Titanium Security Series 4 - Extinguished (19 page)

Ducking to avoid a low hanging ceiling, Malik turned right at the next bend and wound his way through the cold tunnel. This was the newest section. It stretched for nearly a full kilometer from one edge of the village to the other, beneath the mountain.

Bashir was right at his back, the soft glow of the flashlight illuminating their path. The air was cold enough here for their breath to fog. Malik moved quickly and quietly, the only sound his breathing and the faint scuff of his shoes on the dirt floor.

He’d memorized the layout of the tunnel weeks ago and could have navigated it blindfolded. A sudden left turn, then a long, winding section that traveled up toward the surface on the southwestern part of the valley. Agonizing minutes passed before finally a faint gray light seeped in from ahead. The barest echo of gunfire reached them, becoming louder with each step as they approached the exit. Just where the tunnel leveled off and bore to the left again, he paused. Bashir stopped behind him and set a hand on his shoulder, signaling he was ready to make the final run when Malik was. A silent show of solidarity and support. Malik drew strength from that.

“Check where those vehicles are,” he commanded.

From his pant pocket Bashir pulled out a small device with the tracking beacon on it. He moved closer to the cave entrance to get a stronger signal. “Not far. They’ll be cresting the ridge on the trail in another minute or two.”

Waiting went against every instinct. It was so hard to stay put while the fight continued just beyond the cave exit and the enemy was waiting out there for him. How many and where they were positioned, he couldn’t be sure. He exhaled and forced his heart rate to settle.

Finally Bashir broke the silence. “They’re here. Pulling into position now.”

Some of the tension released from his muscles. “Let’s go.” They had to time this just right. Exit too early and he’d expose himself to possible enemy fire. Exit too late, and he’d make his getaway vehicle a target.

“Let me go first,” Bashir urged him. When Malik didn’t stop him, he eased past to continue toward the mouth of the cave, gun in hand.

Malik followed close on his heels, alert for any hint of danger or that the cave itself might be booby trapped. When nothing suspicious caught his attention he eased his back against the rough rock wall just inside the cave’s mouth and squinted while his eyes adjusted to the brightness outside. The sky was a pure, clear blue, so brilliant in the October sunshine that it blinded him for a moment. The sharp cracks of gunfire sliced through the autumn air.

Once his vision cleared he was able to see the lines of Taliban fighters closing in on the valley. He couldn’t see where the ground team was positioned, but he got a general sense of their location from the direction the fighters were shooting at. As he watched, the three vehicles appeared over the rise of the hill. They picked up speed, their tires raising unavoidable clouds of dust as they sped over the dry earth.

Malik’s pulse echoed in his ears. He gauged the distance from the cave entrance to where the vehicles would stop. A hundred meters, maybe less. All he had to do was sprint to the armored truck equipped with bullet resistant tires, get out of the valley and speed to the border before law enforcement could get organized there.

He counted down the seconds, his muscles tensing to make the run. He waited until the lead vehicle was close enough for him to make out the driver’s silhouette through the windshield, poised and ready to break from cover and race across the open ground.

****

Stretched out on her stomach beside Blake, Jordyn stayed as still as possible while she surveyed the battlefield below them. To the east Alex and Evers were holding their own so far, hunkered down and leapfrogging back behind whatever cover they could find in between bursts of gunfire from the attacking Taliban. Despite the order to fall back, Blake couldn’t because to the northwest, Gage and Hunter were in a far deadlier situation.

Pinned down without any concealment aside from whatever boulder they could find, they took systematically aimed shots at the insurgents swarming toward them. And they were coming fast. Over the earpiece she listened while Hunter and Gage fought their way back toward her and Blake’s position.

Sighting another target taking aim at the two men, she gave Blake the range, windage and elevation. He dialed it into his scope, put his eye to it and leaned into the stock.

“On target,” he said evenly, everything about him so calm and controlled despite the dire situation.

She didn’t have his composure; her stomach was a concrete weight in her gut and her heart pounded.

Staring through her spotter scope at the insurgent leading the charge, she forced herself to focus on him rather than her teammates. “Fire when ready.”

