Total pages in book: 74
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71880 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 359(@200wpm)___ 288(@250wpm)___ 240(@300wpm)
I sucked in a much-needed breath and switched to night vision.
I had two rounds left when I finally spotted Elliott hauling himself over the balustrade on the second-level patio. I automatically left my position, because he had guards all over the place trying to locate the enemy, and if I had to use my handgun, I needed to be closer.
“Sight for sore eyes, baby—stay with me.” At the sound of Reese’s voice, and the words he spoke, I allowed a pinch of relief. He’d been reunited with Shay. “Cullen, Greer, move toward the villas! Mercier went after Luca, Crew’s grabbing the woman—goddammit! Joel, Elliott needs—
“I’m on it,” I grunted, jumping over a cluster of ferns.
“Got it,” Reese replied. “Jesus Christ.”
“Cullen can’t hear you,” Emerson reminded. “They’re past the villas now. Willow has another mission for them.”
“We really need more missions?” Coach snapped.
I aimed at a guard who’d tensed up at the sight of Elliott, and I shot him before he could do something stupid. If someone was going to shoot Elliott, it was me.
“We have sicarios approaching from the outside,” Emerson reported, the urgency clear in his voice. “Everyone’s been called back to protect the Family.”
For a moment, everybody was talking at once, and it wasn’t like we were sharing mindless chatter about the goddamn weather. Each report had to be heard when it was a matter of life and death, and we were fucking surrounded.
I hauled myself up to the first patio, then swiftly jumped up to the second, where Elliott was killing off the last few men.
“Joel, I’m gonna move you over to the other frequency,” Emerson told me. “What caliber is your rifle?”
“Cover Reese and Danny! They’re crossing the theater right now.”
“On it!”
“Fifty,” I replied. Like a flip of a switch, I went from hearing everyone to hearing just two men cursing and shouting.
And Emerson. “Good. Can you make a fifteen-hundred-yard shot?”
“No problem. Where do you need me to go?” Because by the sound of things, shit was urgent.
“As high up as you can—you see a domed ceiling south of the main estate? It’s their weapons cache. Blow it to kingdom come. Cullen and Greer have rigged the whole building, but you gotta move right now. They’re facing heavy resistance.”
I sprinted up the steps to the third and last patio, seeing nobody around me, and I heard Elliott behind me, asking what the fuck I was doing. Can’t talk right now—actually, I could. I heaved a breath and told Elliott to send everyone to the main estate. Greer and Cullen needed backup ASAP.
“How big is the target?” I hurried over to the edge that faced the main estate, and I jumped up on the balustrade.
“Can you see the door?”
“Confirmed,” I replied. I had to slow down my breathing. Deep, deep breaths. Inhale…exhale… Fanciest weapons cache I’d ever seen. The building was shaped more like a chapel. I saw the door, though, and I saw the C-4 mounted to it. “I see the C-4.”
“Fire at will. Greer, Cullen, get the fuck down—Joel’s about to blow up the building.”
Greer Finlay
“Roger,” I growled, attaching a new mag to my gun. I fired two quick rounds, and the motherfucker finally dropped. “Cullen, move out!”
“I’m fuckin’ tryin’!” he yelled.
I hurriedly wiped sweat out of my eyes and closed the distance between us. Holy fuck, we were out of time. Everyone was headed this way, including women and children fleeing the scene over by the patios. This wasn’t a place for close combat. We were surrounded by buildings, with the grand mansion some hundred feet behind us. Command center, arms storage, garages, smaller villas—all connected by a grid of stone paths. And everything was pitch-black because of Willow cutting the power.
I fired at the two men trying to overthrow Cullen, and one of them fell dead at his feet. The other screamed in pain ten feet away.
Now we could run.
“Rocket launchers secure—we’re moving out,” I panted.
We darted between two buildings—and then we threw ourselves on the ground as an ear-deafening blast went off, sending a pressure wave right past us.
My heart pounded furiously, and I saw my family—the images of them, flashing before my eyes. Archie’s beautiful smile and arresting eyes, Sloan, Corey, our kids, everything that was home. My li’l Corey, rambling about frogs, Sloan’s wry amusement and kind grins… I groaned and rolled onto my side, pain shooting up my leg and chest.
I was too old for rough landings.
Cullen cursed, and then he fired at something. Or someone.
I adjusted my monocular so I could see clearly in the dark, and I grunted as I forced myself to sit up.
“Emerson, connect us to the other frequency again,” I said hoarsely. “We need everyone here.”
“Right away,” he replied. “You two all right, mate?”
Eh.
I lifted my gun and fired at another militia-trained guard.
Elliott Jones
Joel and I ran as fast as we could toward the main estate—the very spot we’d been trying to avoid. We’d wanted to keep the fight near the patios, where the Blanco Family was farther away from a helicopter rescue.