Chapter 9

Jay was thankful for the cloud cover that hid them in the deep shadows of the trees surrounding the compound. Apple was fifteen feet to his left, and Squat was to his right. They had the place surrounded and were just waiting for Griz to give the signal.

Nothing good was ever easy. He prepared himself to move, getting ready for the resistance they would face.

“We’re set,” Shine said.

“It’s time. Go.”

Griz’s command was exactly what he’d been looking for. Jay stepped away from the tree he’d been hiding behind, moving slowly and steadily toward the compound. They weren’t expected, and he hoped the assholes didn’t have lookouts who were hidden. They hadn’t seen any indication of people watching from the roof of the building, and none of the scans showed any heat signatures for people set up to watch the area, but with more surprises happening to SEAL teams, they had to stay vigilant. Their scans didn’t reveal any cameras or other recording devices.

It shocked him that the enemy had set up blind inside a building without good views. Some people were just too secure in their own abilities. Though he trained, worked hard, and had skills, he knew he had to use every tool he had to stay ahead. He was glad this group seemed kind of incompetent and had left things like surveillance to chance.

He and Apple made it to the door at about the same time and placed the charges that would allow them entrance to the compound. “Ready to breach,” Jay said.

“Ready,” Shine said.

They were going in with coordinated attacks, using both entrances to the building. They were just waiting for the command to blow the charges. Seconds ticked by, stretching out. He needed to know if Nichole was okay.

“Breach.”

With the word from Griz Jay blew the charges. A second later, Apple tossed in the flashbang, and he followed close behind. The flashbang blew, making him pause for less than a second before he moved deeper into the building.

Chaos seemed to come out of the walls. The first guy who tried to aim a gun at them was taken down. They weren’t playing. Demanding the release of prisoners by terrorism wasn’t a great strategy. The USA didn’t entertain terrorists, and these men had played the wrong cards. Attacking a medical relief organization set up to help the citizens of this country wasn’t how you got attention, or at least not positive attention.

Jay kept up with the count. They were at four terrorists dead, and they knew they had a few more to get rid of. Shine found the room with the male medical personnel and instructed them to stay in the room until they cleared the building.

Jay was antsy to find the women. He needed to make sure Nichole was okay. He opened a door and spied a figure lying on the ground. His breath caught as fear rose.

As he dropped to one knee, he reached down and brushed her hair away from her face, but it wasn’t Nichole.

He felt for a pulse, relief filling him when he found one. “Found a woman. She’s knocked out but still breathing.”

Griz grunted. “Leave her for now. Let’s get the other captives and get them out of here.”

Jay didn’t like leaving this woman behind, but they’d cleared the compound to this point and needed to find the other captives and get the heck away before reinforcements arrived.

There was another empty room, and Jay worried that he wouldn’t find Nichole or any of the other women. Were they even still alive? He’d seen more than his share of women abused by systems and governments. This group had obviously already abused one of the women and might have already killed the rest. Anger whipped through him and he wanted to punish the men in this compound, but first he needed to save Nichole if she was still alive.

Carefully, they moved around a corner just as someone approached from the other end of the hall. Jay fired, but not before the asshole tossed a bottle that exploded into flames midway between them.

The fire spread quickly. The jerk had tossed a Molotov cocktail in an interior hallway. Jay hated this. He needed to find Nichole, but they would have to evacuate if the flames got too bad. The idea of Nichole dying in a building fire left him desperate to find her.