He pulled the trigger. An instant later the man’s head snapped back, a crimson hole appearing a few inches below his throat. “Hit, upper chest,” she said. The man hit the ground and didn’t move but Jordyn was already locking onto the next target.

Together they methodically picked off more insurgents, and while it slowed the advance and created some confusion, it was clear the Taliban weren’t giving up. Damn, what she wouldn’t give for a 50 cal machine gun right now. She could clear off the entire wave coming at Hunter and Gage with one sweep.

Blake took two more shots. She heard the rhythmic click and slide of the bolt as he drew it back to eject the cartridge, then the sound of him pushing it back into place. “Ready,” he told her.

She opened her mouth to give him the next target when something else caught her attention. Shifting the scope slightly to the right, she saw a line of vehicles appear over the low hill and barrel down a narrow trail that ran the length of the west side of the valley. “Trucks.”

“I see them.” Blake reported everything to Alex, pausing only to take another shot on his own. “Target down.”

He’d dropped another insurgent who’d broken away from the line of men rushing at Gage and Hunter. She swung her scope back to the vehicles. They were slowing now, well behind where the attack on Gage and Hunter was happening. As she watched, a figure shot out from the hillside and barrelled toward the trucks. “Shit, there’s another cave.” Tightening the focus, she zeroed in on the man’s face. Her heart seized for a second.
Oh my God.
“It’s Hassani.”

Blake didn’t look up as he reported it to Alex and aimed his rifle at the trucks. Then, “Range,” he demanded, voice holding a quietly lethal edge.

She lased the target. “Niner-eight-two.” Shit, right at the extreme end of the rifle’s range. Even in perfect conditions with no stress or danger of any kind it was a low percentage shot.

Alex’s urgent voice came over her earpiece, the unmistakable sound of AK-47 fire in the background. “Do
not
let him get away. Stop him.
Now
.”

“Roger that.” Blake settled into position. “Elevation.”

She snapped out of her panic and gave him that plus the windage. “On scope. Fire when ready.” Hassani was nearly to the second truck, which she was willing to bet was armored. Blake had to hit a far off, moving target or they risked losing him entirely.

He took the shot.

She held her breath as she watched through her scope. A puff of dirt rose up from the ground. Her heart sank. “Miss. About a yard left.” She risked a glance at him, caught the tightening in his jaw.

The second vehicle’s back door opened. Hassani was almost there. She opened her mouth to try to correct the elevation, barely caught the movement in her peripheral vision before Blake dove at her.

“Down!”

His warning shout was still registering when he rammed into her. He caught her in a flying tackle, his shoulder slamming into her ribs. A scream trapped in her throat. Everything went into slow motion. The blow sent her rolling toward the rock wall behind her. Her back slammed into the ground as Blake twisted around to absorb the impact and rolled off her.

Before she could draw a breath something plowed into the hillside below where they’d been a second before, and exploded. She jerked and instinctively dove onto her belly to cover her head. Bits of rock and earth rained down on them, pelting her back, legs and arms. The ground seemed to shake, the smell of burning cordite heavy in the air. Raising her head, her eyes widened in horror as she saw the earth beneath Blake begin to crumble. She caught the surprise and alarm on his face an instant before the ledge gave way and took him with it.

Jordyn lunged for him, swept out an arm to grab him, but it was too late. “
Blake!
” His name tore out of her, wrenched from the deepest part of her. He disappeared from view, tumbling over the edge into the valley below.

Jordyn’s scream echoed in Blake’s ears as he plunged into nothingness. He bounced off the side of the hill, slammed into a big boulder. A cry of pain tore from his throat.

He threw his hands out to grab something, anything to stop his fall, but the dirt came loose in his clawing fingers. More rocks hit him, ramming into his body with the force of a sledgehammer. He rolled and twisted, fighting to slow the slide, but it was useless.

His feet caught on something and pitched him forward, flipping him end over end in an out of control somersault. His back crashed into another rock and he tumbled down, down, until finally he hit the valley floor on his side with a bone-jarring thud.

