Page 47 of Protected By The Green Berets

“Maybe,” Keller said, “but we need to check.”

“Agreed.”

I stayed back with Rush and Torque while they spoke. We’d move in whenever they were ready. They spoke in low voices for another few minutes, then Keller gave the sign for us to move out.

My rifle was butted up to my shoulder, though I had it pointed down toward the ground as we followed Keller and Alden inside the house. My heart was slamming into my ribs and I tried to control my breathing. We were about to find out whether any of Roj’s men were still here.

We split off into two groups as we entered the house. It was set up much the same as the place we were staying in. Keller and Alden went up the stairs to clear those rooms while the three of us stayed downstairs.

Remembering the little room off the back of the kitchen in our house, I went down the hallway. There were actually three rooms back here—the house was bigger than it’d looked from outside—and I debated on which to check first.

A clattering sound had me swinging my rifle to the room at the end of the hall. I’d been about to go in through the door on my left. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw Rush and Torque coming toward me.

“Wait,” Torque said softly and I paused so they could catch up.

“Someone is in there,” I whispered, pointing toward the closed door.

“We’ll clear these first,” Rush said. We were all speaking so quietly we could hardly hear each other. We didn’t need whoever could be in these rooms hearing us and converging on us all at once.

Torque put his hand on the doorknob and looked at us. We both nodded at him, our weapons pointed that way. He opened the door and stepped out of the way so Rush and I could move through the doorway together.

My eyes scanned the room and I breathed a sigh of relief to see that it was empty. We came back out into the hall and this time I opened the door while they entered. It made me feel warm and fuzzy knowing that they were trusting me to help clear the house. It would have been far too easy for them to leave me behind. I truly was part of this team, we were one unit.

They came out of the room with a shake of their heads. The silence was oppressive, my eyes straining in the darkness to see as we moved down the hall. Keller and Alden must not have run into anyone yet because no cry had sounded, nor any gunfire. They were amazing, I knew they were upstairs, yet couldn’t hear a thing. For such big men they moved gracefully and quietly, like ghosts. Not a sound from any of them.

Rush took hold of the doorknob and waited for Torque or I to give the command. I nodded at him and he twisted it and opened the door.

Torque and I stepped into the bedroom and I saw a shape beneath the blankets. The man had no idea we were here. I wasn’t sure what had made the sound I’d heard earlier, but I slowly crept across the room beside Torque. Rush was on our heels.

I pointed my gun at the back of the man’s head. “Don’t make a sound,” I muttered in Arabic.

The guy’s soft snores stopped and I knew he was awake now and measuring his options. Rush moved up behind me and took a gun off the nightstand to my left.

“Are you alone here?” I asked.

“Yes.”

“Get up,” Torque told him. “If you make any stupid moves we’ll kill you.”

It impressed me how fluent most of the guys were with this language. It made me wonder if they knew others? We stepped back and allowed the man to sit up on his bed. Rush flicked on the light and we all squinted as our eyes adjusted.

“I’ll let the others know,” he tossed over his shoulder as he headed down the hall. “Bring him to the kitchen. More space.”

We made him get up and followed him down the hall, our guns trained on his back. If he fought or fled, he wouldn’t get very far.

The others were already waiting for us in the kitchen. Alden set to work, tying him to a chair with some rope he found in a closet.

We were all silent as we waited for Alden to finish. The man watched us with hate blazing in his eyes. Something told me that if he was left behind on his own, then he wasn’t very important. I wasn’t very hopeful that we’d get much out of him.

CHAPTER21

Alden

“Did you find anything else?” Keller asked the other three.

As one, they shook their heads, but otherwise remained silent. The man tied to a chair in his own kitchen was watching us and it was easy to see the hatred pouring off him. He wanted nothing more than to kill us. He wouldn’t get that chance.

“Why did your comrades leave you behind?” Keller asked.

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