Page 59 of Operation: Unify

One of the women mumbled a prayer as they walked and soon the others were joining along. Lacy silently added her own request for safety for all of those who lived on Wayside Ranch.

Finally, she made it to the wide back door of the barn that led out into one of the corrals. To the right was a wide stall that originally had been used to store horsedrawn wagons. Now, it was used to store huge bales of hay away from the horses.

She had them climb to the top of the bales and huddle against the wall. The likelihood of bullets finding them up there wasn’t great, but she still worried she hadn’t done enough. Everyone continued to hold hands and remain silent. She thanked God that no one had started crying even though the fear warranted it. Tears were loud and they couldn’t afford to make noise right now.

A voice with a thick accent came from the front of the barn. “I saw them go in here. Find the lights. Search it top to bottom. When we find someone who we can use as a shield, we’ll have them right where we want them.”

Lacy held her breath. The moment they found the lights, all of them would be visible up on top of that mound of hay. If she said anything to direct her group, the men would hear her.

“Where do you think the light is?” a man said.

“I don’t know. Feel around by the door. It has to be there.”

Lacy tugged on Adam’s hand, and he silently followed, then he pulled his mother’s hand. Within minutes, they were all slowly and silently climbing down the stack. The only problem was, in order to get out, they had to step into the bright moonlight of the back door and the only place to go from there was over a fence.

Her palms sweated and Adam’s hand slipped loose. How was she going to save them before they found the light under the switchbox near the door?

Chapter Twenty-Two

Connor led his team, consisting of Cole and Edwyn around the right side of the house. Junior led another team with Sam and Eric around the left. They were each to leave about thirty yards between themselves and the driveway, putting them roughly sixty yards apart.

As long as they stayed ahead of the attackers, there would be no shooting at each other accidentally. That was the last thing Connor wanted to happen. In the dark, there was always an issue of knowing the target before pulling the trigger. He trusted all his men to know what was ahead before doing anything.

A few gunshots on the left signaled that Junior and his team had encountered someone. Cole blew his whistle three quick blasts so the other team would know their location. The men headed in the direction of the shots, keeping behind as much cover as possible.

Cole took out his night binoculars and looked ahead. “I’ve got no sight,” he mumbled.

“We’ll need to get closer. How in the world did Junior meet up with them first? I thought they were headed right up thedriveway?” Had their intel been wrong or had they left the visibility of the driveway and Junior’s group had surprised them.

Edwyn braced against a tree. “If we cross the driveway, we’re putting ourselves in danger. I want to help them, but they need to signal us first. What if the group of six broke into two groups like they were in the cars? We could be setting ourselves up for an ambush.”

Connor nodded his agreement. Nothing about this felt right. He checked his weapon one more time, just to make sure everything was in working order. He motioned for Cole to move in a little closer. Cole got low and ran to another tree, then used his binoculars again.

He held up two fingers then pointed right. If Junior had found others, then they were surrounded on two sides. Connor motioned for them to hold their position. He squinted into the darkness where Cole had been looking until two forms appeared from behind the trees, the snow was the only thing making them stand out.

Within seconds, he lost them in the trees again. Connor held completely still pressed to his cover. If he waited until they passed his three o’clock, he could safely engage without risking his men. He held his breath and counted the seconds as they ticked by.

These two didn’t seem to understand combat. While they knew how to hide and stay out of the light, they weren’t being especially quiet, nor did they hide their footprints within the tracks that were already out there. One of them pointed to the ground and muttered something. Just a few more feet and Connor could lunge for them.

One of the men whipped around and took a shot at Edwyn. The bark of the tree where Edwyn had been hiding exploded as Edwyn dove to the ground. Connor took aim but wasn’t surewhere Junior and his men were. They hadn’t put up a sound marker. Had they been caught?

The other man took a shot at Connor, narrowly missing. If he hadn’t been on slick snow, he might not have missed. Connor and his men fell back a few feet. He couldn’t call Junior, but he needed to know where the men were. He took out his phone and opened up the app to show him the location of every man. He’d thought Junior had engaged someone, but he was now heading toward the barn.

“Guys, something is going on at the house. Team B is running for the barn. We have to follow those guys. I don’t know what caused Junior to break protocol, but that means we could have guys right up at the house.”

They couldn’t run with the two attackers somewhere in front of them. He sent off a text to Junior, knowing he might not be able to answer. If they were being chased, then things didn’t look good. Once they had hostages, they would be able to get whatever they wanted. Connor would never risk lives.

Slowly, they made their way back along the path Junior was supposed to have followed toward the house. The silence worried him more than the gunshots had. Was it possible Junior and his team had been shot and it was their bodies that he’d seen on his app? He refused to think that way.

As they neared the house, the two men they’d encountered before waited, looking at the house beyond. He took a shot at one of them, but hit the tree the intruder was using for cover instead. With quick movements both men moved to better cover and took aim toward Connor and his men.

“Hold your places. Don’t move,” he muttered. “Make them come after us. I want them away from the house.” If they came after Connor and his team, it was less likely that Junior and his had been overtaken by others.

“Message in from Team 2, they heard some shots by the barn and went to check it out. They are almost there,” Edwyn’s voice was barely above a breath.

Good. That meant none of his men were captured. He motioned for his men to fall back further, trying to draw the two intruders out. When they followed, Connor led them closer to the driveway where there was more open area. If he could trick them out in the open, this standoff might come to an end.

Edwyn huddled in next to him. “Team 2 says they have two men in the barn. A third just left. That means one lone wolf is wandering around. Keep your eyes open.” He headed over to Cole’s position to tell him what was happening while Connor covered him.

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