Page 98 of Leading Conviction
“Within firing range,” Phoenix reported.
Just as Hawk raised his gun to aim, a bullet pelted against the Little Bird’s fuselage.
Hawk shot haphazardly as he leaned forward on the external sideboard, knowing he was likely too far out to do much other than show intent. Snake pocketed his phone and fired his assault rifle at the railing that was protecting their opponents, throwing up concrete dust at the impact points. Jaybird aimed from the cockpit while Devil and Draco returned fire from the other side of the helo.
The three men on the roof were hunched over, their guns aimed at the helicopter, but when Hawk’s team flew closer to the landing pad, the men immediately fell back to take cover elsewhere on the roof.
“That’s right motherfuckers, run away! This isourhouse,” Phoenix whooped.
The crew kept firing even though their adversaries had hidden behind the industrial AC units, the turbine vents, and the shed near the stairwell they’d blown up.
Phoenix flew over the roof, giving them the height advantage over the men, but they ran back and forth from one hiding spot to the next, snapping back return fire from everywhere they could seek shelter, including within the stairwell.
The open stairwell.
“Quit fucking around and land us,” Hawk ordered over their headset. “We’re getting nowhere like this and we don’t know what’s going on inside.”
“Copy that.” Phoenix began to land the Little Bird as Hawk’s team successfully kept the enemy back to clear their landing pad. Every second of their back-and-forth in their helo felt way too fucking long.
“Jump zone ready,” Phoenix called over the headset. “Less than ten feet to landing.”
“Read my mind,” Hawk grumbled and clutched the rope.
“I’m with you,” Devil shouted behind him, telling Hawk he was jumping, too.
They wouldn’t have time to actually fast-rope, or rappel hand over hand on the rope to get down, but they wouldn’t need to at that height. Hawk rolled his shoulders, loosening his muscles so his arm didn’t jerk out of socket and held on to his gun.
“Cover me,” he called over his shoulder before jumping off the sideboard and swinging the rest of the way out of the helicopter.
Jaybird and Snake fired off rounds as Hawk cascaded toward the ground. He barely had enough time to think before he was already landing and rolling onto the asphalt.
As soon as he was righted, he holstered his sidearm and slid his rifle around his body to aim in front of him. Devil flanked him on his left before they split in opposite cardinal directions to find the three men on the roof.
“My right!” Devil called out.
Hawk fired left at his own ten o’clock, sending the man Devil had warned him about back behind the large air conditioning unit in a shower of sparks.
One of the enemies poked his head out from around the spherical top of a roof turbine vent, but Hawk fired before he could raise his gun.
Without turning, he heard the helicopter land behind them and trusted that the rest of his team would hop out of the helicopter and join him.
Once the rotors slowed down, Hawk called to their adversaries.
“Come out! You are on our property. Come out now and we won’t shoot!”
Silence answered. Hawk looked to the side to see Jaybird close by, taking cover behind their six-foot-long toolbox, his gun ready. When their eyes met, Jaybird shrugged.
“Come out now!” Hawk repeated. “Come out and we won’t—”
The crack of a gun resounded in the air. Hawk dropped to the ground and rolled behind their toolbox. He sprang up to kneel on one knee, rifle tucked to his shoulder, his back meeting Jaybird’s to cover the angle he couldn’t. Devil and Snake nodded to him across the roof from behind two turbine vents.
Hawk narrowed his eyes and mouthed, “Draco?”
Devil tilted his head toward the grill and mouthed back, “With Phoenix.”
Hawk quickly peeked out from behind the toolbox to find the back of Phoenix’s helmet.
With all his men accounted for, Hawk decided to lead with a different approach. Hand signals flashed between the group as Devil and Snake rose from their crouching positions, mirrored by Draco and Phoenix on the other side of the roof.
