Goose took a compress from his field medkit and covered the wound. “Hold this on your chest,” he ordered. “Tight. Slow the bleeding.”
“My wife,” Arnaud whispered. “Giselle—”
“We’re going to get her,” Goose said and hoped that he told the man the truth. “But you need to take care of yourself.” He pushed himself up, feeling the weakness in his bad knee, then positioned himself at the corner of the alley again. He swapped magazines in his weapon, shuffling the partially spent one to the back of his LCE.
The Bedouins ran for the other end of the alley.
“Sergeant Clay,” Goose called over the headset.
“Here,” Clay responded immediately. “We heard gunshots over your headset.”
“There was an exchange,” Goose said. “Four Bedouin are down. Seven remain viable. They do have the woman. She’s alive. Let’s keep her that way.”
“Affirmative,” Clay replied. “We’re on top of your twenty now.”
“Base,” Goose said, pushing himself forward into the alley.
“Base is here, Phoenix Leader.”
“I need a medical team here.”
“Already en route.”
“What about air support?” Goose passed the first two men in the alley’s mouth.
“Negative. The captain doesn’t see the need to risk a helo at this time.”
Not for a civilian, Goose thought, feeling angry with Remington. At the same time, though, he recognized that Remington’s reluctance was good military strategy. Helicopters were hard to come by in these tough times. They were a limited resource not meant for squandering. Plenty of civilians had taken refuge throughout the city, too afraid to brave the open expanse back to Ankara, Turkey’s capital to the north and west. As far as Remington was concerned, they weren’t his problem. Only holding this line against a superior force of invading Syrians mattered.
“Affirmative, Base.” Goose kept going, watching as the Bedouin juked into another alley to the east. “Clay, our targets broke east. Along an alley.”
“Acknowledged,” Clay replied.
“I see them,” another Ranger said.
Gunfire broke out in a steady staccato roar.
“Keep the woman clear.” Goose broke into a run, passing the final two Bedouin bodies, then positioned himself beside the alley the group had disappeared into.
Gunfire continued, filling the air with harsh cracks and accompanying echoes.
“They’re turning back,” Clay said. “Coming back your way, Leader. Two more are down. Five remain.”
“Understood.” Goose glanced around the corner. The other end of the alley was too far to reach, and he didn’t want to expose Arnaud to enemy fire again. “What about the woman?”
“She’s alive. We picked targets we could take without endangering her.”
Goose flattened himself against the building. “Come up quick, Sergeant. I’m about to be in the middle of them. They’ve caught me exposed.”
“Understood,” Clay said. “Look over your shoulder when it goes down. That’ll be us.”
Footsteps pounded the asphalt, drawing closer. Hoarse shouts in a language Goose couldn’t understand punctuated the sporadic weapon blasts. Despite the Kevlar armor he wore, he knew he might die in the coming encounter.
Will I see Chris if I do, God? I believe in You, but I don’t believe You took my child away from me. I don’t believe those disappearances were by Your hand. I don’t believe that was the Rapture. I refuse to believe that. But if I die right here and right now, please let me see my boy again and know that he is all right.
Then the first Bedouin broke from the alley, coming into view and passing Goose all in the same instant.
Goose let the man go and prayed that the man would not notice him. Another followed. The three Bedouin carrying the kidnapped woman brought up the rear.
Settling into the moment, knowing surprise was his greatest weapon, Goose shot the first of the three men through the head, aiming for the base of his skull as he passed. The bullets severed the spinal cord and the vagus nerve, destroying all motor control immediately. He dropped like a rock, causing the two men following him to stumble and fall and drop Giselle.
Goose spun, switching the fire selector to full-auto, and opened up on the two Bedouin farther down the alley. He emptied the magazine in less than two seconds, not even enough time for the two survivors to recover from their fall.
Dropping the assault rifle, Goose swept his M9 pistol from his hip, thumbed the safety off, and aimed at the nearest fallen Bedouin, who pulled a pistol from beneath his robe and pushed himself up.
Giselle Arnaud lay on the asphalt. Ropes bound her wrists and ankles. Blood trickled down her hands, evidence of her struggles to free herself. A gag tied around her head prevented her from crying out, but tears spilled down her cheeks, leaving tracks on her dusty face. Her bruised and dirty features were twisted with fright.
Goose looked away from the woman, locating his targets. He put a bullet through the nearest Bedouin’s face. He followed up with two more through the man’s chest as he fell. Near the woman’s head, the other Bedouin rose with a pistol in his hand, firing as he stood.
Bullets slammed into Goose’s chest armor. One of them caught his helmet, bouncing his head to one side. He remained on task. He wasn’t dead and he had a job to finish. He fired the M9 at the Bedouin, hitting the man’s chest and working up in case the man wore body armor beneath the robe.
As the Bedouin fell away, Goose spotted Sergeant Clay and his Ranger squad coming down the alley, throwing themselves forward and taking up positions as the men behind raced up to move into new positions.
Gunfire opened up behind Goose, letting him know the two men farther down the alley weren’t dead. He dropped and covered the kidnapped woman with his own body, lending her the protection of the body armor he wore as Clay and his men reached the alley mouth.
The M-4A1s blazed on full-auto for a few seconds. When
