"Reece?" he called through the crack in the door. "It's Sean and Tommy. You in here?"
No response. Given the circumstances, not good.
Sean pushed through the doorway and into the first room. Shattered glass littered the floor. Bullet holes dotted a nearby sofa. The interior walls wore a smattered array of more tiny craters. In the kitchen beyond the living room, drinking glasses and plates had exploded all over the counter and floor — more collateral damage from the shooting.
"Reece," Sean said again. "Anyone in here?"
Tommy moved around to the left and checked a narrow hallway. Adriana stayed near Sean as he continued forward through the kitchen to a laundry room and small guest bathroom.
"Find anything?" Tommy asked.
"No. All clear," Sean said.
"At least we didn't find a body," Adriana added.
"True. But that could mean they took him."
The words barely escaped his mouth when the house was rocked by a thunderous boom.
The few pieces of mirror that remained on a wall just beyond Sean's position shattered as a bullet ripped through the wall and smashed into it.
The three instantly hit the deck, diving for cover behind whatever they could find. Sean instinctively stuck out a hand to shove Adriana to the floor, but her reaction was just as fast as his.
They curled up behind the dishwasher while Tommy took up a position behind the tattered sofa near the big front window.
Sean's immediate thought was that whoever came to kill Reece must have come back for them. But how would they know the Americans were coming unless they'd been monitoring them somehow? Sean scratched that thought out of his head. The killers had to be working in tandem with the bombing suspect in Atlanta. If that was the case, they'd most likely be operating under the notion that Tommy was already dead. It was unlikely they knew anything about Sean.
Then there was the fact that no car had pulled up. With the noisy gravel driveway outside, even an electric car would have made at least some noise as it pulled in. That meant the shooter was on the premises when the Americans arrived, which narrowed the possibilities considerably.
Either the killer decided to hang around on the property to make sure no one came looking for Reece — or Reece was the one who'd just fired.
Another shot rang out, and a piece of drywall exploded five feet above Tommy's head. It was followed by another five shots, each tearing through random points on the wall. The rounds zipped through the air and harmlessly out the other side of the house.
Sean listened closely. As the echo of the gunfire dissipated, he could hear movement just beyond the front of the house. The shooter was moving around to enter the building.
He had to act fast, and it was going to require a gamble.
"Reece!" he yelled out. "It's Sean and Tommy! If that's you out there, you better stop shooting at us! Not cool, man! Not cool at all!"
Tommy looked back at his friend, who was peeking around the edge of the kitchen cabinets. "What are you doing?" he mouthed.
Sean held up a finger and pointed at the front door.
Tommy crouched next to the sofa and took aim at the door in case the shooter decided to come through. Tommy had always been a decent shot with guns of all kinds. At this range, he'd never miss.
Footsteps tapped on the stairs leading up to the front porch. Tommy gripped his weapon a little tighter. Sean and Adriana stayed in their position, ready to fire if the person on the outside was an enemy.
The sound of footsteps stopped just short of the threshold, and the companions froze, waiting to see what would happen.
"It's about time you guys showed up!" Reece yelled through the crack in the front door.
Tommy visibly relaxed, the gun drooping slightly in his hand. "Reece? You okay?"
The door swung open, and the big Australian stood in the opening, silhouetted by the blazing light of the sun.
"Look at my house, Tommy. Does it look like I'm all right?"
Sean let out a short laugh and stood up from his hiding place. Adriana rose right behind him.
"Boy, are we glad to see you," Sean said.
"Yeah," Tommy agreed as he straightened up. "Although I don't appreciate you shooting at us just now."
Reece grinned with pride. He shoved his .45-caliber SIG Sauer back in its holster. "Maybe next time you'll let a bloke know when you're comin' to visit."
Tommy was incensed. "I tried calling, emailing, and texting you."
"Did you try my beeper?"
Reece flashed a quick glance over at Sean and then winked.
"What?"
"I'm just havin' a bit of fun with you, mate. How are ya, Tom?"
Tommy shook his head and put his weapon away. The others did the same, tucking their pistols in their holsters.
"I'm fine now that I know you're okay. When I hadn't heard from you for a few days…"
"You thought I was dead? Me? Aww, that's sweet, old Tom. But you should know me better than that."
"Actually," Sean cut in, "his first thought was that you were doing a tour."
Reece rolled his shoulders. "I wish that was the case, mate. But things haven't been so good on that front lately. It'll turn around sooner or later." His head circled from one side of the room to the other as he surveyed the damage. "My house, on the other hand — pretty sure she's a goner."
Sean stepped closer with Adriana in tow.
"Any idea who did this? Did they say what they wanted?"
Reece noticed Adriana and took his trucker hat off for a moment. "Brought a sheila with you, Sean?"
"Oh sorry. Where are my manners. This is Adriana. Adriana, Reece Skelton."
The Aussie gave a curt nod and put his hat back on his sweaty head.
"Pleasure."
"Wait a minute," Tommy said. "How come you automatically assumed she's with Sean?"
Reece raised an eyebrow, shared a short knowing glance with Sean, and then looked back at Tommy. "Come on, Tom."
Before Tommy could protest, Reece went on while Sean fought back the laughter. "To answer your question, no. I have no idea who they were or what they wanted. All I know is I was sitting here watching rugby and having a beer when I heard the SUV drive up."
"So you got a look at the vehicle?" Sean asked. "You didn't happen to see the shooter?"
"Nah," Reece said. "Didn't see them. Their SUV, yeah. But I doubt that'll be much help now. I heard 'em rollin' up, went to see who it was, and by the time I looked out the window, they started shooting. Nothing I could do but duck for cover and slither out the back like a snake. Been hiding in the machine shed for the last two days."
"You've been sleeping out there?" Adriana asked, entering the conversation.
"It's not that bad. Got a cot out there and an old Land Cruiser. If it gets too cold, I can just climb in that thing. You might have noticed cold isn't really a problem here right now."
"Definitely not," Sean agreed. "You've gotta be hungry. We need to get you something to eat."
Reece waved a dismissive hand. "I'm fine. Got plenty of stuff out there in the freezer and a camping stove with plenty of fuel."
"So have you been staying out there because you're worried the shooters will come back?" Tommy asked.
"It's not that I'm scared. It's that I want to get the drop on those nasty buggers. If they were to come back, I'd have the perfect angle to take them out. They never did come back, though. Figured I'd give it a few days before I migrated back to the house to start fixing things."
Adriana assessed the damage. "Looks like that might take a while."
Reece nodded. "Yeah, well, since I don't have any tours lined up in the next few weeks, I've got the time."
Tommy tried to redirect the conversation back on track. "So someone tried to kill you and you don't know why?"