Page 29 of No Vow Broken

“Looks like we have only one gunman attacking from this angle,” Hands said, still peering down his rifle through the barricade. “Beau has taken up a position behind some tables along the wall to the left. I don’t think he saw him move. This way we have a crossfire when they attack again. They are likely pissed to be encountering so much resistance at their intended ingresses. How are things elsewhere?”

“We’re still holding the dining room entrance. Gio was hit in his firing arm, but he’s okay. I also happened to find Xavier. He was in the bathroom when everything went down and just came out. I nearly shot him. He wants to be helpful, so now he’s firing on behalf of Gio.”

“You gave Xavier a gun?” Beau’s voice came incredulously from around the corner.

“It wasn’t my first choice, but I was out of options.”

“And the kitchen?” Hands asked.

“It’s quiet right now, so I’m not sure what’s happening there. But I saw Gray. She’s okay and helping Tito. Beau, can you get back to the dining room while also keeping an eye on the kitchen? I have a plan.”

“And that might be?” Beau asked.

“I am going to try and neutralize the guy in the back. Once I do, I’ll provide cover while Xavier goes out the patio door and fires up the backup generator. One attacker has already breached the house so far, and if more do, it’d be nice to get some lights back on and take the advantage of darkness away from them. The generator is outside the house about twenty feet down the wall to the right of the dining room exit. I’ll radio Finn over the Secret Service radio, and he can yell down and let Xavier know it is go time. Think you can help him manage?”

“We’ll get it done,” Beau said grimly. “Cover me.”

When Hands nodded and snapped off a couple of quick shots, Beau scrambled through the barricade and disappeared down the hall toward the dining room.

“What’s your play?” Hands asked me.

“It’s time to take the fight to them. I have a set of NVGs I took off the guy who penetrated the living room. I don’t think there are many of them. I’m going to go out the front and circle around to the back of the house to see if I can take any of them down from behind.”

I handed Hands the radio. “Can you let the team upstairs know I’m headed out, so they don’t shoot at me?”

“Roger that, but I think the only weapon they have upstairs is Glass’s Glock.”

Before I headed toward the front door, I slid the night-vision goggles on my face and adjusted them slightly, so they fit tightly. I hoped none of our team or the arriving reinforcements mistook me for an attacker. As I entered the yellow-green world of the night-vision goggles, I saw the hall littered with debris from the fight. Back at the stairs again, I dragged the dead man’s body into the parlor to get it out of the way. I grabbed a couple of flash-bangs off his belt and another magazine for his gun. Then, hoping I was unobserved, I quietly unlocked the front door, cracked it, and slid out in a low crouch.

I froze, gun ready. I rapidly scanned the open area of the circular driveway in front of the house. Seeing nothing, I turned right and low-walked along the sidewalk toward the end of the house. It was drizzling lightly, but the mist was still omnipresent. It created unusual flickering shadows in the NVGs that almost certainly had helped our cause. Several short bursts from a P90 came from the house.

Xavier was playing Rambo to the hilt.

Just before the corner of the house, I saw a man sprawled on the grass. I bent down and confirmed it was Flax’s patrol agent, Flanigan. I searched for a pulse on his neck but didn’t find one. Under his body was his FN P90, a much better gun than the current weapon I was carrying. I took his weapon, grabbing an extra magazine from his belt along with a fresh magazine for the Glock. I was a dozen steps away when I realized I’d left the agent’s radio behind.

I quickly returned and retrieved it.

I pressed the button on the side of the radio. “Slash here. I’m outside and have retrieved Agent Flanigan’s radio and weapon. No sign of the attackers yet. I am circling toward the back of the house to ambush the attackers there.”

“Roger that, Slash,” came Finn’s voice. “The good guys are still at least four or five minutes out. Be careful.”

I continued across the lawn into the edge of the trees, using the foliage for cover, and started circling toward the back of the house. The kitchen door was ajar and peppered with bullet holes as were the walls around the door. At the edge of the tree line, I saw another body lying mostly in the grass, but facing like he had been attempting to make it back to the trees when he collapsed.

One of the attackers.

I carefully approached him and determined he, too, was not breathing. I could see a trail behind him in the grass leading to the kitchen door. The reason for the lack of action at the kitchen was now obvious. Tito must have neutralized him.

I divested him of his weapon as well, emptying it before I tossed it quietly into the woods behind me. I grabbed his night-vision goggles and slipped farther back into the woods.

“Hands, Finn, the kitchen attacker is down. I have that door covered now. Have Tito reposition to cover the front of the house.”

Carefully, I circled to the back of the house looking for more attackers. I found a position on a rise where I could see most of the back of the house, including the patio, firepit, and gardens. I could even look into the house from my raised vantage. I spotted the emergency generator right where Diego had said it would be, just beyond one of the large dining room windows. It was partially obscured by a low row of bushes.

Nothing else moved, and I hadn’t heard any shots since the few bursts from Xavier. I waited, knowing they’d have to move sooner or later, as they’d know help was on the way. In fact, I could almost imagine I heard an approaching helicopter.

Suddenly, I detected movement just outside the kitchen door. Even with the NVGs, it was difficult to make out what it was. I raised my gun and paused. Two forms appeared to be crawling away from the door toward the back of the house. Those weren’t the actions of a trained attacker. I watched as the lead shape moved quickly while the second form struggled to keep up. I’d recognize that awkwardness anywhere.

Xavier.

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