Black Smoke (16 page)

Ricochet answered first. “I say we wait, follow the bastards, then take them all at once.”

Kong nodded, then turned to Boomer. “How many are we talking about?” He asked slowly.

Kong turned to Sam and watched as she closed her eyes, then opened them again. “Six.”

“Okay, let’s do it.”

They repositioned themselves closer to the front of the building so they had a better view. It only took twenty minutes until they heard the roar of a truck. They watched with strained patience as the two men were dragged from the building and thrown in the bed of the truck. It was obvious that they were weak either from starvation or beatings.

Five minutes later, the woman was dragged from the building. A blanket had been draped over her body. Her hands were tied behind her back and her legs barely held her weight. Fury began to grow inside Sam’s belly again. Kong must have been able to sense it, because he reached out and placed a hand on her arm.

Amazingly, that simple touch did wonders to calm her. She wasn’t alone like she had been when she was eight. She had three strong, capable men who were here to help her. And that was going to make all the difference.

When the truck pulled away, the four jumped from their hiding places and began to follow on foot. Sam was concerned about how they would keep up. Her worries vanished when the truck began to spit and sputter then slow. Loud shouts could be heard above the coughing engine. Sam could only assume they were curses. The man sitting in the back of the truck with the hostages didn’t see them. Even if he did it wouldn’t make a difference. Sam could easily pull him from the truck and end his part in this instantly.

Do not follow too closely Samantha. I will lead you to your destination.

When Sam backed off from the truck, Kong became concerned. “Smoke, what is it? Why are you backing off?”

“I know where they’re going. We’ll be there five minutes after they get there,” Sam said calmly into her radio.

“How the hell does she know where they’re going?” Ricochet snapped in his radio.

“Trust her.”

Those two simple words gave Sam a boost of energy that ran from the top of her head, all the way to her toes. She wasn’t going to let these people down. They were all counting on her.

Just as Sam had said, they arrived minutes after the truck did. The building was small, one room. But then you didn’t need a lot of space to behead someone. There were two other structures in the area. Kong picked one and sent Boomer to check it out. If everything was okay, they’d use it to shield the hostages while they cleaned up the mess.

When Boomer came back and gave the thumbs-up sign, Kong moved on to the next phase. Getting them out. They could storm the place, but that meant putting the hostages in more danger. Sneaking in was the best bet.

“Smoke, you get as close as you can. When it looks clear, start taking out targets.”

“Roger that.” Sam crawled toward the shack on her belly. She’d already picked out a spot to bury herself just outside the door.

Kong, Boomer and Ricochet watched through night vision goggles as she neared the building. They watched in awe as she flipped on her back and like a lizard, scooted and dug with her body until she was completely covered with sand. The fact that she did it with so much speed was not lost on the men.

“Damn, I wish I could do that!” The more Ricochet watched her work, the more impressed he was with her.

“Maybe she’ll teach us,” Boomer drawled.

Kong was impressed, but he was also worried. She’d crawled right into the belly of the whale so to speak. And he didn’t like that. Those protective feelings were rushing forward again, making him uncomfortable. She didn’t need to be protected. She was well trained, smart and had otherworldly beings looking out for her. She didn’t need him watching her back.

“Boomer, position yourself as close as you can. If she needs help, I want you there,” Kong said with a tight voice. So much for not protecting her, he thought to himself.

“Roger.” Boomer slipped off into the darkness and found himself a spot thirty yards from the shack. He worked at burying himself deep in the sand so he wouldn’t be seen. It wasn’t as good as Sam, but he wouldn’t be spotted as quickly this way.

“Ricochet, you take the other side. Keep as close as you can.”

“You got it.” Ricochet hid underneath the truck that had been parked off to the side of the building.

Once they were placed, Kong hunkered down where he was. He needed to be able to see the whole scene. When the front door opened, he held his breath. If the man stepped out the door and placed his foot too much to the right, he’d step right on Sam. Just as his foot hit the ground, Sam’s hand popped out and grabbed him by the ankle. The man dropped like a rock to the ground without a sound.

Kong watched as Sam herself appeared from the ground and wrapped her arm around the man’s neck. In the moonlight, he couldn’t see the man as he turned a pale shade of blue while Sam cut off his air supply. He’d seen it before. He didn’t need to see it now.

“Boomer, remove him now before someone walks out and sees him.”

Through the night vision goggles he watched as Boomer picked the man up and heaved him over his shoulder. Simultaneously, Sam buried herself again. One down, he thought, five more to go.

It took about ten minutes before the other Taliban warriors noticed their companion hadn’t returned. Kong held his breath. When the door opened again two men stepped outside this time. Sam was good, but could she handle two? His question was answered in short order.

Sam waited until the two men walked away from the door. With them side by side, it would make it easier for her. Without a sound, she rose from the sand and stepped up behind them.

Kong couldn’t see what she held in her hand, but whatever it was, it was now in their necks. They fell to the ground in a heap. Sam turned and repositioned herself once again.

“Boomer, Ricochet! Clean up!”

The two men appeared and carried off the Taliban warriors. Kong could hear Ricochet chuckling in his radio. Three down, three to go.

It wouldn’t be so easy now. Three of their men were missing, that would put them on alert. This time it only took five minutes for the remaining men to notice the other two were missing as well. Kong could hear the shouting coming from the shack. He may not have known what they were saying, but he knew aggravation when he heard it. The front door opened again. Kong’s heart seemed to beat in his throat as he watched. Waited.

He held his breath when the door shut and Sam rose up from her hiding spot. “Smoke, what are you doing? Get back.” He didn’t know if she heard him or not, but she wasn’t doing as he asked.

