With the silent prayer sent to the heavens above, Beckett and Apollo fell in line behind their leader.
The three men began marching down the side of the hill. The ground they covered was mostly dry dirt and rocks, with the occasional boulder or bush to help provide cover.
Like his teammates, Beckett kept his rifle up and at the ready. All three men had removed their field sunglasses and switched instead to their clear, Gatorz non-polarized shooting glasses.
With their eyes protected and their vision unobstructed, the team kept their targets in sight by using the L4G24 NVG—night vision goggles—attached to their Ops-Core Maritime helmets. The three men continued traversing the rugged terrain, and when they approached the point of no return, Digger held up a fist as the universal signal to stop.
Both Beckett and Apollo halted their movements, waiting silently for their team leader to give them further instructions.
“Falcon, what’s your status?” Digger whispered into the comms.
“Ready when you are, brother. Say the word, and I’ll start cleaning house.”
Beckett’s pulse spiked as a hefty dose of adrenaline was pumped into his system. This was it. There was no going back. Once that first shot rang out, every man down there would know he and the others were here.
The goal was to take out the tangos watching the cave’s exterior with enough speed and precision so they could avoid alerting those inside of their presence. But if they lost the element of surprise, the hostages’ lives—as well as the team’s—would be in immediate mortal danger.
Come on, Falcon. Do your thing.
He held his breath and waited, keeping his previously designated targets in his sights. Digger lifted his fist once more, silently counting down from three. When he reached one, he gave Falcon the green light the sniper had been waiting for.
“Go!”
Falcon’s first shot was silent, thanks to the man’s elevated position and the suppressor locked in place at the end of his gun. Though they couldn’t see the target fall, their teammate confirmed his latest kill.
“Sniper down,” Falcon informed them.
With his next breath, Beckett watched through his goggles as the men positioned near the cave dropped where they’d stood. First one and then the other.
It wasn’t until the second man at the cave’s entrance fell that the asshole watching the road even realized what was happening. By the time he spun around and raised his rifle in defense, it was too late.
Beckett had already taken aim.
Like the others, the man’s body gave a slight jerk before falling lifeless to the ground.
“Let’s move!” Digger spoke with authority.
The three men covered the distance remaining between them and the cave’s dark entrance. Keeping Shadow’s previouswarning in mind, Beckett kept his head on a constant swivel to avoid making a rookie mistake and setting off a trap designed to kill them all.
Lucky for them, these guys hadn’t bothered with boobie traps. Arrogant bastards probably thought they were too invincible to fall prey to an attack in the middle of nowhere.
Guess you thought wrong.
The three men passed by the bodies of the two guards as they entered the cave. Almost in unison, they slid their NVGs back up to their helmets with one hand while keeping their weapons steady with the other.
As planned, Digger took the lead while Apollo remained sandwiched between Digger and Beckett. As the tail of the trio, Beckett spun around to double-check that no surprises were heading their way through the cave’s entrance.
Seeing the coast was clear, he turned back and fell in line behind Apollo. The air around them felt thick and smelled of rock and dank humidity as they made their way further into the enclosed space.
Several small lights had been placed along the cave’s narrow path, aiding in their efforts to traverse the main corridor with speed and efficiency. Rooms had been cut out within the cave’s interior walls, and it was obvious multiple people had, at one time or another, used the space for shelter.
Disappointment threatened to steal his focus. So far, there’d been no signs of the hostages, and other than the men they’d handled prior to entering the cave, they had yet to cross paths with any additional targets.
Come on, Evie. Where the hell are you?
The unplanned nickname just sort of came to him as they approached the end of the cave’s main corridor. Forming a T, the rugged path split into two directions, and Beckett prayed Dig made the right choice.
Using only hand signals to communicate, the man in charge motioned to the right. As they walked in single-file, Beckett noted how much smaller the underground compound was compared to others they’d encountered in the past.