2. ambush

411 47 4
                                    

A hideous hour crawled by, as night closed over Boston and the Northern Woods

Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.

A hideous hour crawled by, as night closed over Boston and the Northern Woods. Gillian and her team stayed where they were, while Tanya, Kurt and Brandon worked under Cooper and Cassidy's watchful eyes. The screen of the two plasmas on the opposite wall were split each in half a dozen small squares. All of them were black, waiting for the Tac agents to get their helmet cameras online. Brief orders and replies over the radio filled the office from the speakers set under the plasmas.

Gillian refilled her mug a couple of times until a dry voice on the radio did a roll call and said, "All units in position." Then one by one, all the cameras went online to a darkened scene, which only showed different angles of distant yellow lights behind the windows of two of the buildings in the compound.

"Going green," the voice said, and the images changed to show the scene in infra-green, every dark shape now visible around the agents.

A chill ran down Gillian's spine when Brock's voice came from the speakers, stone cold. "Go."

At his word, all the cameras moved forward, showing what the Tac agents saw as they approached the wired fence of the compound, only the murmur of their breathing coming from the speakers.

Then a gunshot echoed. All the Tacs stopped sharp as another shot, much closer, sounded on the radio channel. And then shouts, and a woman screaming.

"Incoming!"

"It's more than one!"

"Spiegel's down! I need a medic!"

"Take cover!"

Later on, Gillian wouldn't be able to remember the whole sequence, as all of them in Boston held their breath. Brock's voice shot orders that made no sense for them, calling men back to the road and ordering others to take cover.

"Shit!" Ron snarled, and patted Fred's arm.

Gillian ignored them striding to the lockers. The cameras showed Tacs running back to the tent, jumping images of frantic sprints through the forest. Russell yelled something about three trucks, his voice lost in the chaos of screams, gunfire, loud voices and engines roaring closer.

"Brock! Coleman!" Cassidy called out, leaning to Tanya's computer.

Gillian's heart stopped when there was no answer in the confusion of noises the radio captured. Then she felt Aldana's cold hand grasping her arm and heard her suffocated cry.

"Here!" said Hank by their side, turning to Ron and Fred. They stood before the open lockers, and tossed duffels at him.

Somehow Gillian managed to react. And the simple fact of moving and speaking was enough for her to get a grip on herself.

"We're going," she said, approaching Cooper and Cassidy. "Sir, get us a transport ready to leave from Logan in under thirty minutes. Ma'am, can we have two vehicles waiting for us at Maine Northern Airport?"

Cassidy and Cooper stared at her as if she'd spoken in tongues.

"I'm going too!"

The three of them turned to scowl in surprise at Tanya. The girl was already unplugging her computer, and she patted Kurt's shoulder. "Kurt! Move that fat ass off your chair! You're coming too!"

"You don't have a go-bag," Gillian argued, the first silly thing that came to her mind.

"Says who," Tanya replied.

Gillian was about to object when she met the girl's eyes, full of tears behind her glasses. And she could only nod.

"Reg! Meet us at the parking lot!" called Fred from the door, as the rest of the team hurried out of the office. They had to guide Aldana with them, because she stood there, frozen, crying noiselessly with blank eyes fixed on the black screens.

Gillian looked at Cassidy, who had his phone to his ear.

Cooper stood up and pressed her shoulder. "Go, Gillian. We'll keep you up. Call me to let me know what you need."

A panting voice cried out over the radio, stopping her, "Jesus! Those sons of bitches took them!"

Cooper literally jumped to their radio station. "Who! What happened!"

"Three trucks! Men with automatic long guns! They attacked the roadblocks and stormed on us from behind! They took shelter into the compound with their hostages!"

"Hostages? Who did they take?"

"Brockner and Coleman!"


The Hill - BLACKBIRD book 5Where stories live. Discover now