Chapter 34
Carson and his team spread out along the front of the property.
From what intel Charlotte could gather, there were twelve heat signatures in the house and around the property.
The house backed into the woods before finally dumping into the desert, but that wasn’t for hundreds of miles.
Houses up here on this hillside were miles apart and with dense trees in between them.
They could be on top of one another and you would never know.
One car was parked at the house on the south side of Juan’s and the other on the north.
They broke up into teams of three and four.
Each team walked to Juan’s house surrounding it.
Sandy had ridden up with the other team and had agreed to wait at the car.
She had instructions to call the police if the teams didn’t come back in an hour.
Luke led Carson’s team of three. They stopped at the edge of the tree line, and Luke used his binoculars to survey the property. “Three guards on the southside. Two along the side of the house and one at the front door,” he said into his microphone.
“Copy,” Jack replied. He was leading the other team. “There are two on this side.”
“Let’s take them out quickly and quietly. There are still seven people inside the house. A hostage being one of them. Keep your eyes open.”
“Copy that,” came back several replies.
Carson, Luke, and Barry moved down further down the property to come up from behind.
They moved on silent feet as they came up to the first guard.
Luke clamped a hand over his mouth as he slashed his throat, silencing his scream.
Then Luke eased the dead man to his back and rolled him against the side of the house as Barry took out the next one and did the same thing.
Carson pressed up against the house and used the front shrubbery to conceal himself as the guard walked back and forth looking for danger.
His gun rested loosely in his grip. No one was expecting anyone to find them, so no one was on alert. That was a point in their favor.
Carson clamped his hand over the man’s mouth as he passed by him and slashed open his throat.
Carson was easing him to the ground and hiding him amongst the shrubbery when someone came out the front door with a cigarette in their mouth.
A gun slung over his shoulder by the strap, dangling next to his hip.
They hadn’t seen Carson yet because they were looking down as they dug in their pants for a lighter.
“Hans, do you have a lighter?” the man asked, finally looking up and seeing Carson.
He reached for his gun as Carson launched his knife at him in the chest. He was too far away to make a quieter kill.
The man stumbled back and groaned in pain.
A shot rang out from his gun before he slumped over on the ground and died.
Men’s voices were heard shouting in the house. Fuck.
“Welcome party is on its way,” Carson reported, slinging his gun in front of him and aiming as he made his way toward the front door.
He heard his team behind him and could see Jack’s team coming from the opposite side. They stopped on either side of the front door. The shouts were getting louder, and the sound of guns cocking could be heard. They were standing in the entryway waiting for Carson’s team to enter.
Luke and Jack pulled gas grenades from their vests and tossed them inside. The grenades exploded, and gas spread throughout the room and drifted out the front door. The team filed in and spread out as soon as they entered.
Yurgio’s men coughed, breathing too deeply of the gas and squinting through it, trying to see them. The team came up behind them and fired. Four more of Yurgio’s men were killed. Two were left, and Allie was still to be found.
“Spread out, break up into teams, and cover each floor,” Luke ordered. “Carson, you’re with me.”
Carson nodded and followed Luke as they searched the main floor. There were seven rooms on the main floor. Another team was checking the other half of the house, so Luke and Carson only had to clear four rooms before moving on to another level.
Fear coursed through him as they moved from room to room and found them all empty. He heard through the earpiece that the other rooms were empty that each team came across as well. Where was Allie?
Carson entered into an office space and found a guard crawling across the floor, leaving a blood trail.
He was grasping out for something just out of reach.
Carson noticed it was a gun. He ran into the room and kneeled on top of the guy, his gun aimed at the back of his head as Luke came in and secured him.
“We got one of Yurgio’s men,” Luke announced.
“Where’s Yurgio? Where’s the girl?” Carson demanded of their hostage.
“Fuck you,” the man groaned.
The rest of the team came into the room. “The house is clear. He’s the only one here.”
Carson removed his weight and turned the man over onto his back. He saw the wound in the man’s leg. He dug his thumb into it. The man cried out and started thrashing, but he was secured and couldn’t get away.
“Let’s try that again.” Carson pulled back from the wound. He didn’t have the patience to deal with this man right now. Yurgio and Allie were missing.
The man looked around the room. Carson could see him calculating his odds. He wasn’t getting out of here alive. He was surrounded, and all of his friends were dead. “She went out the window. Yurgio followed.”
They all glanced up at the open window. Carson stood up and looked out. It was easily a twenty-foot drop down to the ground. There was a small, pitched roof below and to the right of the window. She would have used that to climb down. Carson also noted there was blood on the windowsill.
“How long ago?” he asked as he turned around to face the man.
The man clamped his mouth shut. Luke dug his thumb into the wound. The man groaned in pain. “Just as you broke in,” he shouted, and Luke pulled away.
Allie didn’t have that big of a head start on them. “I’m going after them,” Carson stated. He didn’t care if anyone followed him. He didn’t need backup. Carson knew how to track better than most of the guys.
“I’ll go with you,” Jack offered.
“Try to keep up,” Carson replied before running out the back door, down the deck stairs, and heading into the woods.