Page 31 of Red Line

The team evaluated the heat signatures and relied on the AI readout to tell them the approximate heights of the people asleep in their beds. From this, the team had a good idea of where Poole was and how to get to him.

They were risking their lives on the intelligence packet.

Some terrorist cell might well have set a trap for the Deltas to step into.

It could also be that there was no Poole in this house, and they were about to break in on an innocent family.

Life was rarely clear-cut and well-defined.

In this line of work, that was especially true.

Nomad prepped three syringes and taped them to his chest, ready.

Ty recalled Rory, who continued out in stealth mode. He made his way over to the edge of the roof, and Ty held outhis arms as Rory leaped down. “Good job, buddy.” The reward would come later. Rory could be patient. He knew Ty wouldn’t forget.

T-Rex handed off the night vision to Nomad since it would be his job to administer the meds to Poole.

Ty moved back out of view with Rory, his job done.

Now, T-Rex, Ty, and Havoc were up.

Over at the compound, Havoc put his hands on the wall as Nomad and T-Rex bent and grabbed his lower legs. Havoc stepped into their palms and, walking his hands up the wall for stability, T-Rex and Nomad stood, then extended their arms to their full length, lifting Havoc cheerleader style.

Havoc reached up, gripping the edge, then did a Russian pull-up, swinging a leg over. There, he secured a rope. And moments later, walking up the wall, Nomad then T-Rex climbed the rope hand over hand to join him.

Through the window, down the hall, Nomad, with night vision in place, led the way to the bedroom where they had identified a figure that was their best guess on Poole.

Comparing a guy with his face pressed into a pillow, mouth wide to accommodate heavy snores, to a memorized photo could be tricky with night vision. Sometimes, they needed an AI assist, but not this time. This guy was obviously blond. He sported a fresh military-tight hairstyle. And then, there was also the big old bald eagle with the American flag tattoo on his bicep, right where it was supposed to be.

When Nomad gave his teammates a thumbs up, T-Rex turned his hip to sit violently on the sleeping man’s back, pressing all the air from Poole’s chest. Simultaneously, he wrapped Poole’s mouth to suppress any noise. T-Rex’s pinky and ring finger curved under Poole’s chin, trapping his jaw together so Poole couldn’t bite or spit.

“Hey there,” T-Rex curved to whisper into Poole’s ear, “your buddies were missing you back at the base. Looks like you got a little lost. We’re gonna take you home.”

Guttural sounds resonated from Poole’s throat, and Nomad thought he might be trying to barf.

Nomad stepped forward, pulling the first syringe from his t-shirt, and plunged it into Poole’s deltoid.

Poole flailed his feet, pounding them into the bed to make noise.

Havoc simply laid across them as Nomad took the top off the second syringe and administered that dose, carefully putting each top into his pocket.Leave no trace.

“This is what we call a B52,” T-Rex explained, lifting his weight off Poole so he could breathe again. “You know why? ‘Cause it’s the bomb, man.”

As Poole sucked in a giant gulp of air, Nomad plunged the third shot into his thigh.

Havoc stayed on Poole’s legs. T-Rex kept Poole’s mouth tightly shut.

Soon enough, he was out.

As they pulled back his sheet, they found Poole was naked.

Of course, he was.

They wrapped him up in his covers, and Nomad threw him over his shoulder.

Havoc grabbed Poole’s belongings and shoved them into his duffle. The men stole their way down the hall, back through the storage room, and out the window. They handed Poole down to the rooftop. Then they tied the rope under his arms and lowered him to Ty.

“Naked? Serious?” Ty was dressing him as the three climbed back down the rope.

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