The Escape (John Puller, #3)(125)

“Of course not, combat is never perfect.”

“Then what did you do, soldier?”

“He adapted,” answered Robert. “And so will we. Let’s go.”

They climbed out of the car, their guns drawn. There were no homes on this road, which edged higher into a crevice between two of the foothills where the land flattened out. A fog had started to spread.

“The ground conditions aren’t great,” said Puller to Knox.

Robert said, “And keep in mind that, as Reynolds clearly pointed out to you both, she has guns and is really good at using them.”

“Especially long-range sniping,” said Knox grimly. “Olympic-caliber.”

“Well, then we can’t give her the chance to deploy that particular skill,” said Puller.

Knox led the way up the road, staring at her phone screen as she did so. Puller noted this and drew next to her.

“Memorize where we’re going, Knox, and then turn the damn phone off. It’s like a spotter beacon right into your chest.”

She nodded, did a quick but focused study of the screen, and clicked her phone off.

They moved up the road and then Knox led them to the right, over a stretch of ground that was uneven, rocky, and slippery. However, all three were surefooted and made their way across it without trouble.

They had progressed another five hundred yards when Knox held up her hand and stopped. The two men drew next to her. She pointed up ahead. In the distance about another hundred yards to the east they could make out a dim light.

“That has to be the cabin up there,” she said, pointing at the light. “It’s the only structure around here.”

Puller gazed around on all compass points before returning to the light.

His brother looked at him and said, “What do you think, Junior?”

“Junior?” said Knox staring at Puller. “That’s your brother’s name for you?”

“Well, he is a junior,” said Robert. “He’s named after our father.”

“But you’re the older son,” pointed out Knox. “Why aren’t you the junior?”

“It’s not always the oldest that’s called junior,” pointed out Robert. “And our mother named me,” he added. “Her brother’s name was Robert.”

Knox gave Puller a quick glance but said nothing. Puller didn’t look at her. His gaze was on the target up ahead.

“What I think, Bobby,” said Puller, apparently choosing to ignore the discussion around his nickname, “is that the approach to the cabin on all sides is entirely open. The ground is flat; there is no cover. You wouldn’t have to be an Olympic-caliber shot to pick us off easily enough.”

“But it’s foggy and it’s dark,” pointed out Knox. “That favors us.”

“If I were Reynolds I’d have some sort of perimeter security. We trip that and then we’re sitting ducks. Later-generation NVGs work just fine even in the fog. I bet she has them in there, and we don’t.”

“Well, we can’t just sit here,” retorted Knox. “This is your area of expertise, Puller. Pretend you’re back in Kandahar and trying to clear a house. What would you do?”

He studied the area ahead for a couple of minutes. “Okay, what we can do is split up and approach on three sides.” He pointed up ahead. “This is the east side, which faces the back of the cabin. I think we should approach from the west, north, and south, meaning the front and two sides, because her natural instinct might be to guard her rear flank.”

Robert said, “On the south side the foothills pick up again and the land starts to rise. I doubt she would be expecting someone coming from that direction.”

“Well, then let’s just hit it from that way,” said Knox.

Puller shook his head. “We can’t put all our eggs in one basket. Unless she has a bunch of other shooters in there with her, she can only defend one position at a time.” He pointed at Robert. “You circle around, Bobby, and approach from the south. I’ll go from the west, which faces the front of the cabin, and Knox, you go in from the north.”

“How do we communicate and coordinate?” asked Robert. “My phone still has no bars.”

Puller said, “We’ll be close enough to use a quick flash of phone light to communicate. We’ll each do one flash when we get in position. After that, I’ll flash twice when I’m ready to approach the cabin. Do a sixty-second countdown from that point. And then we attack.”

Knox smiled at him in the dark. “See? You do adapt well to conditions on the ground.”

He ignored this and said, “And it’s confirmed that she is there?”

“Her car is in the driveway. It’s confirmed.”

“Roger that,” said Puller. “Okay, let’s hit it. But keep your head down, move slowly and methodically. And watch for my signal.” He looked at his watch. “Five minutes to get in position. That should be plenty for you, Bobby. You have the farthest to go.”

Robert headed off. Before she left Puller, Knox said in a joking tone, “So do I call you Junior now?”

Puller said curtly, “No one called me Junior except my brother and my father. And my mother. And my father doesn’t call me anything anymore except ‘XO.’”