Page 3 of Smoke and Shadows

“On it,” Edmunds said. The Guardian took aim from within the remaining SUV and squeezed out several shots. “Got him.” Edmunds was always as cool as a cucumber.

“Stark, are you guys okay? Maia, damn it, report!” Manning yelled again.

Viktor stood back as he watched the mayhem unfold on screen. Tim was busy panning the cameras closer. The exchange of assault rifle fire was deafening and drowned out some of the communication.

“We’re okay.”

Viktor closed his eyes briefly when he heard Maia’s voice come over comms.

“We’re sustaining heavy gunfire,” Maia added. “Don’t know how long the bullet-proof shields will hold. Nasir’s wife is having a breakdown. Could you guys maybe hurry up?”

“We got this,” Stark broke in.

Viktor watched the rest of the Guardians methodically take down the six gunmen who concentrated their efforts on shooting up the limo. Something was not adding up. This was too easy. After a few more minutes, the last of the gunmen went down, but Viktor’s uneasiness only escalated.

Sirens wailed at a distance as the Paris Police were alerted of the attack. Maia stepped out of the limo and signaled for Manning to take Nasir and his wife to the remaining functional vehicle. Stark and Olsen provided a protective circle around the Syrian couple while Maia and Edmunds had their assault rifles shouldered as they scanned the area.

They were sitting ducks.

“Talk to us, HQ,” Maia said. “Who are these people?”

She looked down, nudged one of the bodies, and bent over to pull off the mask, revealing a man with olive skin and dark hair. Just then, a muffled pop sounded audibly on the comm channel as something struck the pavement behind her.

“What the fuck?” Maia muttered, quickly straightening up in alarm. However, another pop echoed ominously and more than a few gasps were heard as everyone watched Maia jerk back and hit the ground.

“Sniper!”

“Shit. Sniper!”

Edmunds quickly pulled Maia behind the limo. Manning pushed Nasir and his wife into the SUV and took position behind it.

“Stay with me, Maia,” Edmunds said urgently.

Viktor was breathing hard. “How bad is it?”

“Gut shot. Armor piercing round. Damn it, Maia, you fucking stay with me!” Edmunds was screaming now.

“Goddamn it!” Viktor cursed. He hustled back to his office to grab his CIA-issued secure phone known as the Sec-phone.

He punched a number on his speed dial. A female voice answered immediately.

“Shit’s going down right now,” Viktor said.

“I’m watching it on live feed.”

“You need to mobilize Grave Digger.”

“Already did.”

“I . . . thank you, Marissa.”

Viktor ended the call and ran back to the datacenter.

“What’s happening? Were there more shots fired?” he demanded.

“We’re losing her!” Stark roared over comms. “Damn it, Tim, where’s that ambulance?”

Two police vehicles screeched to a halt just short of the attack site and officers disembarked to initiate crowd control. A few minutes later, an ambulance squeezed between the limo and the line of dead bodies littering the streets.

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