Beside the sound the car made which echoed off all those these steep peaks, the dust cloud would also give them away.
Bunny took off her shoes and cracked off the heels. “Remind me to wear more sensible shoes, even if I’m going to have photo ops with the president.”
It must have killed her to ruin her Pradas, but she didn’t complain another peep. She piled out with the rest of them.
Lopez let out a heavy sigh. “This is going to be a long, slow climb down if we are to approach unseen.”
* * *
Damn, Lopez hadn’t been kidding. Bunny took off her shoe and shook out more pebbles. Levont had led them down the mountainside, picking their way between large rock formations and cliff faces.
So far, it seemed that they had entered the valley unseen. Trucks had been moving in and out of the girls’ school which, after only a few hours, was now surrounded in barbed wire. They had transformed the academy into a fortified compound.
It was easy to believe that Iran was behind this. Who else would better benefit from the destabilization of the region?
“Holy shit,” Levont said, looking through his binoculars.
“What?” Davidson asked, grabbing them from his teammate. “Crap…”he said, his hand going limp.
“What?” Lopez demanded, snatching the binoculars. It only took him a second to refocus the lens, and then he, too, cursed, letting the binoculars dangle from his hand. Bunny took them off the corporal’s hands and looked through the lens.
They already knew about the barbed wire around the compound. And the guards. Lots of guards, but wasn’t that to be expected? Why had this site made all the men weak in the knees?
“What’s wrong?” Bunny asked.
“Let me see,” Drecker demanded. Bunny handed over the binoculars.
“Did you see those glints?” Davidson asked. Off of Bunny’s nod, Davidson continued. “Those were detonators. The whole place is rigged to blow.”
Oh, that was what was wrong.
“I don’t like it,” Drecker said. “No one said anything about C-4.”
“It changes things a bit,” Davidson admitted, but then kneeled down and started drawing a crude outline of the school in the dirt. “This is going to have to be a coordinated strike. We’ve got to take out whoever holds the detonators.” The rest of the men nodded, except for Drecker. Davidson continued, “I’m going to go inside and set up in this corner tower,” he said, putting a large “D” in the southernmost structure.
“No,” Drecker said. “None of us are going anywhere. We are out of this op.”
“Sorry to say,” Lopez said, then cocked his head. “No, actually I’m not sorry to say, but you can’t opt us in or out of anything.”
Drecker’s chest puffed up. “I’m your sergeant.”
“Nope,” Levont replied. “Right now, you are just a guy we are out with on some R&R, remember?”
Drecker’s face turned a bright pomegranate red. “I’m still in charge.”
“Um,” Davidson said, tilting his hand back and forth. “No.”
Drecker looked to each of them and seemed to get the same answer. Even Prenner, the newest to the team, did not seem inclined to side with Drecker.
“Our CO is going to hear about this,” Drecker said as his cheeks puffed in and out. “You’re just going to make things worse.”
“Really?” Bunny challenged. “Because I’m not sure how burning to death in a few hours could get much worse for those girls.”
“We’ve got to look at the big picture,” Drecker said. “We can’t get caught here.”
“Who said anything about getting caught?” Lopez scoffed. “Look, if you don’t want to come along, just say so.”
Drecker shook his head. “I’m not going.”
Davidson looked to Bunny. We’re going to need five guns for this. Are you up for laying down some cover fire?”
Bunny, unlike Rebecca, didn’t have any problem with guns. Not any more. Not when so many guns were aimed at her. In the rare times Davidson and she had together, Bunny had gone to the shooting range. After Paris, Moscow and Jordan, Bunny never wanted to be on the wrong end of a gun again. Not if she could help it.
So Bunny nodded. “I’m in.”
“No,” Drecker blurted. “No, you aren’t dragging a civilian into your lunacy.”
Bunny took the gun Davidson offered. “Then grow a pair and don’t put me in this position.”
Drecker’s face went from beet red to a pasty white. “How dare you,” he blustered.
