Making visual contact with the second group Cara raised her arm to talk into her watch. “We’ve got company. Tank, Ethan, you’ve both got a man on your flank. They’re working blind. No night vision. I want one alive.”
Ethan and Tank lowered onto their backs and waited for the stalkers to catch up. Hunters never expected to become the hunted. The two unknown men approached Ethan’s and Tank’s position and were overcome. Two bodies fell to the ground.
Stepping over the bleeder in the pipe Cara checked on the first team again. She wanted to make sure they weren’t being followed. “Luke, Jessie, you’re clear. Luke, take eagle position. Jessie, double back and eagle up in the other field. I want eyes scanning both areas.
“Ethan. Tank. Clean up the trash and bring me a talker,” Cara ordered into her watch.
It wasn’t long before Tank discarded his victim at Cara’s feet and lowered himself down to press the barrel of his gun under the guy’s chin. Tank’s massive size, crazy wide eyes, lip piercing, facial tattoo and deep baritone voice was enough to make a grown man piss his pants. The gun just added another sinister element to the overall effect that was Tank. “See that pretty lady right there?” Tank asked his victim. “She has a few questions to ask. You be a good little boy now and answer her, and she might let you live to tell your buddies about how you escaped from big, bad, Tank.”
The man on the ground had eyes that were on the verge of popping out of their sockets as he nodded his head yes.
Cara squatted down next to the captive. With a menacing smile, she looked over at Tank and then cast her attention to the main attraction. Removing the intruder’s hat, Cara was momentarily shocked into silence.
Ethan deposited a lifeless body next to the group and lowered himself down to witness the interrogation.
“
Tsk
.
Tsk
. What do we have here, boys? We’ve got us a girl playing military dress up. How old are you?” Cara questioned.
In an act of defiance, the girl twisted her head and spat at the woman holding her hostage. The two men’s laughter joined with Cara’s as she wiped the spit from her cheek and flicked it to the ground.
Falling silent, Cara tilted her head as she considered the best way to deal with the situation. She had to admire the girl’s spunk. It reminded her of her younger self, except her younger self never would have gotten caught. “I tell you what, there’s a level of respect that we female soldiers have for one another. You tell me what I want to know, and I’ll let you run back to your flock and tell them how you escaped.”
Ethan popped a toothpick between his lips, moving it around in his mouth. “Hell, that’ll make you a living legend girl. We’ve never let one of you piss ants walk away from a fight.”
Tank stroked the girl’s brow. “If she doesn’t cooperate, can I play with her before we kill her? She’s pretty.” Cara knew Tank well enough to know he’d never touch the girl. He kept a running count of how many people he could make talk without using standard interrogation techniques, and that total was pretty damn high. That’s one of the reasons she’d brought him along, the less time they had to spend on extracting information, the more time they had to find Frank.
“I want in after you’re done Tank. I don’t mind seconds.” Ethan continued to roll the toothpick in his mouth, sucking on it in between the side switches. The two men worked well together, playing off each other’s words.
Pretending that they were serious, Cara looked at her men and assumed the role of good cop. “Boys, give the girl a chance. Let’s see if she wants to talk before you get your dicks all worked up. Besides, I’m really not dressed to sit and watch you two pull another three day rape fest.” There had never been a rape fest. Not their style. They didn’t get personal with their victims. They just extracted information and then killed them. The girl didn’t know that though.
Tank smirked. “Damn. That was messy. Huh?”
Ethan sucked on his toothpick. “Yeah you damn thug. I told you not to slash her up like that.”
Cara intervened before their imaginations got the best of them. Focusing back on the scared little rabbit beneath her, Cara asked, “How many of your men, or women, are out here?”
The girl’s eyes were flooded with tears. Poor thing wasn’t a hardened soldier yet. Not their problem. If you chose to play the part, then you had to take everything it came with it. That included both good and the bad.
The girl stammered out an answer, “Two. There are just two of us.”
