Page 10 of Dangerous Obsession

And squeezed.

Thwip.His guy in the tower went down. Squeeze.Thwip.Guy at the front gate jerked back, then collapsed to the ground. Guy patrolling came around the northeast corner. Squeeze.Thwip.Viking shifted his barrel toward his last target—the man at the front door of the residence. Squeeze.Thwip.The guy slammed back against the wall, teetered, and fell off the raised platform and into the thick bushes that flanked the entranceway.

“Falcon One, all clear.”

“Falcon Three, all clear.” Calliope’s voice was level, unbothered.

Seven down, two to go. Less than five minutes, and those assholes never even knew what hit them.

Stealth and speed were critical in this op, and even though they’d gone over the op plan multiple times and the team comprised some of the best operators in the world, things could still go wrong.

He scurried up to a squat position and watched Hawk through his scope. His teammate ran across the clearing in a crouch and stopped with his back against the wall next to the gate.

Viking scanned the compound. “All clear.”

Hawk looked up in his direction, gave him a quick nod, then swung the gate open and disappeared behind the wall.

“All clear.” Cole reported in, letting them know his two targets were out of commission. “We’re heading in.”

Hawk came into sight again—he was headed toward the outbuilding. He used the truck for cover and was just about to round the corner of the building when all hell broke loose.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!

Gunfire erupted, and the guy guarding the outbuilding came into view for the first time. He was firing his rifle as he backed away from the building.

“I don’t have a shot,” Calliope announced.

“I’ve got him.” Viking sighted him in and squeezed the trigger.

Thwip.The guy dropped like a bag of rocks.

Three men carrying AK47s and shouting in Spanish ran out the front door of the house and headed toward the commotion.

“Three men headed your way,” Viking said.

Cole kicked in the door of the outbuilding and dashed inside as Hawk started the truck. Eddie swung the back door of the box open, then ran into the building.

Viking and Calliope each took out one of the men, but the third zigzagged closer to his team. Hawk jumped down from the truck, and, using the door for cover, leaned around and fired. The guy dropped and lay writhing on the dirt. He lifted his gun, pointed it at Hawk, and Viking took him out.

Cole ran out of the building, a small child in each arm, set them inside the back of the truck, and went back in for more. Eddie came right behind him leading a group of girls and climbed into the back. One by one, Cole handed a child up to him, then gave Eddie a thumbs-up and left him in the back of the truck with the kids. Their team leader swung the door shut, ran around, and jumped up into the passenger seat.

Hawk gunned the engine. The back tires spun, kicking up dirt and rocks that pinged off the building. The big tires dug in, and the truck sped out through the open back gate.

“Well?” Calliope asked. “Did you get ’em all?”

“All present and accounted for.” You could almost hear a smile in Cole’s voice.

Unfortunately, there were still more than two million kids left to save, and that number continued to grow.

Viking thought back to Cole’s words.“Every child saved is a victory.”

Today they saved twenty. Children whose families would no longer have to wonder and worry about where they were or what was being done to them. And children who would no longer have to endure the brutal reality of being considered a commodity to be bought and sold multiple times a day.

Now, their healing could begin.

Viking gathered up the spent shell casings, counted to make sure he had them all, and secured them in a vest pocket. He slung his rifle over his shoulder and headed toward the team’s rendezvous point.

CHAPTER FOUR

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