Read Warning Order Online

Authors: Joshua Hood

Warning Order (35 page)

“I don't think this counts,” Zeus's voice replied through the tiny earpiece.

“Relax man, we're almost done,” Mason said, his hand moving unconsciously to the bandages that itched beneath his white button-up shirt.

“Uh-huh. You better not be scratching at the stitches,” the Libyan scolded.

Mason snatched his hand away with a wry grin, and scanned the surrounding rooftops for any sign of Zeus.

It had been two weeks since Mosul, and his arm was still stiff and heavy. The doctor told him that he was lucky al Qatar's blade hadn't done more damage. An inch higher, and Mason could have suffered permanent nerve damage, but as it was, he should heal nicely.

“He's coming up,” Zeus said a second later.

Mason moved away from the window, slipping the silenced .22 from his waistband before positioning himself behind the door. He desperately wanted a cigarette, but knew the smell would alert his target. It seemed like an eternity, but finally he heard movement in the hall followed by a key slipping into the lock.

Warchild checked the apartment from the threshold, like a rat searching for predators before coming out of its hole. The first thing Mason saw was the Glock clutched in the man's hand and the backpack strap hanging off his right shoulder as he stepped inside and moved to clear the bathroom.

Mason bumped the door shut with the outside of his left foot, and chopped the butt of his pistol across the base of Warchild's neck.

Warchild dropped to his knees, the backpack flying off his shoulder, and the pistol clattering across the floor. Mason moved to his right and snapped a wicked kick across the man's face, knocking him flat on his back.

“Rule number one, always check behind the door,” Mason said, centering the .22 on the man's forehead.

“You . . . you're fucking dead,” Warchild sputtered, before spitting two of his teeth onto the concrete floor. He had shaved his mohawk, and in its place dark stubble was beginning to grow in.

“Not yet. I have no idea how you made it this far, you have no fucking field craft.”

“Go fuck yourself.”

“Don't be mad at me, you're the one too lazy to cover his own tracks.”

Warchild glance at the pistol lying three feet to his left, and Mason smiled.

“Really? You think you can make it?”

Warchild shifted, and the .22 coughed, sending a bullet ice-picking through Warchild's shin.

The man howled before gritting his teeth and taking the pain.

“You going to beg?” Mason asked, lining up the kill shot.

“Would you?” Warchild grunted.

“Nope,” he replied before firing a round through the man's eye.

Warchild's head snapped back, and his skull bounced off the floor with a meaty thud. Mason took a step forward and fired again—ensuring that the man was dead. He stooped to collect his expended brass, and after placing them in his pocket, set the pistol on the table.

Using his good arm, he rifled through Warchild's pockets, before picking his pistol off the ground and stuffing it in the man's backpack.

“I'm coming out,” he said, grabbing the .22 off the table and heading for the door.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

F
irst and foremost I'd like to thank the Lord for his faithfulness and grace.

Writing a book is the easy part. It's the professionals behind the scenes who do the real work. Once again, my agent Bob Diforio, along with Matthew Benjamin and his team at Touchstone, have taken dreams and turned them into reality.

Without all of your tireless shaping and polishing,
Warning Order
would just be a stack of paper. I cannot express how grateful I am to have you guys on my team. I honestly can't imagine working with anyone else.

Read the first Mason Kane thriller from Joshua Hood

Inspired by the experiences of a decorated combat veteran and a former member of the 82nd Airborne division,
Clear by Fire
is a blistering new military thriller about an American hero who, in order to clear his name, must take down a highly classified band of soldiers that has gone murderously rogue.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

© KIM JAY

Joshua Hood
graduated from the University of Memphis before joining the military and spending five years in the 82nd Airborne Division, where he was team leader in the 3-504 Parachute Infantry Regiment. In 2005, he was sent to Iraq and conducted combat operations in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom from 2005 to 2006, and from 2007 to 2008 he served as a squad leader in the 1-508th Parachute Infantry Regiment and was deployed to Afghanistan for Operation Enduring Freedom. Hood was decorated for valor in Operation Furious Pursuit. He is currently a member of a full-time SWAT team in Memphis, Tennessee, and has conducted countless stateside operations with the FBI, ATF, DEA, Secret Service, and US Marshals.

FOR MORE ON JOSHUA HOOD

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CLEARBYFIRE.COM

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Also by Joshua Hood

Clear by Fire

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This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the author's imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Joshua Hood

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Touchstone Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.

First Touchstone hardcover edition June 2016

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Interior design by Kyle Kabel

Jacket design by Jae Song

Jacket photograph © Oleg Zabielin/Shutterstock Images

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Hood, Joshua.

Title: Warning order : a search and destroy thriller / Joshua Hood.

Description: First Touchstone hardcover edition. | New York, NY: Toushctone, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc., 2016. | Series: Search and destroy ; 2 Identifiers: LCCN 2015026383 | ISBN 9781501108280 (hardcover) | ISBN 9781501108297 (trade paper) | ISBN 9781501108303 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Special operations (Military science)—Fiction. | GSAFD: Suspense fiction.

Classification: LCC PS3608.O5574 W37 2016 | DDC 813/.6—dc23

LC record available at
http://lccn.loc.gov/2015026383

ISBN 978-1-5011-0828-0

ISBN 978-1-5011-0830-3 (ebook)

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