Page 78 of Leading Conviction
“What the fuck was that?” Jaybird’s stunned whisper came in loud and clear through Hawk’s earpiece.
Hawk shook his head and shifted on his feet as he prepared to look around the doorjamb again. “I don’t know—”
Another clap reverberated around the walls. Hawk peeked around just in time to see one of Vlad’s men collapse right beside the Russian giant.
Gunshots.
“We’re not alone,” Hawk confirmed to his team.
More shots rang out across the large open room, but they all seemed to be directed at Vlad’s men, now running like rats searching for cover.
“They’re using suppressors, so it’s harder to tell where the shooters are located, but I think the trajectory is coming from our two o’clock,” Draco observed over the headset.
Hawk watched, absorbing the scene as Vlad and his men used various items in the empty warehouse to try to hide. Whenever they found shelter, they responded to the attackers, shooting haphazardly. Vlad seemed cool, calm, and collected as usual, while his men shouted and screamed. But it was the glee on the General’s face that gave Hawk pause.
“They’re his men,” he whispered the revelation.
“What?” Snake asked directly across from him.
“They’rehismen. The General’s. He knows who’s shooting and Vlad is defending himself. Check out the General’s face.”
Snake looked around the open doorjamb before sitting against the wall again. “Shit, you’re right. What do we do?”
Hawk shrugged. “Let them kill each other?”
Phoenix covered his snort in the microphone. “Sounds A-fuckin’-OK to me.”
“Jaybird, I want you in a firing position,” Hawk continued. “Devil, cover our rear. I don’t want any surprises and we need you to be fresh in case there are injuries.”
Sweat popped up on Hawk’s forehead as they waited for the shoot-out to finish, trying to figure out what the fuck was going on. No one seemed to have seen them or cared that they were there. All the focus was on Vlad’s men and whoever was there for the General.
“Do you think it’s the government?” Snake asked. “The FBI—”
Hawk narrowed his eyes through his goggles, taking in the dark, sadistic green smile widening the General’s bright-green jowls before answering Snake. “I have no idea. I doubt it since he’s enemy number one to everyone that matters right now, and he looks too fucking excited if he’s supposedly getting caught.”
Vlad’s men got picked off regardless of what they hid behind. Hawk squinted as a burst of fire tore through a bulk container and the Russian behind it thrashed about before collapsing.
“Man, those are heavy rounds ripping through those containers,” Jaybird pointed out, his head right above Snake’s. “I thought law enforcement couldn’t access those.”
“They can’t,” Hawk replied back. “What the hell is going on?”
Vlad’s minions fell one by one until silence sat oppressively in the night air.
Several men in full combat gear quietly emerged from behind crates and doorways on the opposite side of the room.
“There they are,” Hawk whispered as he counted silently. “At least four of them it looks like, but the way they’re operating, I bet a few are keeping them covered. They’re clearing the area. Whatever happens, they can’t take Vlad or the General. They’re ours.”
“Can’t we just kill everyone? That’d make this shit a hell of a lot easier,” Phoenix grumbled.
It was on the tip of Hawk’s tongue to give the order, especially after what Hannah had told him back at BlackStone, but they needed to do this shit by the book. For as long as they could stand it, at least.
“Negative,” he finally answered through gritted teeth. “We need them both alive for a trial.”
Russian echoed through the warehouse as more of Vlad’s men seemed to seep from their hiding spots, coming out from behind open doorways on the opposite side of the vast room. The newcomers’ weapons picked the reinforcements off one after another as the Russians appeared through doorways, causing bodies to pile at the entrances. The four men continued converging on Vlad and his lackeys like the horsemen of the apocalypse. But when one of them squatted low and broke rank to run toward the General, Hawk gave the signal.
“Fuck, we gotta engage.Now.”
He and his team emerged from the shadows, guns at the ready. As soon as the first bullet was fired their way, too damn close for Hawk’s liking, he made the call.
