“I only saw two,” Asher said. “Where’s the third?”
“Did you see the one right above the cave, dead center? It almost blends in with the mouth of the cave, so you don’t really notice it, but it’s a crease in the rock,” Raiden explained. “I don’t see anyone in there, but I’d bet my bottom dollar someone with a rifle has wormed their way back in there.”
“Got it,” Asher answered.
“Ezio and Leo. There’s your first order of business—take those guys out before we get into range. Can you do it?”
Leo looked over at Ezio and grinned. “Absolutely, Boss.”
Leo never used binoculars, not when he had the best rifle scope in the world, so he pulled his out while Ezio was doing the same thing. Without any discussion, they started determining where they could set up shop.
“I’ll take the one on the right, four klicks ahead,” Leo said.
“I’m on the left, four klicks and a few meters past that one,” Ezio stated.
“Men. Stay behind our snipers. After they get into position, I’ll give the go-ahead to move forward.” Max didn’t bother looking at each man, he knew they would do exactly what he said.
Now that they had their targets they moved faster. Soon Leo was at his rock formation. He scrambled up and had his rifle set up in no time. Raiden had been right, of course; Leo could see hands gripping an AK-47 through the crevice. That was it, but it was enough.
Leo waited until Ezio was in position as he scoured around the cave for any other potential spots where look-outs might be hiding. His rifle moved infinitesimally as he caught sight of movement inside the cave. He adjusted his scope a little more and saw two men huddled together near the mouth of the cave in some kind of in-depth conversation. Not smart, they should not be that close to the entrance. Lucky us.
Leo took a glance and saw that Ezio was set up. “You seeing what I’m seeing, Stark?” he asked his teammate. “I’ve got five—two inside the cave, three hiding above the cave.”
“I count the same,” Ezio concurred.
There was a cluster of trees a klick to the right of the cave. Coming from that angle would be the best, but they would have to veer at least seven kilometers out of their way to get there. It would require Max and the team another seven miles of hiking to avoid the open plain in front of the cave, and come at them from the trees.
Before Leo could say anything, Max was up on the rock formation with him. “Whatchya got?”
Leo handed over his rifle so Max could see what he had been seeing. “So coming at them from the left, through the trees is the best plan of attack,” Max said.
“Yeah, but it’s going to mean we start our attack at zero four hundred not zero three hundred.” Leo sighed.
Max and Leo looked at one another. They both knew that zero three hundred was the best time for an attack; the closer they got to dawn, the better chance that the men in the cave would be active.
“No choice.” Max handed the rifle back to Leo and jumped down from the perch.
“You’re in luck,” he whispered into his mic to the rest of the team. “We get more exercise. About seven more kilometers to go, instead of one.”
“Cool, I think I’ve been putting on weight.” Cullen laughed at his own joke.
“I’ve noticed,” Max said. “I want you to carry my pack.”
Cullen stopped laughing.
Leo watched as they all started off. Even though he was ninety-nine point nine percent sure they wouldn’t be noticed, he still kept watch on the Afghan look-outs to make sure they didn’t make any funny moves. Leo took it as his personal mission to keep his team alive.
Leo couldn’t explain how time worked during situations like these; it was like it slowed down to an absolute crawl and sped to warp speed. He continued to watch and saw the AK-47 change hands. He saw a third man join the other two at the mouth of the cave. Then he saw the man sitting cross-legged near the top of the cliff start to drift off to sleep.
At the same time, he watched each member of his team move closer and closer to the trees. Even from his place on the rocks, little movements made it easy for him to determine who was who. Kane would occasionally reach back and touch his backpack that held his ‘precious’ laptop. Max took the rear to watch over his chicks, while Raiden took point. Nic would occasionally speed up and then slow down, always anxious to get to where he was going. Asher never missed a step, calm cool, and collected, steady as always. Then there was Cullen, moving back and forth between the men, checking up on everyone. Yep, that was his team.
“Do you see that?” Ezio whispered.
“Yep,” Leo answered. “He’s just looking, I don’t think he sees anything,” Leo said referring to the man who had been on his stomach, hidden partly behind a bush on the cliff. He was now up on his knees with his rifle held to his shoulder. But he wasn’t aiming at Max and the team, he was pointed at Ezio and Leo. Leo wasn’t worried, neither they nor their rifles were observable from the cliff. The man must just have a gut feeling or is checking things out.
Leo didn’t move a muscle and he knew that Ezio wasn’t either. Finally, the man went back to a prone position. When Leo felt good enough again, he peeked over at his team and saw they had made it damn