Sam positioned herself next to the door, she could hear the woman sobbing again. The sound tore through her like the knife that had torn through her flesh when she was a child. The sobbing sounded so much like her mother’s that it started to cloud her mind.

“Smoke!” Kong yelled again.

“I hear the woman inside the shack,” Boomer whispered over the radio.

“Damn it Smoke, it’s not your mother in there. Listen to me, you can’t take the three of them on.” Kong changed his tone, yelling at her wasn’t going to get him anywhere. He needed to reach her with a calm approach.

She is in danger Mark.

The voice flowed through his head like a breeze. He’d heard it before, that soft, soothing voice that had told him he’d find someone to love him. Kong shook his head, thinking he’d imagined it.

Her guide cannot reach her. Her mind is preoccupied with the injured woman
.
She is in danger.

This time the voice boomed inside his head. There was no chance that he was imagining it this time. It was warning him and he had to do something about it.

The front door opened again and Sam pointed her dart gun at the man standing in front of her. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger. The small slender man crumpled to the ground.

Kong’s heart leapt into his throat. She’d just exposed herself to the two men left. Shouting poured from the cabin when Sam rushed through the door. Kong was already scrambling toward the shack when the two male hostages stumbled out the door. Boomer lifted each by an arm and headed toward the building they were using to shield them.

Ricochet and Kong flanked the outside of the building. Ricochet was talking in the radio. Kong could barely hear him through the thundering blood rushing through his ears. A scream pierced through the darkness from inside the shack. Kong’s heart dropped from his throat to the pit of his stomach. If they hurt her, he’d personally see to it that they never took another breath again.

Inside, Sam stalked the two remaining men. Her focus was clear. They had to be eliminated. Her mind confused the two scenes. One moment she saw her mother spread out on the floor, the next she saw the small woman it really was. Her breath was deep and heavy. When the man closest to the woman kicked her in the face, Sam reacted with a kick of her own to his face. Her kick was more sure, more deadly.

The man flew backward into the wall, then slid down to the floor. His head lolled to the side, while deep red blood oozed from his nose. The kick had forced a piece of bone into his brain, ending his life instantaneously.

With her senses dulled, she didn’t notice the last man slide behind her. With the butt of his rifle he slammed her across the back. Sam fell forward toward where the woman lay sprawled on the floor. Another strike hit her in the back of the head. Blinding white light flashed through her eyes. With every bit of strength she could muster, she stayed conscious. When her head started to clear, she realized she’d messed up, in a big way. She wasn’t dead yet. That meant he intended to interrogate her before he killed her.

Faintly she remembered seeing the two men flee through the front door. But her focus was on the woman. And because she let her emotions rule her, she was about to die. Movement at the window caught her eye. Mark, he’d get them out. He wouldn’t let him hurt her.

Sam pulled herself together and started talking. “Let her go. You can have me, but let her go.”

The man studied her a moment. The voice was female, but the fighting was male. With the rifle pointed directly in her face, he pulled her mask off. Surprise flashed through his eyes, then an evil smile. “A woman,” he said in broken English. “Where are my men?”

Sam smiled herself. “Dead.”

The man’s face sobered. The way she smiled when she said it made a cold chill run down his back. “You lie,” he shouted.

She looked over at the man slumped against the wall. “Do I?”

“You will die for what you have done.” He pointed his rifle at her head.

Sam braced her back against the wall and stood. “Maybe. Are you going to kill me without interrogating me first?” As she spoke, she moved slightly toward the other wall. If she could get his back to the window, Kong would be able to take him down.

“Don’t move,” the man yelled. “Get back where you were.” When Sam didn’t move, he grabbed her by the hair and pulled her back.

Boomer and Kong watched the scene play out. Kong clenched his jaw when the man laid his hands on Sam. It was time to end this.

“I will play with you before I kill you,” the man said. “Women are good for only one thing. American women are garbage.”

“You really want to take me on?” Sam said tipping her head to the side. “Bring it on.”

Chapter Thirteen

The man knew he didn’t stand a chance against her. Not after what she’d done to his brother. Raising his rifle, he shot her in the leg. Sam dropped to the floor and cursed. Pain burned up her leg, through her hip and right out her back. She couldn’t believe the son-of-a-bitch shot her.

“Now you won’t give me any trouble,” he spat out at her.

“You’re going to be very sorry you did that.” Sam’s voice seethed with pain and venom. Her eyes all but shot arrows through the man. If he wasn’t afraid before, he was now.

Boomer had to restrain Kong when the shot split the night air. Kong thought he knew what it was to feel fear, but nothing he’d felt before measured up to what he was feeling now. She’d taken a bullet to save a woman she didn’t know. Hell, for all they knew, the woman might be half dead at this moment.

Sweat began to pour down Kong’s face. His heart hammered so hard he could barely breathe. His vision focused down to a tunnel on Sam. She was speaking to him, Kong couldn’t hear what she was saying, but whatever it was had the man turning a pasty shade of white. Good, he thought to himself, don’t let the bastard know you’re scared.

“I can’t get a clean shot at him Kong.” Ricochet’s voice was strong, hard and determined. When Kong didn’t respond, Boomer took over. “Hold fire. We need to wait and see what she does.”

“Roger.”

Sam looked around the room. The furnishings were sparse. The only thing she saw for cover was the table off to her right. If she could get the woman and herself near it, she would signal Boomer to throw a grenade. Sam had no doubt that her teammates were outside the building at this very moment. That fact gave her the strength to do what was needed. With searing pain spreading through her body, she stood. Blood pooled where she had been sitting, the smell of it wafted through the room. Sam pushed all of the pain, the smell and the anger aside. She had to end this now.