“Head in the game,” Clint said over the line.
His commander was right. They needed to find and disarm all the bombs.
Johnny, Luca and Colton surveyed the building in front of them. It was a prime place for a bomb. The place had been abandoned, and there were plenty of people out front to cause enough damage.
Despite the many people around, no one paid them much attention. Armed men, American or otherwise, were just not that novel a sight in the cities of Chotastan in recent months.
Colton was the first in, Johnny following close behind. The place was dark, so they activated their night vision.
The eerie green sight wasn’t the best way to get around, but it was better than nothing. About thirty seconds in, they flipped up their night-vision goggles to avoid being blinded by the fluorescent lighting illuminating the deeper interior of the building.
“We got one,” Clint said over the line. “Be advised, tangos near the package.”
They lifted their weapons to the ready as they moved silently through the old building. The element of surprise was everything in situations like this.
A good breach and clear mission wasn’t like some extended Hollywood firefight. If the operators were doing their job, the whole thing should be short.
Colton held up a hand to stop. Johnny could hear Trent walking Clint through the disarm. Sarin gas, like they had first guessed. The bastards weren’t just going to blow things up but make sure they left the worst kind of mess they could.
Johnny pushed the butt of the gun hard against his shoulder. These fuckers were going down.
He watched as Colton did a check around the corner. He held up five fingers. Five men.
As quietly as he could, Colton turned to them.
“Single bursts. We don’t want to hit the bomb in the process. Breathe, aim, fire. No misses.”
Johnny nodded.
“We move on my mark.”
Colton turned to look back around the corner. They waited for a moment before he moved forward, and all hell broke loose.
Johnny found one man to the right of the bomb. He aimed for center of mass and squeezed the trigger. The man fell with a cry.
“Getting a little fucking close there!” Colton shouted.
Johnny would have laughed if he had time, but another man moved toward the bomb. Again, he fired. The man fell.
“One went out the back,” Luca shouted.
Colton held up a hand to stop him. “The bomb is priority.”
Johnny stepped over to the weapon and felt his hands shake as he went to flip the faceplate.
“Okay, we’re doing this really simply. You pull the chip and the green wire. It will stop it from blowing, but the gas inside is still live. One man will have to stay to guard it until it’s removed. The latest intel said five bombs. Four more to go.”
Johnny followed his instructions and looked between the men.
Luca nodded to the two of them. “I got this,” he said. “Go check on your girl.”
Colton nodded as well. “I’ll meet up with Clint, and we’ll see if we’ve missed something. Check on your girl and then check in. Maybe she heard something.”
Johnny nodded, glad to be able to see if she was okay. He worried after her breakdown earlier. Maddy was a strong woman, but there was only so much a person could take, especially if they hadn’t been trained for it.
Chapter Twenty-three
Maddy quietly sat in the car and watched as people ran from the gunfire echoing through the cool night air. She couldn’t imagine being at the local farmer’s market in the United States only to have it interrupted by gunfire.
Her heart went out to the frightened people there as they ran for their lives. She could only hope that the SEALs and Delta Force squads were able to find all the bombs and save even more lives.
She could hear the men over the line calling to each other about the bombs as they found them, each heavily guarded but not well enough to survive the different teams of Special Forces operators.
Occasionally her brother would come on and talk them through the disarming process. Hearing his voice was a comfort as she sat in the the vehicle.
She moved to the front so she could see everything better and to be near the extra clip. It wouldn’t surprise her if the big guy had more than one hidden up there. He seemed ready for everything plus some.
Once again she scanned the area. It was dark, but the lights from the street still provided a little illumination.
Something caught her attention in the corner of her eye: a bald head standing just above the crowd.
Maddy pulled the gun as she watched Hans move along the street.
“Oh shit,” she mumbled.
He stopped at a building across the street and disappeared into the entrance. This was the last spot, the place where he’d put the last bomb. She just knew it.
That rotten bastard would want to make sure the job was done well, and what better way than to place it near all the military vehicles?
Maddy made a grab for the radio attached to the car. She pressed the button.
“Hello? Is anyone there?”
“Maddy?”
She nearly cried at her brother’s voice.
“You really shouldn’t be—”
“He’s here,” she said quickly. “The bald guy just went in a building across the street. The bomb is there. I just know it is.”
“Fuck,” he grunted.
She could hear him make the call to the other men, but they were too far away. No one was going to get there in time. They’d been steadily clearing the buildings on the other side of the street and farther down on the same side.
She was it, and by God, if she was going to die, it was going to be fighting.
“I’m going,” she said firmly over the line.
“Like hell you are!”
She grabbed the second clip and tucked it into her back pocket.
“I’m it,” she said simply, clear on what she needed to do. “Besides, I’ve got a beef to settle with him.”
“Maddy! Maddy!”
She stepped out of the car, ignoring her brother as he shouted at her through the speaker. There was no time to waste. As her father would say, now was when she needed to gut up and get shit done.
* * *
“She’s going after him,” Trent shouted in Johnny’s ear as he hurried back toward the vehicles. He’d heard the call over the line before and picked up the pace, but rushing in seemed like the worst idea, until the latest piece of information.
“Son of a bitch,” he mumbled.
Johnny sprinted now, faster than he’d ever run in his life.
His lungs burned, and the pack he carried cut into his shoulder, but it didn’t matter, as long as he made it there in time.
He stopped at the end of the street and stared at the building. It didn’t look abandoned like the others, but maybe that was the point. They were supposed to hunt and clear out all the other more obvious sites to hide the bombs, and when they were finished, this one would be the one that took them out.
He quietly pushed in, his gun at the ready, constantly checking behind him. Not having the other men there meant he had to watch his own back. Not really the best strategy, but he’d have to make it work.
