Chapter 11
ELEVEN
Well, this op was already one for the books and they hadn’t even reached their objective yet.
Except for his right shoulder and upper arm hurting like a bitch.
The bleeding had mostly stopped now, but there were areas of numbness down the back of his arm and hand that told him he’d suffered some kind of nerve damage. He flexed his hand, curling the fingers into a fist, noting the diminished strength in his grip.
Fuck it. He could still hold and fire a weapon. This wasn’t going to stop him from going after March and his followers who might be hiding out here.
There was just enough moonlight to make out the shape of the land, the thick band of forest as they flew over it. Ruby sat next to him, her short, white hair whipping in the wind, watching the darkened scenery pass by underneath them out the open side door.
He still couldn’t believe they’d brought her along, but he understood the logic behind it.
If they couldn’t find March’s guy, they might have to use her to find the bunker entrance, but only as a last resort.
They’d put her in a ballistic vest, just in case, and he could practically feel the excitement humming through her at being included on this op.
She was an odd bird, that was for sure.
“I see the ATV,” Cam said, leaning forward to point out the door.
Taylor said something to the pilots, and they circled the area.
Craning his neck forward, Ryan made out the shape of the ATV left abandoned on the hillside.
They used a searchlight to scan the vicinity, but there was no sign of March’s second-in-command, Lyle Coventry. Using him to locate the bunker was out.
Taylor leaned forward to shout at Ruby. “You’re up. Can you get us to that bunker entrance?”
“Yes,” she yelled back.
Taylor shot him a look, eyebrows raised, and Ryan shrugged. She was the only one of them who knew where the entrance was and she’d actually been there, so she could save them time hunting around. “Worth a shot.”
Ruby jabbed him high in the ribs with her elbow, right underneath his wound. He winced and growled in pain. “Sorry,” she yelled in his ear, rubbing a hand over his arm in apology. “I forgot.”
Breathing deeply until the pain passed, he stared out the open door as the pilots flew them to the rock formation she had mentioned. There was no room for the helo to put down around here.
“We gonna fast rope in?” he asked Taylor.
The man nodded. “I’ll take Ruby.”
Sliding down a rope with a bullet wound and diminished grip strength was going to suck, but there was no help for it and they needed to get on the ground quick.
After the pilots circled and got them into position above a fairly flat spot in a small clearing, Craig Taylor took the role of crew chief and tossed the thick nylon rope out the door.
Cam slid down first, then Jackson, and Wade. Ryan went next, making extra sure he had a solid grip on the rope with his left hand and feet before easing out of the helo’s belly.
He glided down, breathing a sigh of relief when his boots touched solid ground, then held the base of the rope for Taylor, who emerged with Ruby.
She was wrapped around the front of his torso like a monkey, harnessed against him.
Once they were safely on the ground and Ruby unharnessed, Ryan immediately moved away to take up a defensive position with the others.
“We’re clear,” Taylor said a few seconds later via their earpieces. “Pilots are going to pull back a ways to diminish rotor noise and remain on station in case we need a fast pickup. All right, Ruby, point the way.”
They fanned out in a single line, Ruby up near the front with Taylor, behind Wade and Craig. Ryan mentally shook his head. It was fucking weird, being on an op with Candace’s grandma leading them. But also kinda awesome.
Ahead of them in the distance, the grizzly-shaped rock formation loomed in the dim light. They turned left and skirted the base of a rock outcropping.
Not a sound disturbed the silence as they moved.
He scanned their surroundings with his NVGs, rifle up and in firing position.
His right arm throbbed and ached in protest but he ignored it.
The sooner they got to the bunker and ensured it was empty, the sooner he could get patched up properly and get back to Candace.
They must have walked almost two miles in the darkness, snaking through the forest and winding through trees until he was certain Ruby had gotten them lost.
“Over there,” he heard her say softly, and turned to follow the end of her finger, pointed to the northwest. “Just around the base of this hill.”
“We’re getting close,” Taylor said via their comms. “Heads up for tripwires.”
Ryan’s gaze swept the ground as they continued closer to the area, then stopped, dropping to one knee with the others while Ruby and Taylor hunted around for the entrance.
“Should be right around here,” Ruby muttered, walking back and forth. “Gimme those goggle thingies,” she said to Taylor, holding out a hand impatiently while he undid his helmet and gave it to her. She looked like something out of a nightmare with the helmet on and the NVGs lowered over her eyes.
“That’s better. Now...” She paced to the left a few yards, turned in a half-circle. “Ah! There,” she whispered, pointing to a spot a few yards ahead. “See it?”
“I see it,” whispered Wade. “I’ll be damned.”
It took a long moment for Ryan to locate the entrance. They would never have found it without Ruby’s help.
Partially hidden by brush, the circular brown steel door was completely camouflaged from view, even half-uncovered the way it was. In this kind of cover, there was no way even a satellite could have spotted it.
The way the brush had been pushed aside suggested someone had been here recently. Maybe March or that Coventry guy.
Ryan adjusted his grip on his weapon, that familiar buzz at the base of his spine alerting him that danger was near. But he was ready, and while he didn’t know either of the Taylor brothers, he trusted Wade, Cam, and Jackson to have his back.
Taylor took his helmet back and pushed Ruby behind him. “Craig, get her back.” His brother took her by the arm and towed her away to the relative safety of a thick stand of trees a hundred feet away while the rest of them moved closer to the entrance.
Ryan hung back with Cam and Jackson while Taylor and Wade set a charge on top of the door. Taylor moved away a few yards. “You boys ready?”
