Hidden Impact (Safeguard #1)(71)

The teams seemed to converge and all head through a wider open area.

“They’ve reached the front door.” Caleb said it like such a place had one, complete with reception area.

All Maylin could see was open space and a pair of doors ahead.

Suddenly, all of the cameras flashed with light. Terse words jumbled together as the teams reported in, and she couldn’t sort them. How any of them did, she didn’t know. Couldn’t imagine getting used to it.

Anxiety wound up inside her so tight she had to force herself to let go of the air she was holding in her lungs. Her jaw hurt from clenching and her heart pounded. Please, please let them come through okay.

“Flash bangs.” Gabe’s voice came across. “One Charlie has one man blind. Injuries minimal.”

The cameras resolved to images again just in time to go black as they passed through the front doors into night.

She could barely make out shadows as they moved to vehicles. The engines and shouting were enough to tell her they were moving. More gunfire. And the cameras flared again as another explosion went off ahead and to the left of one of the vehicles. The jeep Gabe was in.

It was Lizzy’s voice over the speakers. “Fucking Jewel and her IEDs.”





Chapter Twenty-One

Gabe concentrated on breathing. Not easy with acrid fumes clogging his lungs. He blinked rapidly to clear his vision. The world was upside down. Actually, they were. Could’ve been worse.

“All posts, status. One Alpha, go.”

Lizzy reported in first, broadcasting across their radio channel even though she was right next to him in the passenger seat. “Scott. Green. Moving into position to provide cover but we need to get mobile again. Stat.”

As soon as she’d checked in, she released her seat belt and scrambled out of the overturned vehicle. Gabe would do the same, but he had a suspicion his mobility was going to be more of a problem. Pain fired off at intervals down his lower back and through his legs. He’d have to go slower.

Victoria checked in next, already halfway out of the vehicle. “Ash. Green.”

“Lykke. Green. The package is unconscious. No visible injuries. Ash is assisting with extraction from vehicle.”

Good. An-mei was their highest priority. If he had to, he’d send his team back to Maylin without him.

The other fire teams continued their check-ins. No other cars had been caught in the small blast. It’d been the kind of present designed to flip a single car and cause confusion in the caravan while enemy forces focused fire on the vehicles caught behind. Only Squadron Two had already subdued what enemy units there were on site. They had a small window of time to recover and get out.

Gabe reassessed his own situation. The immediate pain had subsided. He braced himself as best he could and released his seat belt. Nothing happened.

“Fuck.” He reached for his utility knife and yanked the hooked end across the seat belt, the cutter parting the reinforced fabric with ease.

Did Maylin have one of these in her car? Not likely. He should get her one and teach her to use it.

Harte’s voice came across the comm, cool and calm. Meaning he was worried. “One Alpha Diaz, status?”

“Green.” Gabe kept his growl to a minimum. “Minor seat belt issue. Not a problem. Enemy units have not been reinforced yet. We are clear to move for now.”

Twisting and crawling out the window wasn’t an easy feat, but he made it. Muscles protested in his lower back, but he didn’t suffer any further sharp pains. Peering out into the darkness around them, he watched the deep shadows for any sign of movement.

Nothing. Yet.

Good thing his legs were working. He counted it a small win as he joined his fire team on his own. Running would be a problem if it came to it, but for the time being they doubled up in one of the other vehicles.

“Proceed slow. Use extreme caution.” Speed was not their friend at the moment, even if there was a need for it. Enemy reinforcements might be on their way, but they hadn’t shown up yet and it could be because they didn’t want to be caught in their own blast zones. There were other improvised explosive devices. Had to be. His team couldn’t afford to rush out of here and potentially trigger another mine.

The vehicles moved forward at an agonizing crawl. It would’ve been a good time for a military explosives detection unit, but they hadn’t brought any of the dogs with them. All they could do was hope there weren’t any more in the path out.

The sound of gunfire surrounded them as multiple hits sounded against the side of their vehicle with a distinct thwang, thwang, thwang, thwang.

There was a metallic click from inside their vehicle as Lizzy flipped up the rear iron sight on her assault rifle. The rest of his team reacted a split second later. Marc opened the west-facing window and Victoria moved to cover An-mei’s unconscious form while Lizzy shifted into position to return fire from her seat.

Gabe made the report. “One Alpha. Shots fired from the west. Scott, you got this?”

Two shots rang out. Then Lizzy reported in. “Two down. Two to go.”

Even with a regular assault rifle and iron sights instead of her sniper rifle and scope, Lizzy was one of the best he’d ever encountered. She took another shot. “One to go.”

“Roger that.”

Harte’s voice murmured over the comms in their ears, “Two Bravo and Two Charlie, move to intercept additional enemy units to the west.”