Page 82 of Ground Truth

Or watching the two of them.

Or all of the above.

Brand’s house was spacious enough for normal living, but fighting a highly trained Mossad operative would destroy the place. Flint leaned against the wall and swiveled his head slowly, scanning for options.

The intruder moved like a gymnast, wiry and flexible.

He was dressed in black, head to toe, including black leather gloves and a tight-fitting black cap that also covered his face. At night, he’d be almost invisible.

But against the bright tropical decor of Brand’s home, he was easier to watch than a snake in the garden.

From Flint’s current vantage point, even with his blurred vision, he could have dropped the intruder with one shot. But he gestured Drake to holster his weapon. Gunshots would draw too much of the wrong kind of attention.

Flint drew his knife and waited for the enemy to come to him.

Drake positioned himself on the opposite side of the door.

The stealthy intruder crept through the open floor plan from the back of the house to the front, twisting his body to scan the room’s obvious hiding places.

Quickly, he reached the short hallway to the bedrooms.

He opened each door as he came to it, slipped inside, and finding each room unoccupied, slipped out again.

Observing the intruder was like watching a master class in outdated Mossad techniques. Flint had studied Mossad training videos over the years. This guy’s operation was textbook perfect. Which made his movements predictable.

Flint flattened his back against the wall and strained to hear the nearly silent footsteps on the slick marble floors as the intruder came closer to the master suite.

Drake was positioned to be seen first.

The intruder should have been alert to two remaining options since he’d eliminated all other possibilities.

Either the house was unoccupied, which he should have assumed could not be true since he’d most likely been dispatched because Flint and Drake were seen entering the home.

Or, by process of elimination, his prey would be lying in wait in the master bedroom.

Which meant he should come in hot with intent to kill.

Four seconds later, the intruder pushed the door. It moved a few silent inches inward.

The intruder crept into the room.

When he saw Drake poised to tackle him, the intruder raised his knife with his right hand, intending to plunge it into Drake’s gut.

He moved forward.

Drake blocked the knife, holding the intruder in place for a split second.

Which gave Flint all the time he needed.

Fighting dizziness and fueled by adrenaline, Flint clamped his jaw to hold back the nausea as he came from behind the intruder.

He plunged his Ka-Bar straight edge deep into the intruder’s kidney with all his weight and momentum.

He gave the knife a hard twist for good measure.

Before the intruder could escape, Flint withdrew the knife and then forcefully jabbed the other kidney.

The intruder cried out just as Drake hit him hard in the belly and knocked him to the ground.

---