Lady Death by Brian Drake (good e books to read .TXT) 📕

Hayden moved away, explaining he’d seen the photo already. Raven and Misty stepped close to Cutter. Raven examined the daytime satellite picture of Horn’s mansion. The kind of home only blood money could buy.

The layout of the mansion resembled one side of an octagon. Main house in the center, three stories according to Cutter. Sections extended at an angle from either side of the house like outstretched arms. They connected with tower structures. Each tower featured round tops and spires. The second level of each “arm” was topped with a canopy of curved glass. Through the glass, the walkway between the house and tower showed. Each tower had a wrap-around balcony. Concrete courtyard in the center. Hedges lined the front walls of the house.

Cutter pointed to a separate multi-car garage on one side. A tennis court/swimming pool combo sat on the other.

The forest continued up the hill until it stopped at the tall green grass surrounding the property.

Raven said, “Nice house.”

“Shame to blow it up,” Misty added.

Cutter checked his watch. “Black Hawks arrive in ten minutes. Let’s get you geared up. We all hit at the same time.”

Raven and Misty didn’t get camo uniforms, but they did get the combat vest and associated gear. The weapon of choice for the assault surprised him. Cutter handed him and Misty a Haenel MK 556 automatic rifle. It was the latest and greatest from the German company with ergonomics and controls similar to the M16/M4. It felt immediately familiar to Raven. Each rifle had an optic sight mounted on top. The buttstock extended or contracted. Misty preferred her stock short; Raven extended his all the way.

“It’s a good rig,” Hayden commented as Raven examined the weapon.

“You ask for this assignment?” Raven said. He slung the rifle.

“Yeah. I want payback.”

“Do me a favor,” Raven said, “and take it easy. We both have a score to settle, but we need to save American lives first.”

“Not my first rodeo, Sam. I get it.”

Cutter said it was time to get moving. The crew cleaned up the site and loaded into the Jeeps. The four CIA shooters climbed into one Jeep, while Raven, Misty, Cutter and Hayden piled into the other. Cutter drove. The engines rumbled to life. The off-road vehicles moved along the dirt road with four car-lengths between them.

Raven and Misty sat in the back. Even with Cutter driving slowly they jostled against each other at every bump.

Raven felt sweat on his palms. He wiped his hands on his pants. He didn’t want to feel nervous, but he had no idea where they stood in terms of Operation Triangle’s timetable.

Success or failure depended on getting information out of Dante Horn.

“Here they come!” Cutter shouted. He stepped on the gas and the Jeep surged forward.

Two Sikorsky UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters thundered overhead. As the two-lane road began to level out, the Horn mansion came into view. Raven saw the tips of the towers first, each one bathed by ground lights.

Muted machine gun fire hammered above. The first Black Hawk made a pass over the courtyard and front of the house, strafing the exterior. The heavy slugs plowed into the stonework, shattering windows. The second chopper hovered at the edge of the grass.

Cutter steered the Jeep at the driveway. Horn didn’t have a security gate, but Raven gave it no further thought as return fire smacked into the Jeep like dozens of enraged hornets.

Raven pushed Misty down and bent over her, Hayden shouting for Cutter to go right. A burst of fire shattered the front windshield. Cutter screamed once. The Jeep lurched left. Hayden shouted, “Hang on!” Steel crunched as the front end of the Jeep plowed into the left-side tower. The sudden stop rocked the vehicle.

Raven and Misty lurched forward as if shoved violently, their bodies whipping back under the strain of the safety belts. Raven looked up as Misty pulled away. Cutter’s head leaned forward on his chest, his face a mash of blood and tissue. Hayden yelled, “Get out!” and Raven didn’t waste another moment on the late Mike Cutter.

Raven slid out, yelling for Misty to follow. The Jeep covered them from the return fire, but all it would take was another lucky burst and they’d join Cutter in eternity. She dropped beside him. Hayden crawled over the front seat and scrambled out the back as well.

The three squatted at the rear fender. The second Jeep had stopped a few feet away. The four gunners had spread out in the grass, firing at the house. The Black Hawks disgorged more shooters who dropped on rappelling lines. The thunderous rotor blades and the chatter of automatic weapons fire forced Raven to shout.

“We can’t stay here!”

“Up the tower!” Hayden shouted.

“On me!”

Raven ran from the Jeep as more slugs slammed into the body. A tire popped. Raven forced the sounds from his senses. The tower loomed large in front of him. He paused at a doorway, the MK 556 at his shoulder. The bottom of the tower contained no threats. A spiral staircase of stone steps followed along the wall to the upper level.

“Clear!”

Raven started up the steps. His shoes scraped on the stone, and he kept his head up. He had no idea what waited on the top level. Horn’s defenders could very well be on their way to intercept.

Machine gun fire from the choppers and the crackle of small arms continued outside.

Raven focused on putting one foot in front of the other. A glance back showed Misty and Hayden behind, Hayden bringing up the rear with Misty in between. Raven pushed on. Another step, and another. He neared the top landing. He pressed the rifle stock deep into his shoulder and rested his finger on the trigger.

They had to get to Horn before the Black River CEO had a chance to escape.

12

Raven set foot on the landing. An arched doorway on his right led to the balcony encircling the tower. He was steps away from the glass-canopied walkway.

He shifted