Dave moved first and carefully placed his foot on the bottom step, hoping the humidity had caused the wood to swell and eliminated the potential for unwanted creaking. He held his breath and eased his body weight onto the solid wood tread. When no sound followed, he exhaled.
Step by step, he crept up the stairs and twisted his body to keep his rifle pointed at the empty space above. If he hadn’t been wholly focused on looking for threats, the villa’s ornate teak woodwork might have impressed him. But he only had time to focus on the beam of infrared light through the white hue of his NODs as he scanned the stairwell.
Dave felt Todd press a hand against his lower back to let him feel the slightest pressure of his presence. He trusted from experience that the other SEAL had his rifle aimed in the opposite direction to ensure they covered every angle, and he moved with confidence.
Reaching the second floor, Dave paused a moment before exposing himself to the room above. When Todd gave him an encouraging tap on his lower back, he lifted his head to scan the darkened space, then bolted up the remaining steps and crossed quickly to the canopy bed draped in mosquito netting. Todd followed on his heels and turned in the opposite direction to clear the cramped bathroom.
“Clear right,” Todd said.
“Clear left,” Dave replied.
Dammit!
Despite knowing the odds were slim they would find the captive Agency officer in the first villa they cleared, he was disappointed. The longer it took to find her, the greater the risk of being discovered. He wheeled for the stairs and descended to the first floor, where Ron and Graham waited anxiously. He gave them a quick shake of his head, then moved to the front door and prepared to lead them to the next villa.
Dave keyed the push-to-talk on his plate carrier to provide the TOC a situation report. “Scar Nine Nine, Mariner One Zero, villa one cleared. Negative Tangos. Negative Eagles. Moving to villa two.”
“Mariner One Zero, Scar Nine Nine, Dusty green, continue.”
From over his shoulder, Dave heard Graham whispering into Todd’s ear. “If the door’s locked, we’ll have to go loud. It’s reinforced, and a kick won’t do it.”
Todd tapped him on the shoulder to spur him into action, and Dave took a quick breath before stepping out into the night. The soft rustling of wind through the brush and faint crashing of waves below them were the only sounds. Nothing had changed since they entered the first villa less than five minutes earlier, and he moved swiftly across the crushed shell clearing to the second villa, further up the hill.
They had planned to clear the two villas at higher elevation next before moving back down to the fourth and final one. If they struck out and came up empty on all four, they would continue moving up and down the hill and follow the terrain to the northeast until they found her, or until the Mi-17 reached bingo fuel. At that point, they would have no choice but to beat feet down the hill and catch their ride back to the Reagan with their tails tucked between their legs.
That’s not gonna happen, he thought.
Dave reached the edge of the level clearing and plunged into the vegetation on the other side, beginning his ascent with smooth and deliberate movements. His pace was quicker than it had been climbing from the beach to the first villa, but the timer in his head seemed louder and more urgent, propelling him upward with fervor. The rest of the team followed as before and paused when he reached the second clearing fronting the higher two villas. After a few seconds of respite, he swept around the corner to the front door and waited for the others to stack up behind him.
Again, Todd squeezed his shoulder, and he reached up to test the knob.
He shook his head and motioned for Graham to breach.
“We’ve gotta go loud,” Dave whispered.
This is gonna get messy.
The reinforced door, hinges, and deadbolt were too strong for their preferred method of entry, but they didn’t have much choice. If they wanted to rescue her and get her to safety, they needed to clear each villa as quickly as possible.
Graham moved forward, raised the shotgun to the hinges, and quickly fired two shots into each. The deafening blasts shattered the night’s stillness, and Dave sensed that the night had changed. The insects and animals that had provided the soundtrack for their movement fell silent, and the wind and waves seemed like little more than a hint of a whisper.
Graham kicked the door off its hinges, and Dave threw caution to the wind and blew into the room, aiming his rifle left toward the sliding glass door.
Before he had taken two steps, he saw a figure reaching for an AK-47 rifle propped against the far wall. He shifted his aim, squeezed the trigger, and sent two suppressed rounds into the man’s back before his third step.
Todd entered a split second later and turned right, gliding across the wood floors to the wet bar in the far corner. Ron raced for the stairs and ascended two steps at a time with Graham hot on his heels.
The element of surprise was gone — speed and violence of action were all that mattered now.
30
Lisa jerked her head upright at two loud blasts and the sound of the door downstairs being kicked off its hinges. It was immediately followed by a flash of light and what sounded like a suppressed gunshot, but through the ringing in her ruptured eardrum, she couldn’t be sure. Nothing seemed real anymore.
Through the bathroom’s open door, she watched the shadowed figure of her guard rising from the bed. But before he could finish sitting upright, a spitting sound followed another flash of light and sent him reeling back onto the mattress. She whimpered and closed her eyes like a child, blocking out the evil that had descended into her own personal hell.
Heavy footsteps ascended the stairs as a menacing presence filled the bathroom and hovered over her. She tensed and prepared for another cruel swing of the hammer or steel pipe and inhaled sharply, wincing at the stabs of pain radiating from her broken ribs.
“Clear right,” a voice said from across the room.
“Clear left,” another replied.
English?
Her mind was playing tricks on her. That’s all it was. Mandarin filled her head, and the unfamiliar voices confused and disoriented her. But she had been so certain. She opened an eye and saw a large man crouching over her and reaching out with a hesitant hand for the chains binding her wrists.
She flinched and kicked her battered feet against the tub, trying in vain to move away from him while pleading in Mandarin.
“Whoa,” he breathed and pulled his hand back to give her some distance. “Easy now. We’re here to bring you home.”
Lisa thrashed in the cold water, but the word resonated with her.
Home?
At last, she relaxed and hung limp from the chains restraining her to the faucet, but her one open eye bore into the man who maintained eye contact while continuing to reassure her that she was going to be safe — that she was going home.
A second man entered the room, and her eye flashed to the new shadowy figure.
“Easy now,” the first man said again. “Can you tell me your name?”
Lisa, she thought.
But her mouth opened, and a string of Mandarin phrases spilled out.
“You’re safe now,” he replied. “I need to know your name so we can take you home.”
Home.
She worked her tongue across the inside of her mouth and tried to form the word she knew he needed to hear. But her mind was terrified of hope. Hope was the one thing that would totally break her and send her into an endless abyss of torment and agony.