“Are you sure about that? I’ll give you a chance to change your answer. I don’t appreciate being lied to.
Shaking her head against the gun pressed under her chin, she cried out, “I’m sure.”
Cara stood up and ducked inside the pipe, pulling out victim number three. She dropped the dead man’s head next to the girl so she could see his face and the blood still oozing from the slash across his neck. Both men hid their surprise. The boss lady hadn’t mentioned that one. Just like her to keep a good secret.
Covering the girl’s mouth with one gloved hand to smother her cries, Cara dug the thumb of her free hand into the bullet wound just above and to the left of the girl’s heart—and twisted. “Let’s try this again. How many are there?”
Choking on her tears the girl strangled out her words. “Four. There are four of us.”
Ethan talked into his watch. “Find anything?”
Jessie replied first. “Negative. All I’ve got is a couple of deer.”
The three of them waited for Luke to respond. No answer.
Cara gained eye contact with Ethan and motioned her head backward. “Get a visual on him. He’s eagle to the right.”
Ethan remained crouched as he moved through the pipe to gain a better view. Tossing his voice over his shoulder he reported. “I’ve got visual. He’s located number four and is waiting for the drop.”
Cara kept her hand over the girl’s mouth as she struggled and bit against it in an effort to warn her friend.
Ethan admired the crap out of Luke and enjoyed watching him work. He stayed crouched and watched as the fourth guy came within Luke’s range. Dumb guy never stood a chance. With the grace and power of a leopard, Luke fell from the tree. He landed directly behind his prey taking him by surprise. A quick motion of the arms and the victim’s body went limp.
“Damn he’s fast,” Ethan whispered to himself in awe of what he’d just witnessed.
Luke replied to the earlier query. “Sorry guys, I was busy. What’s our status?”
Cara called the two men in. Luke hiked the motionless body over his shoulder and started humping it back to their location.
Ethan moved back down the pipe and joined the group, resuming his position next to the struggling girl. “You should have seen that kill, Tank. He’s good. Wait till he gets a load of this young thing.”
Tank took the bait. “I’ve got first dibs.”
Cara twisted her thumb deeper into the girl’s wound, hoping the girl didn’t pass out before they got the information they needed. “Where’d they take the captive?” When the screams died down to sobs, Cara removed her hand from the captive’s mouth.
“They took him to the warehouse. He’s there.”
Pulling her thumb out of the wound and wiping the gore on the girl’s jacket, Cara frowned. “Let’s hope you’re telling the truth.”
Cara barked the order to her men. “Load her up! She’s coming with us.”
Tank hauled the girl to her feet and gagged her while Ethan zip tied her hands behind her back.
Once they loaded the lifeless bodies into the trunk, Tank carefully laid the female hostage on top of the dead pile. “You be good now.”
Closing the lid, Tank squeezed into the backseat of the sedan to join the others. He wanted to show off his prize. “Dude, get a load of this ball crusher I pulled off that chick back in the bush.”
Ethan took the Taurus 24/7 .45 ACP and let out a whistle. “Nice. Either she’s daddy’s little princess, or the rebels have new resources.”
Positioned behind the driver’s seat, Cara pivoted around and glanced at it. “Sweet— Tank, you found it, you keep it. I want it processed into inventory first and I want the inner barrel filed. We don’t need any past mistakes she’s made to come back and bite us in the ass.”
Jessie held the portable laptop up. “I’ve got it. Warehouse floor plans anyone?”
The laptop was passed between the five of them as they took a crash course on the property layout of the warehouse.
Cranking up the sedan, Cara drove down the road, killing the lights and the car about a quarter mile from the warehouse. “Jessie, email our technician and tell him to intercept all calls going into the local PD until he hears back from us. Alright men, listen up. This could be a trap so keep your heads clear. I want a close fan pattern through the woods. Jessie you’re on point. Once we get our eyes on the warehouse I want Luke on back. I want Jessie on left side. Ethan you’re on the right. Tank you’re with me on front. If you find something, you all know what to do. The warehouse doesn’t run a night shift, so if it moves, take it down. I want this to be as clean as possible. No need to wake up the local PD. Clear?”
