Chapter 10
THE FIRST explosion lit up the sky at nine sharp. Lightfoot watched it all from the bell tower of the church, his sniper rifle ready to pick off threats and cover the split teams from the highest spot in town. Mac shadowed Sean, giving him support and cover as the explosives expert triggered his deadly toys.
While Danny covered their six, Rudy kicked in the back door of the cantina and took out two guards before they could react. Nate followed close on his heels. Passing Rudy while he stripped the men of their weapons, Nate tossed a stun grenade into the main room. The flash bang went off with a heart-pounding concussion. As stumbling figures emerged from the smoke, Nate picked them off one by one, leaving the women untouched.
A voice crackled in their earpieces. “Reinforcements coming from the motel.”
“Roger that.” Sean acknowledged Lightfoot’s warning. Flashing a grin at Mac, his nimble fingers danced across the electronic box he held in his left hand. The first vehicle pulling out of the parking lot exploded, raining flaming metal onto the street. The ratty old truck made a spectacular fireball. In quick succession, more explosions followed.
Rudy smashed in a door and leveled his assault rifle on the two women clinging to each other. One flicked her eyes to his left. He stepped through the door, whirled, and fired point blank. An oof and thud followed. A second man leaped from the shadows. Rudy sidestepped, grabbed him as he sailed by and with a deft twist broke the thug’s neck, silencing him forever. The women whimpered and huddled closer to each other. The stench of their fear was laced with relief. Victims, not Los Malvados whores. “Keep your heads down,” he ordered.
Shutting the door, he pivoted to the one across the narrow hall. No sound from within. Nate joined him and they crashed through the door together—Rudy high, Nate low. They found Honi Montoya, gagged and tied, under a pile of old blankets. Her eyes fairly glowed with fear as Nate withdrew his combat knife.
“ Shhh , Honi. We were friends of your grandfather.”
She blinked and huge tears rolled from her eyes. Nate cut the rope holding her as Rudy sliced through her gag. She moaned and shuddered. With hands numb and clumsy, she gripped her extended belly. “Not yet,” she moaned softly.
The Wolves exchanged a look that bordered on freaked out. Nate hissed into his microphone. “Alpha One to Bravo Two. We have a problem.”
“Repeat Alpha One.” Mac’s calm voice crackled through their earpieces.
“Bravo Two. We need Sean. STAT.”
“Status report, Alpha One.” Mac didn’t sound quite so calm now.
“No injuries. Repeat no friendly injuries but…” Nate glanced down at the girl. “Crap, Mac. She’s in labor.”
Lightfoot’s tight voice cut through the static. “We have company coming from due south. And they don’t look like friendlies.”
Harjo made a command decision, hoping they’d live long enough for him to second guess himself. “I’m coming in. Take out all hostiles within the perimeter. Repeat. Take out all hostiles.”
“Roger that.”
“Roger.”
“Wilco.”
He took a few precious minutes to camouflage the second SUV after transferring all supplies into the first. Satisfied the vehicle would be hidden from all but the most intensive of searches, he jumped behind the wheel and sped toward San Rios, careening past the burning vehicles and dead bodies littering the road. He pulled up behind the cantina as Danny materialized to help him unload.
“We’ve already cleaned house, Colonel. The area is secure.”
Harjo nodded and clicked his radio. “Lightfoot?”
“Go.”
“Situation?”
“Ten vehicles coming from the border. Three look heavily armed, seven are trucks. Probably packed with drugs.”
Mano and Dasher darted around the corner and skidded to a halt as Danny leveled his assault rifle on them.
“Whoa, son!” Dasher raised his hands. “We’re on your side.”
“How many civilians are in the church?” Harjo barked the question.
“Everyone,” Mano replied.
“Thirty-seven including your visitors,” Lightfoot whispered in his earpiece. “Ten of those are kids. Sixteen women. Eleven men, and most of them are old.”
Small arms fire chattered in the night. “Sean is headed to the cantina,” Mac informed them. “I could use—” More shots rang out. “Some help doing a full sweep.”
“Roger that, Mac. I’m on my way. As soon as Sean gets here, Rudy will engage.” Nate sounded calm and professional, but a hint of adrenaline edged his voice. The more savage aspects of his wolf lingered closer to the surface than with the others. He retained his conscience but with a flinty disregard for the niceties of legal procedure. Nate saw things in black and white. Good guys live. Bad guys die. Simple. The look on his face as he stepped into the alley behind the cantina conveyed that sentiment to everyone present.
Sean jogged up and handed his box to Nate. “Toss that up to Lightfoot. I rigged some goodies on the road from the south. He can set them off when needed and it’ll give the assholes something to think about before they come into town.” He ducked inside and moments later, Rudy appeared. Without a word, Nate and Rudy faded into the shadows, not even their footsteps discernible to Mano and Dasher.
The older man studied Harjo. “You must be the man in charge. Dasher Fox.” He offered his hand but Harjo didn’t take it. “We got ever’body in the church. If there’s gonna be a standoff, we need to get supplies moved in there. The babies’ll need food. Somethin’ to sleep on.”
“What about water?” The logistics of a siege were not something Harjo had planned out.
“Artesian well. We don’t have a municipal water system like most folks. We’ve all tapped into the well. There’s enough pressure that water comes out when you turn on a faucet. The motel has a water tower. Caught rainwater t’use when it was open. “
A series of explosions interrupted him. “Sean’s delayed timers detonated the cabins at the motel. What about the gas tanks at the station?” Lightfoot sounded matter-of-fact over the radio.
“Those charges are on the box, Lightfoot, the one Nate’s bringin’. It’s a last-ditch to cover our tracks.” Sean’s breathless explanation answered the sniper’s question.
“Roger that.”
“What’s your status, Sean?” Harjo’s voice sounded a little tight. A pregnant woman in labor hadn’t been in the plan either.
“Uhm…we’re gonna be here awhile, bossman.”
“What’s that mean?”
“You want the clinical diagnosis?”
Harjo exchanged a look with Danny and shook his head. “No. Give me the stupid male version.”
“She’s in labor. Starting to dilate but a long way from birthing this baby.”
“Can we move her out of here?” Silence filled Harjo’s ear and he could almost hear the rest of the team holding their breath to hear the answer.
“Negative. Roads are too rough and it’s a damn long way to the hospital. Delivering this baby in the back of an SUV would be way worse than doing it here and moving out after.”
Harjo scrubbed at his forehead with a palm. That was not the answer he wanted. He glanced up to find Mano and Dasher watching him intently. If the Wolves pulled out now, these people would be left to the nonexistent mercy of the Los Malvados. Even if the team left them weapons and ammo, the townspeople were outgunned.
He suddenly realized in the radio silence that the town had grown still. No gunfire. No screaming.
Danny pulled the charging handle on his rifle, the noise as sharp as a hammer on steel. “Dude, this is like an episode of the Walking Dead. Right before the zombies attack.”