At their collective affirmative, he blew the charge. A loud bang echoed through the forest, the flash of light illuminating the surrounding trees for an instant before everything went dark again, the landscape lit up in green by their night vision goggles.
Taylor approached the steel door, weapon aimed at it in case anyone was waiting below. “Go,” he commanded.
Ryan and the others charged forward. Wade raced over as Taylor shoved aside the damaged steel hatch and Wade threw in a flashbang.
The moment the diversionary device exploded, shots echoed from somewhere below in the darkened tunnel.
Candace stopped in the middle of giving instructions to one of the staff members when the fire marshal walked in through the front doors of the main building.
The entire resort was crawling with first responders and FBI agents, and they’d corralled all the guests into the lounge and main dining room, on the off chance that the threat wasn’t over yet.
“Fire’s out,” the forty-something man said as he unstrapped and removed his helmet.
Good. “That’s great news. How bad was the damage?”
“Eastern end of the ground and second floors are pretty much a write-off, but the good news is the water and smoke damage to the rest of the building was minimal, and the upper two floors weren’t affected.”
“I’ll have the staff move everyone from the first two floors into other buildings. Any idea how it started?” Had to have been March’s men. They’d set it to flush her and the others outside and send them into the ambush.
“Arson investigator is on the way, should be here within the hour. He’ll be able to tell you for certain once he does his report, but based on what happened here, I’m guessing they doused the side of the building with either gas or lighter fluid and then lit it.”
Bastards. Lucky no one had been killed tonight. “Is there anything you need from me right now?” She was already juggling several balls at the moment, but she could handle one more.
His lips quirked, his brown eyes kind. “Other than you going to the hospital to get that wound checked out? No.”
She smiled at him, even though smiling was the last thing she felt like doing.
There’d been no word on the mission status.
She’d refused to let his firefighters or the paramedics tend to her.
Erin knew what she was doing, and had patched her up just fine until she could get to the hospital.
The outer edge of her left shoulder blade ached, yeah, and she would go get it checked out by a doctor later.
“I will.” But not until Ryan was back safe and sound. Until then, she wasn’t budging from this resort.
He nodded once. “I’ll let you get back to work, then. Looks like you’ve got your hands full.”
At least being busy gave her something to focus on other than worrying about Ryan, her grandma and the others.
After instructing the staff to move everyone from the damaged lower rooms to new ones and give the guests something to eat, she hurried to the lounge to inform everyone what was going on.
Erin and Dev were both there taking care of the guests with the rest of the staff, serving coffee and tea and whatever snacks they’d managed to find in the kitchens.
“Any word on what’s happening?” Dev asked her quietly over in the corner of the room a minute later.
“Not yet, but I’m going to get a status update now. If I find out anything, I’ll let you guys know.”
“All right.”
Exhaustion pulled at her, the pain in her side making her even more edgy as she exited the main building and headed for the adjoining one to the west. The Feds had set up a command post of sorts in the grill restaurant.
She spotted Maya standing next to one of them, deep in conversation. Her friend’s gaze cut to her as Candace approached.
“Is there a status update?” Candace asked without preamble.
The stocky, middle-aged FBI agent beside Maya shook his head. “Not yet.”
She didn’t believe him, and glanced at Maya for verification. Maya shook her head and Candace tamped down her impatience. “Are they at the bunker yet?”
“Yes,” Maya answered. “But that’s all I know.”
Great. Expelling a deep breath, Candace raked a hand through her hair. “How long until we can expect an update?” she asked the man.
“I’ll let you know as soon as I can.”
“You look ready to drop,” Maya said, catching her right hand and towing her toward an empty table. “Sit. I’ll get you something to drink.”
She sat, glowering. “I don’t want anything to drink. I want a damn status update.” At least tell me they’re still okay.
“Yeah, you and me both, chica.” Maya shot the male agent a dark look, hands on her trim hips. “Unfortunately, we’re shit out of luck on that front for the time being.”
Pulling the steel door shut behind him, Eric loaded a fresh magazine into his rifle and paused at the entrance of his safe room. His hands were steady, his heart rate only slightly elevated as he waited in the darkness, not even a hint of ambient light filtering through his NVGs.
They were here, although he didn’t know how many. He’d known they were here even before they’d hit the entrance door with explosives and tossed in the stun grenade.
His perimeter alarm had alerted him of their arrival minutes beforehand, allowing him plenty of time to set the last of his surprises and retreat here. If the men coming after him were highly trained and experienced, then the booby traps wouldn’t stop them.
But they would buy Eric time.
Lyle had never reported back after the attack, so Eric had to assume he’d been captured or killed. He was on his own now, but maybe it was better this way.
His turf. His terms.
His way.
They could try to take him alive but he’d kill as many of them as he could first. And he wasn’t afraid to die.
They wouldn’t kill him though. That would only make him a martyr to his followers, fueling the momentum of the movement he’d begun.
Keeping him in prison was equally dangerous, because he could recruit from within the prison system and his followers would continue to operate without him.
His men were loyal to him, and to their cause.
No matter what happened tonight, he won.
A loud boom rent the air, shaking the tunnel so much that the walls and floor trembled around him.
He smiled in the darkness. His first diversion.
Surprise, assholes.
And there were more where that came from. They thought they had him trapped down here, but they were wrong. If he played this right, soon they’d be the ones trapped, while he escaped right out from underneath them.
He flexed his fingers around his weapon, ready for the coming showdown. “Now come and get me.”