The strength behind four men giving a ‘yes ma’am’ to her orders was music to Cara’s ears. Not because men were answering to her orders, but because she could tell by their replies that they were pumped and ready for action. “Let’s do this.”
The team of five exited the sedan and became ghosts, trekking their way through the trees and brush surrounding the outer edges of the property.
Jessie came up on one of the rebels’ guardsmen. He was propped up against a tree, sucking on a cigarette. Apparently he wasn’t prepared to have company.
Jessie tossed a limb in the opposite direction. The rebel pivoted toward the sound and lifted his shotgun. Too simple, Jessie slipped up behind the guy and twisted his neck. He lowered the body to the ground. The cigarette still burned in the dead man’s mouth. Jessie removed it and took a long drag before crushing it under his boot.
Luke eased up beside his buddy. “Smoking will kill you.”
Jessie blew the smoke from his lungs. “Yeah, well, I guess I didn’t get that memo.” The two men continued easing closer to the warehouse, keeping eye contact on their partners using their night vision.
Jessie’s fist went up to signal the crew to stop and then he pointed up at a deer stand, nestled in a tree about fifty feet in front of them.
Luke pointed at himself and slithered off into the dark. Several minutes later Luke made his way back down the tree and waved the team forward.
Cara made quick work of another guard that had his eyes on the sky while relieving his bladder.
Coming into range of the warehouse, the five of them split up. Since they’d come up on the warehouse’s left side, there was a time delay as they all waited for everyone to make their way through the woods to get into their positions. Several guards were eliminated along the way.
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
“Clear.”
Cara gave the go ahead. “Watch for traps. This looks too easy. Let’s go get Frank.”
Luke had walked up the back outside stairs of the warehouse and was positioned under a door. Deciding that he didn’t like the unknown variable of a possible booby trap, he ditched the door idea. Scampering up the gutter pipe, Luke made his way to the top of the building. According to the layout, there was a skylight up top.
Lying on his belly, Luke used the vantage point to scope out the surrounding woods. Into his watch he whispered, “Ethan, man at four o’clock.” Ethan slipped behind the cover of a tree and back tracked until he found and disposed of his target.
“Tank, you’ve got a squatter along the wood line about twenty yards to your left.”
Satisfied that he’d located any stragglers, Luke wormed his way over to the skylight to check for a possible landing site once he entered. The drop down wouldn’t be that bad and he didn’t see any movement on the upper level. “Cara, I’m up top, let me drop in and check the entrances. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.”
Cara kicked back a reply. “Get on it. Men hold your positions.”
Luke attached a suction cup to the skylight glass and cut around the frame. He didn’t need the glass to shatter, but he had to get inside. After making the final cut, he removed the glass and laid it on the roof beside him. He stuck his head into the hole to get a better look. There weren’t any obvious obstacles. So far, so good, he thought. Lowering himself in as far as he could, he released the skylight frame and made a soft landing onto the floor.
The outer sections of the upper floor were used for storage space, leaving the middle section open to below. Peaking over the railing, Luke counted the men. There were twelve that he could see. Frank was tied to a chair close to the front entrance. Pretty damned good odds he thought. It might be messy for Frank though.
Luke skirted behind the boxes and crates until he found the window that opened out to the right side. He doubted that the idiots below even knew about this window, but he scanned it for explosives before opening it.
Tying a rope around a steel support pole, Luke tossed the end down to Ethan. Making his way around to the other side, he found a matching window that was also hidden behind crates. Luke duplicated his actions and threw a rope down to Jessie and then tried to gain view of the front door.
Luke whispered into his watch, “No good—wired for sound. Access ropes on sides.”
Ethan and Jessie made their way in, then the three men waited for Tank and Cara to gain entrance as they scoped out the interior. The lower floor was lit up like a freaking stage.