Page 2 of Call Sign: King
“That won’t happen until we start getting orders to take out the heads of the snakes.” The normally quiet Hawkeye said what Ryder had been thinking.
“Who needs a fucking cake order? I’d take out the greedy bastards pro-bono.” Tank offered.
“That’s not how this works, and you know it,” Ryder cautioned, trying not to interfere with Reaper’s leadership of his team. He was just supposed to be observing the newest team member in action.
“Maybe, but you know I’m right.”
“East team is in place and ready. Over.” The voice of the other team leader, Torch, coming in over their comms-unit stopped the debate.
Reaper answered. “West team is ready. Ten seconds…on my mark. Go,” he said over the comms before nodding in Arrow’s direction as he pressed the timer on his wrist.
Abigail had been set up and ready for the go order. Ryder watched as the sharpshooter made a final adjustment, just as Reaper counted down the final seconds, “Three, two, one, go!”
Arrow’s single shot hit her target, about fifty yards away. The line of explosives they’d set around the exterior of the shanty blew, one after the other, until the entire structure was in shambles. Seconds later, a lone worker from inside ran screaming from the wreckage, engulfed in flames. Arrow’s second shot put the burning drug dealer out of his misery, and he fell dead to the jungle floor.
In the distance, Ryder heard the success of his other team’s efforts as a second location was taken down just two miles away.
“Two moles successfully whacked. Let’s hightail it back to the chopper, boys,” Reaper ordered. “I want to be in the air before…”
The team leader didn’t get to finish his sentence before the ping of ricocheting bullets could be heard bouncing off the tree trunks around them.
“We’ve got company,” Tank gritted as he ducked low to the ground.
“Shots fired,” Reaper reported into his comms unit, warning the other team. “Repeat, bogies in the forest. Watch your six, Torch.”
“Roger that, Reaper. Same here. These assholes are getting smarter.” Torch’s voice reported through the headpiece.
“Naw… just more desperate,” Reaper replied before warning their pilot. “Thunder, we’re heading back to you with a tail. Be alert.”
“Understood. Thunder ready for lift-off when you are.”
Nothing like a few bullets narrowly missing your head to get the blood flowing.
Even in the heat of the moment, Ryder had to acknowledge the danger felt like returning home. He’d cut off his dick before admitting it to Khloe, but he missed this. The adrenaline rush. The camaraderie of trusting other men with his life — and them trusting him with theirs. As much as he loved his wife and the unexpected domestic bliss their marriage brought him, deep down, a part of him would always miss this.
A fresh round of shots pulled him out of his thoughts. The team was close enough now to see the helicopter waiting in the clearing just past a final line of trees. They were going to have to run for it, knowing they’d be sitting ducks out in the open those last few yards.
Reaper knew it too, ordering his team. “I’ll bring up the rear. Ping me when you’re in place to cover me.”
“Roger that,” Tank grunted, pushing to his feet as he rushed the helo — his automatic assault rifle at his shoulder, ready to fire.
“Ladies next,” MacGyver said, nudging Arrow.
“Fuck that shit,” she retorted. “I don’t want special treatment.”
“We need our sniper in the chopper next. You can help take down the hidden bogies as the rest of the crew boards.”
“Gotcha, but MacGyver should have just said that,” she said, taking off in the direction of the helicopter next.
“She isn’t wrong,” Ryder said. It was going to take some time to assimilate the newest member into a team that had been together for over a year.
“She isn’t right, either. She is, after all, a woman.” MacGyver argued.
“I heard that,” Arrow said over the comms unit, out of breath from her run. “I told you assholes. I’m just one of the guys.”
“Can we argue about this shit later? I’ve got pissed-off drug dealers crawling up my ass back here.” Reaper cut their discussion short, and a fresh round of fire could be heard in the direction they’d just come from.
Ryder glanced at the men on either side of him, nodding at both MacGyver and Hawkeye. “Let’s make a run for it boys,” he said, pushing down the growing unease at putting himself into more danger.
