Red North!
Page 65
CHAPTER 50
?
HOSTAGES
?
Pete pulled up the data on the recently rented house in Orange County, not far from Disneyland.? It hadn't been hard to find. He'd easily cracked the MLS database and found the information he'd needed while on the plane ride down.? One rental in particular looked a bit suspicious.? It was rented to a corporation from Atlanta, which made absolutely no sense in this neighborhood.? This was a low-rent area, and corporate officials would not likely use a house out here.? It looked to Pete like a good place to start.
He'd arranged for a car to be waiting for him at the private hanger when he arrived.? It was a nondescript rental, and would do for his purposes.? He got in the car, set up his GPS unit, and headed as quickly as he could to the private neighborhood with the rented house.? Twenty minutes later, he was cruising the neighborhood slowly.? He knew he'd only get one chance to do this.? If the kidnappers were alert, they'd be watching the street, and would notice a car drive by twice-that is, if they were worth their salt. ?He had to assume they were.?
He identified the house he was looking for.? The blinds were drawn, and there were no cars in the driveway.? It was the middle of the night, and nothing looked to be out of the ordinary. ?He needed a closer look, though, so he parked around the corner and quietly got out.? He worked his way up to the house through the neighbors' back yards.? Fortunately, he didn't hear any dogs barking to give away his presence.? He moved as quietly as he could but dogs have damn good hearing.? He took this to mean that there were no dogs in his immediate vicinity.?
Pete was close to the house now and didn't like the streetlights out front and the lack of shrubbery for cover near the house.? Even though he was quiet, it would be hard to approach the house without being seen-if anyone was watching.?
He'd brought military-grade night vision goggles (NVGs) but they weren't needed as the whole neighborhood was far too well lit for his liking.? He'd also brought a thermal imaging device with him that worked through windows, even with blinds drawn.? This would help him locate anyone inside the house.? He moved up next to what he assumed was a bedroom window, put the device against the glass pane, and scanned.? He saw the images of two small children lying on a bed.? They appeared to be hunched up-not a normal position for kids lying in bed.? He was confident now that he had the right house.? He moved to the next window, and repeated the process.? He saw an adult in a similar position on that bed-most likely a woman by the size and body contour.?
He was still on the side of the house but had to move to the front to be able to see in the living room.? He was completely exposed while doing this but knew it was the only way he'd get the information he needed.? He had to move quickly so he could get out of sight again as soon as possible.? He positioned the device at the corner of the window and saw a man, sitting upright in a chair. ?The guard.? Got 'em!? The guy in the living room was positioned with his back to the wall so he could see the door and the window, while being close to a hall leading to the back door, as a possible escape route.? Okay.? It was obvious to Pete that some planning had gone into this.? They weren't complete morons.
Pete crouched down underneath the window and thought about it for a minute.? Mostly likely, the guy wasn't really expecting a frontal assault.? He'd probably only been here a short while himself and thought it improbable that anyone knew he was there.? It was also late and he was probably drowsy.? These were all assumptions that Pete knew he couldn't rely on.? But he had the element of surprise on his side . . . at least for the time being.?
The front door would most certainly be locked but could easily be breached.? This would be easier with two guys, but it was just him and time was a'wasting.? He decided shock and awe would be his way in.? He'd blow the door off the hinges, toss in a flash bang, and move in shooting.? He figured the odds of success were on his side with the hostages in the back rooms and only one guard in the front room.?
Having made his plan, he crept up to the front door and, as quietly as possible, attached a small explosive to each of the hinges.? He attached a detonator and moved back.? This took him less than a minute.? He was in the wide open while working on the front door, but there was nobody on the road to notice.?
Just to be on the safe side, he got his TID out again and looked in the living room one more time.? The guy was gone!? Not there!? Shit!? He didn't think he'd been heard, but there was a chance he had been.? There were only so many places the guy could have gone.? Pete scanned the bedroom with the woman in it again, half expecting the guy to be in there with her.? He wasn't.? He could be in the bathroom, or in the kitchen getting something to eat or drink.? What were the odds of that happening just as he was getting ready to blow the door?? That was simply too coincidental for him.
Pete knew if he couldn't identify the guard's exact location, it'd be too risky going in.? Kids in one room, the woman in the other.? As he was thinking it over, he looked behind him and saw the streetlight again.? It was possible-quite likely now that he thought about it-that he'd cast a shadow in one of the windows.? If that was the case, the guy inside may have seen it and was now alerted to his presence.? He had to assume something along this line.
?