“What, call you on your cowardice?” Bunny was on a roll, and wasn’t about to stop. “I know you justify it as caution or prudence, but really, you just don’t want to storm a building loaded with C-4. You do know that your file states you are risk-averse, right?”
The man huffed and puffed but couldn’t blow Bunny down. “Sorry, guys. I promise to pick better next time.”
She had a stack of applicants back in DC, eager to join their team. Why was it so damned hard to replace Brandt? Even though Drecker did have that one red flag of being risk-averse, he had a pile of commendations and glowing recommendations. Bunny would definitely pay more attention to those red flags in the future.
Drecker’d seemed like such a great, grounded guy when they’d met. For a brief moment, she considered if maybe Drecker wasn’t the sane one here and they were the crazy ones. Then she realized that Lopez had signed off on the plan, so it had to be crazy.
Crazy and not actionable were two different things.
“You’re not really going to do this?” Drecker asked.
“Or what?” Bunny challenged. “Wait a few hours and watch the girls’ burn to death?”
Drecker. “There’s bravery and there’s suicide.”
“And then there is Davidson’s plan!” Lopez said with a laugh, clapping Drecker on the back. The guy just didn’t seem to get it.
* * *
There were times when Davidson had to wonder what his attraction to Bunny was based upon. Being a member of the Knot, he’d spent his teenage years refining his skills with his rifle and not going to school dances. He had less romantic experience than most grade schoolers.
With her tumble of red curls and flashing green eyes, Bunny had been a fascination for Davidson from the start. Her attitude, though, back then? Snotty? Arrogant? Demeaning? Had put a damper on his feelings.
Even now, there were times when Bunny thought a simple pout should get her carte blanche. And her shoe collection? What person needed hundreds of pairs of shoes?
But all that paled in moments like this when she was fierce and proud. She didn’t flinch as Drecker glared at her. Bunny had turned out to be the perfect person to advocate for the team back home and, obviously, here as well.
He thought this was why Brandt’s and Monroe’s marriage worked. The scientist insisted on going anywhere Brandt did. When Bunny had opted to stay stateside last mission, Davidson had said he understood, but had he really? Granted, she saved their asses multiple times during the mission, but it wasn’t the same as having her by his side.
Right now, he wanted to reach over, pull her to him and give her a nice, wet kiss, but the men would probably not take too kindly to that. Instead, he just patted her shoulder.
“You know the basics. Bursts of three rounds,” Davidson said.
“Otherwise your fourth burst goes into the sky,” Bunny repeated. So she had been listening.
“Stay low and don’t ever stand up, even if the area seems calm.”
Bunny nodded, checking her weapon to be sure the chamber was clear.
This woman in front of him, this one he could learn to love.
* * *
Bunny’s feet hurt, and every crevice, and she meant every crevice, was caked in dust. And the rock under her butt? It was not up to Temperpedic quality. But it was the best they could do, so she didn’t complain as much as she wanted to. Not with Drecker here. She’d been pretty brazen back there, and she couldn’t exactly bitch
about the conditions now, could she?
Plus, what terror were those little girls going through right now? Bunny just had to buck up.
They had been resting for the past few hours, waiting for the sun to go down. They had to hope that the terrorists didn’t have any thermal detection equipment on them. However, if they did, they should have been spotted by now.
So the plan was to wait for dark, sneak in, kill the men with the detonators, and get the girls out safe.
That was the plan, anyway. Bunny had been out on enough of these excursions that she knew that was not exactly how the night was going to go.
So she dug in like the rest and tried to let go of the stress of the day. Usually, if you rescued the president, you got some real R&R. Not this nearly suicidal mission. They were outnumbered seven to one, easily.
The men seemed at peace with that, though. Lopez was snoring beside Levont, his head resting on his friend’s shoulder. Prenner was cleaning his gun as Davidson studied his dirt map, even as the light waned to near nothing.
The only one who still seemed agitated was Drecker. No great surprise there.
