots rang out and the two Russians farthest away from Katie fell. Again, the Russian didn’t flinch. Two of his team had just been taken out and he remained 100 percent focused on the job in hand. He grabbed Katie and using her body as a shield, he worked back towards the main door that Katie had come out of. Whoever the Russians were, Sean seriously doubted they had anything to do with the mafia.
“We don’t have a shot!” shouted the CIA Team leader, alerting Sean he was the only one with an angle.
Sean aimed at the fraction of body the Russian exposed from behind the much smaller Katie. He fired off a few rounds which barely missed Sean as his aim was hampered by holding Katie with one arm. Sean remained rock still as he waited for his chance. As they neared the house, he had all but given up hope when Katie winked at him as she slammed her foot into the Russian’s tibia. The Russian was caught by surprise but recovered almost instantly. Just not instantly enough. Katie’s wink had Sean ready. He knew she was going to do something. Sean fired and his bullet hit the Russian in the center of the forehead and he slumped to the ground, taking Katie with him.
Sean rushed to the house and pulled Katie from the dead arm, checking she was not hurt.
“You OK?” he asked breathlessly.
“I’m fine thanks,” she smiled and wrapped her arms around him.
“Thank God,” Sean breathed a sigh of relief. It was the most nerve-racking shot he had ever taken. It wasn’t that he hadn’t been in a similar position before. In fact, he had been in worse and had taken many more difficult shots.
“Sean?” interrupted the CIA Team Leader as he walked towards them. “Does she know if we are all clear?” he asked.
Sean turned to Katie for the answer, an action that saved his life and ended the CIA Team Leader’s.
Chapter 49
Vincent Black couldn’t sit still. They still had not been able to reach either the team or Sean. Jane had spoken to the base at Corpus Christi and they knew about the helicopter dropping them off but that had been hours ago. Vincent walked out of his office and over to Jane’s desk. “Any news?”
A short shake of the head had him walking back into his office. Another few seconds killed.
Jane followed him in. “You need to try and relax. Remember what the doctor said?” At times, she was the wife he never had. She knew everything about him, probably more than most wives. Dentists, doctors, she handled all communications and she knew the doctor had been worried about him. His blood pressure had risen dangerously, three months earlier. The death of Sean had hit Vincent Black harder than anything had ever hit him before.
He nodded and waved her away back to her desk. He was most definitely not in the mood to be nagged.
He opened the report that was scheduled to be delivered by him to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence that afternoon but the words just looked back at him meaninglessly. His mind was only on one thing, what the hell was happening in Laredo?
“Jane!” he shouted, throwing the report onto the coffee table. “Get me the fastest ride you can between here and Laredo. I’m heading to the airport.”
“But the Select Committee hearing?” she protested having worked on it for weeks. But he was already out the door and halfway to the elevator.
As she moved towards the phone, it rang. Despite having supposedly not heard Jane shouting down the corridor to him. Vincent turned and ran back as Jane answered the call.
“I’m sorry, I can’t understand you. Just calm down,” said Jane, flustered by the call and obviously listening as hard as possible. As Vincent heard what was being said, his heart began to race.
“Katie, please, I can’t hear what you’re saying,” repeated Jane, sounding as concerned as Vincent had ever heard her. Vincent wanted to grab the phone from Jane but stopped himself.
“Did you just say they’re all dead?” asked Jane, her voice breaking.
Vincent’s heart pounded harder as his stomach lurched into his mouth. Jane nodded her head to Vincent, a pain shot through his left arm and a sweat instantly covered his body.
“Oh my God, was that an explosion?” were the words that sent Vincent crashing to the floor.
The look of horror on Katie’s face was the first sign for Sean that anything was wrong. He had turned from the Team Leader and as he faced Katie, her face contorted. Sean reacted instantly, diving and body tackling Katie through the open front door. A barrage of bullets thudded silently into the doorframe as Sean, pulling Katie tighter and tighter towards him, rolled over and over down the hallway, away from the immediate danger.
“Do you know how many there are?” he asked as he rushed her towards the basement door.
Katie shook her head violently. “I only went to pick up the newspaper and noticed a man hiding by the side of the house. I screamed and the next thing there were three!” Her voice trembled throughout as she struggled to control her fear and the shock of what she had just witnessed. Sean grabbed the phone from the hall table as he pushed her into the basement, he dialed the only number at Langley he knew off by heart, Vincent’s office number. He hit the dial button, gave Katie the phone and shut the basement door in her face, with clear instructions to lock it and only open it to him.
With Katie as safe as he could make her, he could concentrate on the remaining Russians. His major problem was he had no idea how many there were. The why would have to wait. He checked the Gyurza’s magazine, still 16 rounds left. As he realized Katie had seen what had become of the CIA team and he should have asked her, the Russian voices at the doorway gave him the answer. He checked the basement door was shut and fired two bullets into the doorway. If nothing else it would stall the ones at the front door.
Sean considered a number of options, making a break out the back of the house and circling round but there could be many more out there. Luis had seen six earlier. It would also leave Katie at the mercy of the guys from the front if they kicked in the basement door. Of course, charging the front meant again leaving Katie exposed to those who may come in from the rear. The one thing that seemed to be a common factor was that he wasn’t going to take the risk of leaving Katie. Which left one option, stand and fight. From the voices, he at least had one piece of information. There were at least two Russians left or one that talked to himself with different voices. Unlikely.
Sean rolled across the hallway floor and took up position in the living room which gave a slightly better angle to the doorway and protected him from the rear windows. It also offered him one of the most wonderful sights he had ever seen. One of Luis’ men’s AK47s lay propped against the wall of the living room. Sean reached over and grabbed the assault rifle, a little more firepower was never a bad thing in a tight situation.
He heard the first footsteps enter the hallway from the front door. He spun towards the doorway of the living room and prepared to enter the hallway selecting full auto on the AK47. Hopefully, one long blast would kill everybody in the enclosed space. Before he made it to the doorway, the back door crashed open and his position became completely exposed. He had no option but to change tactic and dive back into the living room as a hail of bullets raked the doorway. As the first of three flashbangs were tossed into the room all Sean could think, as he waited for the blinding flash of light and shockwave of sound that would disorientate and blind anyone within its range, was who the fuck was he up against?