“What?”
“Power to Haqazzii.”
Teddy glanced up and down the quiet road. In the distance, headlights signaled it was time to end this.
“Two,” Teddy growled.
“You will die. Then, we kill your team. When you are all dead, we are going after thebigone. The one where we bring America to its fucking knees. Death and destruction to America.”
“No, asshole, death to terrorists.”
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lifeless eyes stared up at Teddy. He hated killing, fucking hated it. But this was the job he’d signed up for when he committed to keeping his country safe. He found Farquin’s cell phone in his jacket pocket and held it up to the dead man’s face. The screen unlocked and Teddy toggled to Settings, turned off the password and the facial recognition needed to unlock the phone.
The oncoming vehicle was seconds away, so Teddy knelt, head down. If the driver stopped, it was all over.
Relief washed over him when the car sped past. Once inside the rental car, Teddy removed his helmet, and drove away. At the first opportunity to turn off the state road, he did.
Using Farquin’s phone, he opened the map app. After a quick search, he found what could be Farquin’s home address. Following the directions, he headed back onto State Road 79.
Twenty minutes later, he turned into an industrial area thatlooked like a damn ghost town. An abandoned strip mall, then a small building with boarded-up windows and a large sign.
TRESPASSERS WILL BE SHOT
A smile tugged on the corners of Teddy’s mouth.
My kinda place.
He killed the headlights and drove another half a mile until a lone house—at the end of the road—loomed into view. No lights on, inside or out. The rundown structure could be filled with Haqazzii terrorists or Farquin could have been working there alone.
Teddy had no fucking idea.
If he were playing it safe, he’d leave. The mission would be placed on pause until BLACK OPS arrived. The problem with that? It would give any terrorists living there plenty of time to escape.
Not happening.
He reached into his duffle, pulled out an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a smoke grenade. On went his helmet, before pushing silently out of the car, and lowering the goggles. Determination pumped through his veins. For the past several months, his sole objective had been to find and eliminate this group of terrorists hellbent on killing as many innocents as possible.
Payback time.
While the GPS tracker showed this to be the place where Farquin had been hiding out, Teddy needed confirmation. In stealth mode, he moved toward the house. He could be walking into a full-on ambush or the home could be set to blow if anyone breached its doors. Were women and children living there or was this a red herring, designed to throw him off their trail?
He eyed the boarded-up window and the front door that hung lopsided on its hinges.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Teddy hit the cold, hard ground as shots whizzed past him, one grazing his shoulder. He glanced around for cover. Seconds later, he was hiding behind the lone oak tree in the yard, the trunk offering him partial protection.
Do it.
He stepped out from behind the tree and rocketed the smoke grenade toward the front window, shattering the glass as it sailed through. Seconds later, thick black smoke billowed from the building.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
With a gun in hand, someone came flying out the front door, coughing hard as he fell to the ground. “What the hell!” he bleated between phlegmy breaths.
Teddy aimed his semi-automatic at the man. “Toss the weapon, get on your knees. Arms over your head.”