As the sun set, the temperature plummeted. But there was no lighting a fire, not if they wanted to keep up the element of surprise. So now she was dirty, sweaty and cold. Perfect.
And she’d trashed a seven-hundred-dollar pair of Pradas. That alone was practically a crime.
Davidson watched Drecker pace back and forth. “You can head back anytime, Sergeant. I’m sure they’ve got roadblocks set up all over the place. Within an hour, you could find a ride back to Kabul.”
Drecker frowned. “Someone’s got to document this folly.”
“Thanks for the vote of confidence,” Davidson said as he checked his watch. Bunny could barely make out his features as the night became inky black. “I think we’re good to go.”
The other men didn’t make a sound. They knew the plan and their role in it.
They all struck out into the night.
* * *
Davidson shimmied under the barbed wire, dragging his rifle bag beside him. Once under, he popped up and climbed a drain spout to the roof of the southern building. He set up behind a large air conditioning unit.
He checked his watch again. They were only five minutes out from the operation. This had to be timed perfectly. Once he shot, the sound would signal the attack, since he didn’t have a silencer with him. Because why would he, if he was providing peripheral support for the president’s motorcade?
So, next time, he needed to bring tank armor-piercing rounds and a silencer. Kind of the two extremes of a sniper’s arsenal, but that was his life. At least it was now. Moments like this, when he was at the precipice of doing something truly good, he could almost feel the weight of guilt slip from his shoulders from the work he’d done with the Knot.
That feeling never lasted long, though. Even after fulfilling a thousand truly good acts, afterward the sense that even that could not balance the scales settled back on his shoulders. He could never bring Svengurd back. Each time he looked into Prenner’s eyes, even though Davidson wasn’t the one who fired the shot, Davidson was reminded of the love he had stolen from him. How could one ever make up for that?
Perhaps he couldn’t. Perhaps his quest for redemption was a folly, but what else could he do?
Besides, these little girls didn’t have the means to free themselves. They needed him. A need that burned in his chest.
Davidson picked up his scope and surveyed the inner courtyard of the school. Thankfully, the guard’s positions hadn’t changed since Stark had captured a photo from a satellite. Another boon. There was always a satellite tasked over this region. And with the president in the region? There were probably twelve of them staring down at them. Right now, the more the merrier.
The girls were all on their knees in two long rows that stretched across the courtyard. All had their headscarves on.
The seconds ticked down as he heard a girl’s scream. In the wan sliver of a moon’s light, Davidson watched one of the men strike a girl, toppling her over onto her side. With her hands tied behind her back, she couldn’t even break her fall. The man raised his hand again. Davidson couldn’t do anything, though. He couldn’t make a move until the precise time, or risk all of the girls’ lives. Still, the scream tore through his heart. His scars ached all the more. God’s punishing fire reminded him constantly of the path he must walk from here on out.
To protect. Never to judge. Never to keep secrets.
A large man came out of the building behind the girls and slammed the door. In that brief moment, Davidson caught sight of a pile of C-4. These terrorists weren’t joking. They wanted to blow this school back to Mohammed’s day.
Did these terrorists really believe that God would reward them for such destruction? Davidson’s scars were kind of living proof that God didn’t roll that way.
But he wasn’t here to psychoanalyze the enemy. He was here to beat them at their own game.
As the moment approached, Davidson stared at his target. Did the man know that he was about to test that 73 virgin thing? Obviously not, as he smoothed his beard.
Davidson counted down.
Three. Two. One.
The rifle’s kick hit Davidson in the shoulder, flaring up the old wound. But the shot flew straight, hitting the man in the forehead. He tipped over backward, dropping the detonator harmlessly on the ground.
The other men had moved at exactly the same time, killing the other three men around the courtyard.
But now, a thousand bullets flew as the guards reacted. Davidson shot out the lock to the door behind the girls, then peppered the dirt in front of them with bullets. That got the girls up and moving inside the building.
