The Last Operation (The Remnants of War Series, Book 1) by Patrick Astre Page B

mansion began flashing red, another siren sounded in the nearby smaller house and they heard the commotion of men roused to their weapons.
    Daniels motioned Carlos in the truck as he took the driver's seat. He pulled a wire from inside the bandanna and adjusted it so it was in front of his mouth.
    "Matt, what's going on?"
    * * *
    Matt had seen Kurt Rhineman disguised as the blonde enter the house. The sniper scope brought everything in close view. She had a funny twinge as she thought, shit, he looks better than I do in my best dress.
    She'd seen the two guards leave with the body in the Durango. When the truck returned she saw through the scope that Daniels and Carlos were in front. They were running late, but more troublesome, Rhineman was running even later. They should have been out of the house over six minutes ago. The sudden screech of the alarms and the flashing of the strobes confirmed her worst fears. Something had gone wrong, she thought, as Daniels' voice crackled in her earphone radio.
    "Nothing, nobody's coming out. Can't see shit."
    * * *
    Kurt Rhineman hustled LeCount and Oscar through the kitchen. They were practically carrying Oscar as blood flowed freely from his shattered knee. Rhineman kicked the empty cartridge out of the Glock and slammed a new one in. Hector Durand held the Thompson around the edge of the brick arch and fired a long random burst. The bullets ricocheted everywhere knocking down hanging pots and pans and cooking implements in a violent pandemonium of metal, noise and deadly particles. The bullets passed above them as they crouched through the second hallway and burst out the courtyard through the kitchen service door.
    * * *
    "Side door, side door, I have them, repeat I have them," Matt's voice came through the radio earphones in Daniels' bandanna. He floored the Durango taking off in a spray of flying gravel and dust. The two perimeter guards stepped back, confused by the sudden alarm and the truck flying past them. Daniels stopped the Durango in front of the three men emerging from the kitchen entrance. He threw Oscar in the rear seat. Lecount jumped behind him followed by Rhineman. The truck took off as Rhineman pumped the remainder of the Glock magazine into the open doorway of the kitchen, pinning down Hector Durand. The two guards had followed the truck at a run and saw it stop and pick up three men fleeing from the house. The leading guard dropped to one knee and raised the AK-47 and sighted down the barrel. He was less then forty yards. He couldn't miss.

 
     
     
    Chapter 15

     
    Matt watched through the scope as the Durango with Carlos and Daniels bolted to the side of the house and picked up the three men. She saw the guard lining up the AK-47 behind them. They wouldn't make it. She centered the guard's head on the second mill dot below the crosshair, taking in the elevation and trajectory, and squeezed the trigger.
    * * *
    The second guard had been a little slower than his partner. That extra fat saved his life. He watched his partner kneel, aiming the AK-47 at the rear of the white Dodge Durango. One second he was holding the automatic weapon, the next second his head exploded in a pink and white cloud that left a shimmering halo of bloody droplets reflecting the bright white sodium lamps of the compound. Uncomprehending, his partner had seen up close the devastating kinetic energy of a modern sniper round.
    The man dropped to the ground whimpering as his partner's body toppled forward. The crack of the rifle followed as the sound caught up with the supersonic flight of the bullet.
    * * *
    Daniels held the pedal to the floor as the Durango accelerated toward the first guard post. He felt naked and vulnerable under the bright lamps lining the roadway. His back twitched as he anticipated the feel of a bullet entering his flesh. In the rear view mirror he saw Hector Durand jump into a Hummer with four armed men. Two more groups were mounting up to give chase. In the first