Page 46 of The Bait

Another car arrived, four men this time, and they were greeted with their boy-scout-bro handshakes and Harry wanted to just murder them all.

Two of them had pistols in thigh holsters at least. Tactical HS2000s with box mags. Somewhat decent.

Finally. Jeez.

One of them carried a duffle bag into the cabin and they all disappeared inside. Harry guessed the bag had money in it, and that the boxes now in the shed contained illegal goods Harry didn’t care about.

Another car arrived. Two men got out. These two were also armed. They wore jackets, and Harry spotted what looked like the same HS2000 pistols in a side holster.

Nineteen rounds at least.

They also had what looked like a laptop bag and a decent-sized box, which they took inside the cabin. It could be full of weapons for all Harry knew.

Hell, it could have a cake in it for all he cared.

The inside of the cabin could be a whole damn armoury, and for the sake of his and Asher’s longevity, Harry had to assume it was.

Expect the worst, always.

Even if he was certain they were all boy-scout terrorists who were really just low-level crime idiots.

Harry had to remind himself that three of these men had entered Australia with intel on his and Asher’slocation, which meant they also knew their new names, which meant they had intel from someone in the loop.

So maybe they weren’t all idiots.

Then, sure enough, just as Daris had said, three black Range Rovers came up the drive. Like they were in some James Bond movie.

Harry hated them all.

They got closer to the break of trees in the clearing. Two hundred metres. One-fifty. One hundred.

Come on, Asher. Time to do your thing.

Harry trained his sights on the cabin instead and concentrated on his breathing.

He heard the first shot fired. Even with the suppressor, it still had the familiarthupsound. A hole appeared in the windshield of the first car in the convoy, the driver painting the inside with red chunks and mist.

Then, before anyone could even react, a second shot fired and a hole tore into the third vehicle and it exploded into flames.

Goddammit, Asher.

Well, they had everyone’s attention now.

The boy scouts raced out of the cabin, wide-eyed and in shock. So predictable.

Harry pulled the trigger.Tink,tink,tink,tink.

Four of them all spun to the ground like they’d been electrocuted. Four headshots.

He’d gloat to Asher afterwards, but the remaining boy scouts quickly backtracked into the safety of the cabin.

Four down, eight to go.

He’d hoped for less but he could work with that.

Asher fired another shot and Harry glanced quickly to see a man getting out of the first convoy vehicle fall to theground. That was his third shot, which meant he only had two more rounds left in the MAC 50.

He had the second G36 with a full clip but Harry hoped Asher wouldn’t need to use it. He studied the cabin again. A flash of movement in the window, Harry pulled the trigger, and they were now down to seven.

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