Yes, it was toward the C-4, but at the moment, the explosives were an inert threat. Getting caught in the crossfire was a very real and living threat. Their screams rose in the night sky as they rushed into the building.
From outside the walls, Bunny’s cover fire roared. Three bursts, a break, then three more. She was doing a perfect job. To pull this off, they needed those external guards occupied.
Davidson surveyed the courtyard again. An armed guard rushed out, trying to cross to the room with the girls. Davidson put him down. Another came out firing from a nearby door. Davidson didn’t flinch as he took him down, as well.
The guards were in chaos. Clearly, they had no plan if they were breached. But why would they? They had the Afghan platoon in their back pocket. And all logic stated that the United States wouldn’t engage, so here they were just running willy-nilly, panicking.
Other shots rang out in the buildings. Since Davidson could tell the difference between an American Beretta and a Russian AK-47, he knew that it was mainly his men cleaning up during their sweep.
So far. So good.
CHAPTER 3
Bunny fired. Honestly, she wasn’t even watching where she was shooting, she just made sure to keep her bullets in the general area of the guards. They had retreated behind some outbuildings, but at least she was keeping them from going inside the courtyard and piling onto her team.
She had to pray that would be good enough.
There had been significant gunfire from within the walls of the school. She could only hope it was Davidson, Lopez, Prenner and Levont getting the upper hand. The fact that the school hadn’t blown sky high yet was a good sign.
Then Bunny heard a grunt from behind her. She rolled to take aim, but the guard must have snuck around behind her. He brought his weapon up with a smile. It looked like he was going to enjoy killing a woman.
Then a shot rang out.
The man’s smile fell as blood soaked through his tan shirt. Then he pitched forward. Bunny scrambled to get out of the way. Drecker stood behind the body, his gun still smoking.
“Thank… thank you,” Bunny stammered, still feeling her throat constricted in abject terror.
“You’ve got to keep aware of your surroundings,” Drecker grunte
d. He stripped the downed man of his weapons, shoving guns and knives into his belt.
“Bunny?” Davidson said in her ear. “Are you alright?”
“Yeah,” she said, knowing that her voice was not steady. “What do you need?”
“We’ve got some zeroes holed up in one of the rooms. We think they’re trying to MacGyver a detonator. We need you to get the girls out.”
“To where?” Bunny asked, swallowing a mouthful of dust.
“To the hills. Find a cave and hole up until I give the signal to come out.”
“Got it,” Bunny said. “I’m on the move.”
“It is ‘copy that’ and ‘affirmative,” Drecker mumbled.
Bunny wasn’t about to take offense. Not when he’d just saved her life.
* * *
Davidson hustled down the steps to the main level. None of the enemy were even so much as peeking their heads out into the courtyard. His gun was needed elsewhere.
Unless they all wanted to go “boom,” they needed to root out all of the terrorists and secure all of the explosives. Checking his corner, swinging his gun to and fro, making sure no one was behind him or even above him, Davidson made his way to the eastern corner. Lopez was sure he’d cornered several terrorists there.
Davidson turned another knob, opened the door, and burst into the room. No one there. He repeated the process all along the row of classrooms, clearing each as he went along. He didn’t want anyone behind them.
Levont met him at the corner. “We’re clear. Prenner checked the second floor already.”
Davidson nodded. “So just the one room?”
“Yeah, but its one of the C-4 rooms,” Levont said. “Some nice shooting back there, by the way,” Levont said, nodding to the bodies strewn around the courtyard.
He’d done his job—that was all.
“Let’s move out,” Davidson said, picking up into a trot. Levont fell in behind him. He could hear Prenner running across the second story hallway, heading for the stairwell. They met at the bottom of the steps at nearly the same time.
“Ready to end this?” Prenner asked.
They moved out to join Lopez at the eastern corner. They huddled together as close to the wall as possible, sitting on their heels.
Bull's Eye Sniper Chronicles Collection (The Second Cycle of the Betrayed Series) Page 3