Something shuffled nearby, and he peered toward the source of the noise. He watched as Maddy disappeared down a hall. Not at all quietly, especially not quietly enough to not be noticed by a trained killer like the German who worked for Williamson.
As swiftly as he could, Johnny moved in behind her. His hand touched her shoulder, and she whirled around, gun at the ready.
“Shit, it’s me,” he whispered.
He watched as her shoulders sagged with relief at the sound of his voice.
“He’s here,” she whispered.
Johnny grunted. “I know. Time for you to go.”
She held firm where she stood, and he frowned.
“I’m here,” she said. “And I’m about the only backup you’re getting. Now let’s go get this guy.”
Johnny sighed. The others were still minutes out, and that was more than enough time for the guy to set off a bomb.
He nodded to her.
“Fine, step behind me. You follow exactly as I do. This isn’t a fucking game.”
They walked farther into the building. They traveled down a long hallway and then back into a large sort of conference room. Several of the windows were busted out.
The light of the moon highlighted something hanging from the ceiling. He cursed. The bastard had left this package with a hitch.
He followed the line of a chain to a man standing just below. One shot and the man would drop whatever he was holding. They needed to get in closer, but most of all, they needed to get a hold of that chain.
Johnny moved slowly against the wall just inside the room. The shadows hid them for the moment. He stopped where the wall dipped in slightly.
He turned and placed his mouth to her ear so he could talk as softly as possible.
“Can you take him out from here?”
She nodded and turned to look at him.
“On my mark you take him out. I’m going to get the chain.”
She shook her head but stopped when he held up a hand.
“This is my job,” he said. “I need you.”
She stared at him for a moment before nodding. Johnny dropped his pack next to her.
Not wanting to waste any more time, he held up a hand.
Maddy took aim.
His hand dropped. As he did so, Johnny shot out of their hiding place. He heard the crack of the gun and watched as the bullet slammed into the enemy’s chest.
The chain slipped from his grasp, and Johnny pushed hard. With a giant leap, he caught the piece and pulled it carefully back to where it was before.
Above him, the bomb swayed dangerously back and forth.
Tires squealed out back, and he watched, helpless, as Maddy ran to the window and fired off shots into the darkness.
“It’s him! He’s getting away!”
He grimaced. Usually when a bad guy ran like that, it was for good reason. He looked at the bomb above him.
There was only one explanation. The bastard had a remote detonator. Hans would wait until he was far enough away before setting it off.
“You there, man?” Johnny said into his mic.
“Yeah,” Trent replied.
“He’s got a remote detonator, I think.”
“Shit.”
“Davis, what the hell is going on here?”
Johnny looked over to find Clint at the door.
“No time, sir, I need you to take this chain, or we’re all going to die.”
Clint grabbed the line, and Johnny looked around for the best way to get to the bomb.
In one jump, he was pulling himself up the window with ease. Unlike the last one, this one had a ledge for him.
From there, he grabbed the next ledge and pulled himself up to the highest window. He was even now with the beam the bomb hung from.
As quickly as he could, Johnny made his way across the beam until he was even with the chain. He reached down, but it wasn’t far enough.
Out of options, he wrapped his legs around the beam and lowered himself until he was staring directly at the beast.
“Okay, talk me through this shit.”
He flipped open the plate and stared at the mess of wires there.
“If we take out the antenna, we break his ability to do anything. Look for a black wire.”
Johnny carefully looked at the wires, but the damned light just wasn’t very good up there.
“Shit, looks like there are two black wires.”
Trent sighed. “One’s gotta be dark green. Look really close.”
Something started beeping, and he watched as the light on the panel lit up.
“Something’s happening here,” Johnny said. “All the fucking lights just came on.”
“Shit, pull the cord! Pull the fucking cord.”
Johnny took a split second to stare at the two black cords and yanked the one in his right hand.
He closed his eyes and waited.
“Johnny? Fucking answer me!”
“Yeah, I’m here,” he said, still not quite sure what the hell just happened. “Damned thing stopped beeping.”
He could hear Trent sigh over the line.
“You did it,” he said. “You did it.”
His eyes met Maddy’s on the ground, and for the first time, he was able to breathe a sigh of relief.
“Let’s go home.”
Chapter Twenty-four
Maddy yawned as she stepped out of the shower, towel wrapped firmly around her. After she’d gotten back home, she slept a solid twelve hours, Johnny right there at her side. The whole ordeal was over, but she still couldn’t seem to shake off her fatigue.
She groaned as she thought about all the shit she was going to have to deal with now. At least Marissa had been able to talk her professor into letting her take the final once she’d recovered.
There had been several hurried texts when she gotten home, not to mention her dad nearly hugging the life out of her. In the end, Johnny had been the one to insist that she get some rest.
She gave a small smile. He was still in deep shit with her for running off, but it didn’t mean he would stay that way forever. Maybe she’d just have to take him up on the offer to make it up to her.
The front door opened, and she wasn’t surprised to see Johnny step in wearing his jogging pants and t-shirt.
He raised a brow at her when he stepped in and tossed the damp shirt to the side.
“You’re supposed to be resting,” he said.
Maddy sighed and sat down on the bed. She watched him with open interest as he moved around the room shirtless.
“I am.”
He stopped and frowned at her. “You need to go back to bed.”
Maddy raised a brow at him. “Are you telling me what to do?”
He stopped moving around and stared at her, likely realizing that he wasn’t going to win that fight.
Maddy stood and whipped the towel off, only to toss it over to him. “I think you might need that more.”
Johnny groaned and moved swiftly across the room until he had her in his arms, kissing her hard.
“I need to take a shower,” he said quietly.
Maddy nodded but didn’t let go. Instead she only held on tighter. The thought of how many times she almost lost him raced through her head.