Oath of Loyalty (Mitch Rapp #21)(27)

The bars and what remained of the glass made the shot tricky, so Rapp lined it up carefully. A gentle squeeze of the trigger sent a round just behind the man’s left eye, snapping his head around before he disappeared from sight.

“He’s down!” Claudia said over his earpiece. “Dead or dying. The men in the hallway are retreating. I think they’re going to blow the door, so stay clear. The man on the east side of the porch isn’t dead and he’s trying to get to his feet.”

Rapp strode to the window and peered through. Sure enough, the man had made it to all fours. He looked up just in time to see the muzzle flash that killed him.

“You have no more threats at the front of the house. Still five in the back. All outside now. The injured one is still bleeding but steady on his feet. The sofa fire is getting pretty serious. Can I put it out?”

“Go ahead,” Rapp said, hearing the living room sprinklers activate before using a finger to plug his open ear in anticipation of what was to come. He didn’t have to wait long. Again, the house shook, but this time the tremor was accompanied by smoke and vaporized plaster billowing through the first floor.

“The door is down,” she said unnecessarily. “All five men are still outside, two with their backs to the east side of the door. Three in the same position on the west side. None are moving yet. The hall camera’s still functional but there’s too much smoke and dust for me to see anything.”

Hesitating was a mistake on the assault team’s part. If all five had immediately charged up that corridor with the lead man’s gun blazing, Rapp would have had serious problems. Instead he was able to make it to the closet at the back of the living room unchallenged. The quiet click of Claudia unlocking it sounded as he reached for the knob. Inside, a 3M respirator was dangling from a hanger and he put it on before turning his attention to the Benelli M4 shotgun above the jamb. The wooden hooks securing it to the wall didn’t have a release mechanism and it took almost his full weight to break them. Yet another safety precaution designed with Anna in mind.

“One man’s entered the hallway,” Claudia said as Rapp moved toward it. “Two covering him. One more entering. They’re moving slowly at an interval of about one meter, but it’s still hard to see.”

Rapp took a position next to the opening, listening to the men coughing inside. Their eyes would be burning and watering even worse than his. That, combined with the still-dense smoke in the corridor, would make them virtually blind.

“All five are in the hallway now, Mitch. Crouched and moving slowly. The lead is probably three meters from you.”

He gave a thumbs-up that she would be able to see on camera

“The lead man is now one and a half meters from you.”

Rapp swung his shotgun around the jamb and pulled the trigger. The double-aught ammunition hit his target in the upper chest, dropping him.

By the time his team returned fire, Rapp had pulled well back from the opening again.

Six down, four to go.

“The new lead is roughly three meters back, on one knee, dead center of the hall,” Claudia said, though he was barely able to make out her words over the gunfire. “His pistol is out of ammunition and he’s reaching into a pocket for what I assume is another magazine. The man in second position is about a meter behind, firing over him with an assault rifle. The remaining two are holding the same intervals, staying low, and not shooting.”

The accuracy of her account was easily confirmed by the pattern of bullet holes being stitched across the back of the staircase about four feet up. Rapp dropped to one shoulder on the tile floor and once again brought the shotgun to bear. Through the smoke, he saw the new point man insert a fresh magazine into his weapon. The blast from Rapp’s shotgun took the right side of his head off before he could use it. The man behind adjusted his aim toward the muzzle flash but Rapp had already pulled back. The rounds ricocheted off the floor and pounded the back of the stairs.

“Seven down,” Claudia said over the gunfire. “Three remaining. One in the hallway shooting at you. He’s backing up and looks like he might be going for the kitchen. The other two are back outside against the wall to the west.”

She would have locked the door to the kitchen, but if he recalled correctly, it wasn’t reinforced. The sound of splintering wood that became audible a moment later confirmed that.

“He’s through,” Claudia said. “The men out back are holding their position, shouting at each other.”

Rapp pushed himself to his feet but didn’t make any further move. The man in the kitchen had no other way out. The glass door leading into the yard was barred, as were the windows. But that wasn’t necessarily a bad tactical position. Rapp wasn’t anxious to go into the hallway with those two men out back. There was no telling when they might regain their nerve.

The answer to that question came from Claudia a moment later. “The men outside are going for the front. One around the east side of the house and one the west. The man in the kitchen is uninjured and crouched behind the north side of the island. I’m sorry, but that’s where I keep my Le Creuset.”

Those were the extremely heavy enameled pots she favored. They made a hell of a beef bourguignon but would also provide good cover to anyone taking refuge behind them. The other side was full of random cooking utensils that wouldn’t stop much.

Rapp started down the hallway, sliding along the wall until he reached the broken kitchen door. The smoke had cleared enough to provide decent visibility, but it was still burning the hell out of his eyes.