The impact knocked the wind out of him. More rocks and debris showered him, pelting his already bruised and bloody body. Finally everything was still.

Through the ringing in his ears he could still hear the sporadic gunfire out on the battlefield ahead of him. He was exposed out here, totally helpless, the only firearm left strapped to the front of his webbing. Unsure whether his ribs or maybe his back was broken, he forced his head up. He struggled to drag in a breath.

You’re not dead. Yet. Get up.

“Blake!”

Still reeling, he turned his head to the left in time to see Jordyn plunging after him. She slid and scrambled her way down the gouge he’d made in the hillside, dragging their rucks and weapons with her, completely uncaring about her own safety and that she’d exposed her position to enemy fire.

He couldn’t yell to stop her, could barely get enough air to keep from passing out. Helpless, he watched her slip and bounce off a big rock before she too hit the ground with a thud, absorbing the fall with her butt.

She winced but popped up again. She ditched their gear and raced over to grab his face in her hands. Her eyes were wide and full of terror, her paint-streaked face pinched as she stared into his eyes. “Blake, say something.”

“Breath,” he wheezed.

She closed her eyes in relief, and released him to frantically start digging him out of the rubble he was lying in. When his lungs finally started functioning again he forced his beat-to-hell limbs to shove and kick at the debris covering his lower body, wincing every time he shifted.

“How bad are you hurt?” she demanded, running her hands over him to check for bleeding and breaks the moment he was free.

“I’m okay,” he managed. He tested his legs, relieved when they moved for him, and slowly forced himself into a sitting position. They had to find cover.

She grabbed him by the shoulders, pushed him back. More pain blazed through his muscles. “Blake, no, stay still.”

There were Taliban fighters coming at them and Hassani was getting away. He couldn’t let that happen. “Get the rifles,” he commanded, rolling painfully to his side. Cuts and scrapes stung him all over, the deep bruises all over his body already stiffening his muscles. His ribs were on fire. Hurt to fucking breathe but they couldn’t afford to wait to chase Hassani down and, more importantly, they couldn’t stay exposed here.

“Go,” he barked. His greatest fear was Jordyn getting shot or taken captive. He’d buried it down deep but now that it was a possibility, he needed to know she was out of danger before they rejoined the fight.

She jerked slightly at the hard bite in his tone, but turned and ran back for their gear. Blake slowly got to his knees, then his feet, forcing back a groan as his battered body protested each tiny movement. By the time he was actually standing up and moving for cover behind some rocks at the base of the hill, Jordyn had the gear.

She grabbed their rucks and dragged them over to him. Biting back a groan, Blake hurried to drag them behind shelter and managed to dig out the ammo he needed while she went back for the rifles.

Jordyn was reaching for his M40A3 when he stopped her. “No, give me the fifty.” It was the only weapon capable of taking out a vehicle and they hadn’t needed it to this point because they’d been hunting human targets.

She met his eyes for a split second then did as he said, hauling the drag bag to him. He got on his knees to pull out the big rifle and put it together as she ran back for the smaller rifle. She was limping when she came to crouch beside him.

“What now?” she asked, hunkered down beside him, her gaze fixed on the militants still out there and closing in on them.

“Gotta get Hassani. Need to take out the truck.” It was still out there. He was the only one equipped to do it at the moment, and whatever backup Alex had called in might not show up in time to do any good.

He sprawled out on his belly on the hard ground, his bruised muscles and ribs sending a searing flash of pain through him. “Gimme your earpiece,” he said to her. “Lost mine in the fall.” Jordyn immediately took hers out and handed it to him. As he slipped it in place she dropped beside him with the spotter scope. “Going for Hassani’s vehicle,” he reported to the others.

Working fast, he set up the bipod and got the Barrett M82A2 ready to fire. He set his eye to the scope and pressed the stock firmly against his throbbing shoulder. The fighters had moved back, gathering into a tighter formation south of the cave entrance Hassani had come out of. Trying to screen him. He must have already gotten into the vehicle but as Blake watched, another man was just climbing into it. The door hadn’t even shut when the rear of the three vehicles hit reverse, followed by the second, then the first.