Snickers from the unit drifted from around the corner where the vehicle waited to take them to the chopper.
“We better go.” He stepped back, but was suddenly crushed close against Zane’s chest, the soldier’s lips near his ear.
“Me too,” Zane whispered the words that sent the blood rushing in his ear. It wasn’t exactly the ones he wanted, but it was the meaning behind them.
And right then, he’d take it.
Zane
Eddie Chambers played hard ball.
Crouching, Zane snipped the wire and Isaac disarmed the explosive. It was the fourth one in a matter of a half an hour. They alternated cutting the wire and disarming the explosives, but he tasted bitter fear every time Isaac fiddled with the dangerous device. And his skin crawled with dread until Isaac was back at his side.
“With me?” Isaac whispered.
He dropped the wire and darted over in a crouch. “What do you have?”
“About eighteen yards in the distance.” Isaac handed him the binoculars.
The trees grew thick and twisted, the underbrush heavy and damp between them and the house. The sky overhead was a mess of angry storm clouds just itching to open up and saturate the ground.
He twisted the knob and zoomed in on two men lounging outside of a guard shack just west of the uncle’s home. The house was big and in disrepair with white chipped paint and an unkempt yard that grew tall with grass stretching across the small clearing to the trees.
“You really think Eddie’s in there?” He handed back the binoculars.
“Maybe. He might be hatching a plan with his uncle.”
“I think he already has a plan,” he returned, following Isaac in a hunched over run to get closer to the pair of armed guards.
“If he does, maybe we’ll find something about it inside.”
Zane held Isaac’s gaze and the sun broke through the cloud cover to send triangles of light cutting through the pine trees. Call him fucking sappy, but Isaac’s eyes sparkled like a clear blue freshwater lake.
“Bravo, you copy?”
“Go ahead, base,” he replied, dragging his eyes from Isaac.
“There is no security system in place,” Sam responded.
“That’s odd,” Isaac frowned.
“Copy that, base,” he responded, it was damned odd. “We have two guards, west side, in what looks to be a guard shack. Isaac and I are going in.”
Isaac gave him a wide grin, his blue eyes twinkling.
“Roger that, Bravo team, going in,” Sam said.
“Watch your six,” Maddox growled.
“Mad dog, this is Split Wire,” Spencer’s growly tone came over the mic. “Fury is coming in from the west.”
“Roger that,” Maddox responded to his old handle. Zane could hear the amusement from both men. Spencer and Maddox went way back.
Once they reached a few yards from the shack, he tapped Isaac on the shoulder.
Isaac went left and he went right.
They converged on the pair of guards who’d stood puffing on cigarettes instead of paying attention. The whole setup stank. Zane ran up behind one man and locked his arm around the guy’s throat. He squeezed and kicked away the rifle leaning against the wall.
Isaac disarmed the perp across from him and knocked the man’s head against the wall. Both suspects toppled to the dirt simultaneously.
Zane shook his head when Isaac gave him a cocky grin and zip-tied and gagged the two men. Isaac stomped out the smoldering cigarettes.
Snatching up the radio, Zane tucked it into his vest. Never knew when listening in might pay off.
They raced through the underbrush and trees until they reached the edge of the house. Isaac picked the lock and all appeared quiet when they entered the darkened hallway.
The first door they came to stood open and he did a quick look. Finding it empty, he entered it and moved quickly to the far door on the other side. Pressing his ear to the door, he heard voices.
Isaac leaned in and listened. “Sounds like more than a few.”
“It does,” he whispered.
They back tracked to the darkened hallway.
“Fury, you copy?” he said quietly.
“Copy, Bravo, we’re coming up behind you,” Spencer said, approaching with Link and Eagle.
He pointing to the far door. “It sounds like more than a few in there. A meeting maybe?”
“Dispatch, any heat signatures?” Isaac inquired.
“Bravo, stand by,” Sam replied.
Eagle, Link, and Spencer took up positions to guard their flank, semi-automatic weapons clenched in their fists. He and Isaac kept an eye on the empty room and the far door beyond.
“Six suspects. Three are possibly armed,” Sam’s voice came over the mic. “Alpha and Charlie team, report?”
“We’re at the front entrance, took out two guards,” Alpha team responded.
“Charlie is coming down through the attic,” Pia said.
The chatter over the mic didn’t distract him. He took point and slammed into the room in a front roll. Isaac advanced in on his six with Fury bringing up the rear.
Slamming his weapon into the nearest guy’s head, he swept his leg out and took the guy to the floor. The suspect dropped like a stone and Zane lunged upward, tackling the nearest body, knocking the weapon from the man’s grasp. They fell in a tangle of arms and legs. It took precious seconds to grip the man around the throat and choke him out.
Rolling, he came up to his feet just as the rest of the men were taken into custody and disarmed.
Wiping a hand along his sweating temple, he found Isaac handcuffing a suspect. The blond winked at him.
He snorted, but something fierce warmed his chest. Hefting up the suspect at his feet, he pushed the man toward the door.
Back out the way they’d come, he shoved the suspect at Oliver and Holden.
Catching a flash from the corner of his eye, Zane squinted through the trees and spotted a man running.
“Suspect on the run!” he shouted and lunged after the guy. A few seconds later, Isaac was hot on his ass, boots crunching in the leaves. He leaped a log in his way and skidded down the incline after the man wearing green fatigues.
“Is it
