Page 64 of Danger Close
“Clear left,” Dale called.
“Right secured,” Dev added.
They moved like a machine.Like they'd trained for this every day of their lives.Because they had.
A scream echoed from inside.
Ezra’s breath caught.Ricky?
Bateman’s voice hit over comms.“Stay sharp.”
Glenn’s voice came through like steel.“You’ve got four coming out the north door.Maddox and I have eyes.”
“Copy,” Bateman said.“Light ‘em up.”
The crack of a sniper rifle split the air like divine punishment.Four shots, all down in a matter of seconds.
They kept moving.
Room by room.
Body by body.
The farmhouse was a maze of stinking rot, shadows, and gunfire.Ezra kicked a door in, caught a man off guard, and dropped him with a brutal elbow to the throat and a shot to the chest.
“Ez!”Hogan called.“He’s not here.Try the second level!”
Ezra bolted up the stairs, heart in his throat, blood roaring in his ears.
At the top, he found Riley slamming a man into a wall, Marcel covering his six.“Third hallway’s clear,” Riley reported, breathing hard.
“Where’s Ricky?”Ezra demanded.
“Not up here.”
Ezra turned, eyes sharp, and shouted into his comms.“Bateman, anything?”
“Basement,” Dev answered, voice tight.“We found a locked stairwell under the kitchen.Breaching now.”
Ezra didn’t wait.
He ran.
He hit the kitchen like a battering ram just as Bateman shouldered through a steel door, blowing the hinges off with a shaped charge.
Smoke and dust filled the air.Bateman was already inside, gun raised, and Dev followed tight.
Ezra descended into the dark.
The air was thick.Damp.Smelled like blood and mold and pain.
And there, chained to a chair, arms limp, blood crusted down his shoulder, was Ricky.
“Ricky!”Ezra’s voice cracked.
Ricky lifted his head weakly, both eyes swollen shut.A smile broke across his face.“Knew you’d come,” he rasped.
Ezra was at his side in two strides, ripping off his gloves to check the wound.“We’ve got you.You’re safe.”
