Nick picked up one of the AKs. Lamont took the other.
"They don't need these anymore." He checked to see if it was loaded.
"Let's go see," Nick said.
CHAPTER 25
Ahmed entered an office on the second floor of the embassy, carrying the heavy rifle. A window faced out on Roxas Boulevard. Careful to stay out of sight, he opened the window a few inches to make room for the SV-98. He rested the end of the barrel on the sill and looked through the scope on the scene of ordered chaos below.
U.S. Marines were deployed along the fence bordering the embassy grounds. Ahmed recognized the uniforms. They had chosen their positions carefully, but not carefully enough. He had a choice of several shots. With luck, he might get two or even three before they located him.
The SV-98 was a bolt action rifle. For some that would make getting off two or three fast shots impossible but Ahmed could do it. He'd practiced making a series of quick, accurate shots. The key lay in picking targets that were close together.
Ahmed knew he probably would not leave the building alive. It was of little concern to him. His life was in the hands of God. Insha'Allah, he would escape to fight another day. In the meantime he would do his best to kill infidels.
There were two Humvees with .50 caliber machine guns parked beyond the embassy gates. Ahmed made an adjustment on his telescopic sight. Two men came into sharp focus, standing beyond the vehicles. They were talking. One of them was a sergeant.
Ahmed made a quick visual sweep of the street below. No one was paying any attention to him. No one was paying attention to the open window. The blast grills on the outside helped shield him from sight. The two men were still talking.
Ahmed slipped off the safety and focused on the target. He took a breath and let half of it out. His body became still and the rifle settled on the aim point. He touched the trigger. The shot blasted through the afternoon air and the man's head disappeared in a cloud of blood and bone. With practiced motion, Ahmed worked the bolt as he moved the rifle to the left and brought the scope to bear. The second man was staring down in shock at the body of his comrade. Ahmed pulled the trigger again. The Marine fell from sight.
Ahmed stepped back from the window just as one of the Humvees opened up. The .50 caliber rounds blasted into the building, chewing away the window and frame, exploding against the stone exterior, slamming into the far wall of the room. Outside, someone shouted a command. As suddenly as it had begun, the hail of bullets ceased.
Ahmed ejected the spent casing and loaded two fresh rounds. He shot the bolt home and clicked on the safety. He left the room to look for another perch.
Next time I get an officer, he thought.
He decided the top floor might give him a better angle of attack, open up new lines of sight. Ahmed walked toward the stair door at the end of the hall. He pulled the door open and Ronnie drove his knife between Ahmed's ribs. Ahmed's mouth opened to scream. The sound died in a strangled gush of blood. The rifle fell from his hand and clattered to the floor. For the few seconds of life left to him, Ahmed stared unbelieving at the man who had killed him. Then his eyes rolled up and he fell.
Ronnie pulled out his knife and wiped the blade on Ahmed's shirt.
"Leaves eight, now."
Lamont bent down and picked up the rifle. "SV-98. This is what we heard," he said. "This guy's a sniper."
"Was," Nick said. "Was a sniper. Lamont, you want to take that and give your AK to Selena?"
Lamont handed her his rifle and picked up the SV-98. He opened the bolt partway and saw that a round was loaded. He closed the bolt and flicked off the safety.
Nick looked down at Ahmed's body. "We're running out of time. The rest of them are going to start wondering about their buddies pretty soon."
"Unless they've been moved, all the hostages are in the ballroom in the back," Selena said. "There's a hall leading to it. The doors to the room are wide open. If we can get there we'd have a good field of fire. The hostages are sitting down. Only the terrorists are standing. It's easy to see who they are."
"Risky," Nick said.
"You have a better idea?"
"What about the charges they set?" Ronnie asked.
Nick said, "Did you see how they were wired, Selena?"
"They have a car battery wired up to one of those T-handle detonators like you see in the movies. The wires run from there to the main entrance, the foyer and the back room."
"Weapons?"
"All I saw were AKs. The leader has a pistol."
Nick thought a moment. "We don't have a lot of choices. If the leader is crazy like Selena says, he might do something stupid when he realizes his comrades are getting killed."
"Like blow up the embassy," Lamont said.
"Yeah. Like that. We'll do it Selena's way. We get to the ballroom and take them out. Assume anyone standing up is a hostile. Selena, where's that detonator?"
"Against the right wall, in the far corner of the room."
"Ronnie, you make that your priority. Make sure no one gets to use it. Lamont, you have the rifle with the scope. If you can get a clean shot, you take out whoever is nearest to the hostages. As soon as you can, get rid of that and grab an AK."
"Okay."
"Selena, you and I will take out as many as we can once the shooting starts."
She nodded.
"Any questions?"
"How do we get to the ballroom?" Ronnie said.
Selena wiped sweat away from her forehead with the back of her hand. "The door at the bottom of the stairs leads to a hall. That leads to a gallery that runs between the front of the building and the ballroom. The ballroom is on the left as you come out of the hall."
They followed Nick down the stairs to the ground floor. He opened the door a crack, enough to see into the hall. It was empty. Once they left the stairwell they'd be exposed, with no cover. The hallway could turn into a shooting gallery, with themselves as targets.
"I've got a bad feeling about this," Ronnie said.
Nick's ear began itching. It always did, when things were about to get difficult. His own early warning system, a psychic inheritance from his Irish grandmother. He reached up to scratch it.
"Let's do it," he said.
They moved in single file down the hall. Selena felt the adrenaline charge she loved and hated, an electric mix of excitement and fear. It made her feel alive. It gave her a high more exciting than anything else she'd ever experienced. Even jumping out of a plane didn't produce the same rush.
They made it to the end of the hall without being seen. Voices sounded around the corner from the direction of the ballroom.
"Him," a voice said. "Stand him up and bring him over to the camera. It's time."
"No!" someone said, a man.
Selena whispered. "That's the leader talking. They're going to shoot another hostage."
Nick signaled with his fingers. Three. Two. One.
They stepped into the open. The ballroom was on the left. Tall double doors opening onto the room were thrown wide. Nick saw the Chancery through the ruined back wall. A gentle, tropical breeze came through the broken windows, smelling of honeysuckle and bougainvillea and the salt water of the bay.
One of the terrorists was prodding an American man with his rifle toward a video camera set up on a tripod. A terrorist waited in front of a black banner hung on the wall, pistol in hand. Hostages huddled on the floor by the ruins of the back wall. Nick recognized the ambassador.
The foyer and entrance to the embassy were to the right. Two men stood by the doors. One of them saw Nick and the others. He raised his rifle and shouted.
Ronnie cut loose with his AK and shot him.
Nick fired and killed the other. He heard the distinctive sound of the sniper rifle Lamont carried. The heavy bullet struck one of the terrorists in the ballroom and sent him flying sideways. The man by the camera raised his pistol and let off three quick shots.