Page 35 of Bound in the Dark

"Nice shooting, Sharp," Hawk's voice came over the coms. "I need a sitrep."

"Sniper's not me. I'm heading to the ridge where the shots are coming from." Sharp's voice was tight.

Teks voice cut in, "Five men have Hannibal and Ink pinned down behind their bikes. Going to take Smoke and see if we can break them—"

An explosion behind the truck rocked all of them with its shockwave.

Highdive looked over at Hawk. "Did Ink bring grenades?"

"I think we have two friendlies on the ridge and one of them has a fucking RPG." Tek's voice was tight. “I’m sending a drone that way to see if we can get an ID.”

Highdive cursed the decision not to have them already in the air before they arrived. So many bad calls had been made because they didn’t want to anger Minetti and screw up the deal. He would never again back down on the things he considered necessary for safety.

"Are those your men on the ridge?" Hawk asked Tomasso.

Stepping around the two men, Highdive maneuvered to look past the end of the truck without losing the cover of the van. Ink and Hannibal were sprinting towards them. Of the five hostiles that had been pinning his two Brothers down three were down but two were scrambling to get back to their feet. Highdive fired several rounds into each of those men.

"Not that I know of," Tomasso answered as Hannibal and Ink joined them in the cover the van provided.

Hannibal looked pissed but unhurt. The large sniper from Louisiana didn’t often lose his cool but when he did it was intimidating. "I haven't seen a rocket explode that close since the sandpit. Who the hell brought the heavy artillery?"

"No clue," Hawk replied.

Ink gave his friend a slap on the back. "Don’t look a gift RPG in its muzzle. Let's be happy the man with the rockets is on our side."

Another explosion sounded from the other side of the field and they were all drawn into the firefight. Hawk got the side door of the van open and handed Highdive a TAR-21 assault rifle. The men attacking might have had the element of surprise but now that it was gone, it was obvious they didn’t have training.

The sniper was still in play as Highdive saw several more people drop. A rocket fired past their location into the trees and from the screams it was obvious some of their attackers had been hiding in the cover.

“Shit, someone took out the drone,” Tek’s voice was annoyed.

Less than a minute later the silence of the night pressed in on him and Highdive realized it was over. Slowly he stepped out of cover and took in the scene. Over twenty men lay dead scattered around the field like discarded toys. His pulse was racing as he tried to make out if any of them were his Brothers.

“Everyone check in,” Hawk barked over the comms.

Slowly Highdive relaxed as reports came in from everyone they had brought in. There were minor injuries but nothing critical. They had five prisoners and Minetti had lost three of the men who had been by the SUVs.

Sharp’s voice came over their coms, “I’ve got eyes on our backup on the ridge.”

Why did he sound so amused?

“Who is it?” Hawk growled.

“Your daughter and Highdive’s woman. You all might want to get your asses up here.”

Chapter12

Before you accept a helping hand you should check to see if it’s holding a knife.

"Of all the weapons you could have chosen. Of course you pick the RPG-7."

Diana looked back at her niece with a shake of her head. Did no one in her family appreciate the elegance of precision over chaos? Everyday it became more and more obvious how much the girl was like her mother. During the firefight instead of quiet deadly professionalism the cursing bundle of energy was borderline distracting.

Like mother, like daughter.

Diana smiled and swept her scope over the field below in a final check before packing up. Twenty three prone bodies. Five kneeling prisoners. Fourteen live friendlies. Nothing more for her to do and their time on the high ground was running out.

A few minutes ago she had watched Sharp break off from the main group heading towards the trail that led up to their ridge. The path he had taken snaked through the forest but the former SEAL wouldn't find it a challenge and would be reaching them any minute.

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