Black Rose

CHAPTER 49

The team was all but invisible in their dark gear. The only light came from a half moon that shed a faint, silver glow on the freshly turned earth of the fields. They crossed to the irrigation ditch that ran along the side of Gutenberg's property. The ditch was three feet wide. A short jump to the other side brought them up against the hedges that bordered the villa. Ronnie took a pair of heavy brush clippers from his bag of tricks and began working on the thick shrubbery.

"Stuff is like iron," he said under his breath. His voice was an electronic whisper in their ears. "Give me a couple of minutes."

It took five. Ronnie stepped back and Nick peered through the opening. Several windows in the villa showed light, all on the ground floor. The upstairs was dark. Curtains drawn over the windows made it impossible to see who or what was inside. Nick toggled the comm link to Harker.

"Where's that infrared?" he said when she came online.

"There's a big solar flare causing interference. I can't get a clear signal. Satellite visual is out also."

Nick stuffed the urge to swear at her.

"All right. We're about to go in. Keep the line open."

"Copy that. Good luck."

They'd all heard Elizabeth.

"How you want to do it?" Lamont said.

"The upstairs is dark. I'm thinking we could climb up onto the gallery and get in from there. We go in on the ground floor, they'll know we're there right away."

"Are we going to try and take them alive?" Selena asked.

"If we can," Nick said, "but it might not be possible. There have to be guards. Once they see us, they'll start shooting and all bets are off. We get into the house, toss flash bangs as soon as we see someone and clear the rooms. Shoot anyone who's armed. Don't hesitate. You hesitate, that's when someone will kill you."

"I know," she said. "You've told me often enough."

"Then I don't have to tell you again."

Selena started to say something and thought better of it.

"Seems odd there aren't any sentries," Lamont said. "You'd think they'd have some kind of perimeter lighting, at least."

"Yeah, you would," Nick said. "It bothers me too. It could be they don't want to draw any attention. Bright lights out here in the French countryside, someone would be sure to notice."

"Maybe," Lamont said.

"There could be ground sensors," Selena said.

"If there are sensors, there's nothing we can do about it," Nick said. "They'll send someone out of the house if we trigger an alarm. They might come out shooting."

Nick's ear began to itch. He tugged on it.

"I don't like this much," Ronnie said. "You're messing with your ear and we've got no Intel on what's inside that house."

Selena squatted next to Nick. "I don't like it either. Elizabeth is uneasy about this and so am I. Like Lamont said, why aren't there lights? Why aren't there sentries? These are powerful men, they wouldn't go anywhere without lots of security. Something's wrong."

"It smells like a setup to me," Lamont said. "It's too easy."

"Yeah," Ronnie said.

"All of you think it's a trap?"

They all nodded.

"All right. What's our next move?"

"Spring it, and see what happens," Ronnie said. "Maybe we'll learn something."

"How you gonna spring it without us getting killed?" Lamont asked.

Ronnie reached into his pack and pulled out the flash bangs.

"Three or four of these through the windows and see who comes out."

"The windows have curtains," Selena said, "How are you going to get those grenades through them?"

"We'll head for that far corner," Nick said. "None of the windows are lit back there. There has to be a back entrance. We'll go in through there. They can't surprise us if we know they're waiting."

"Room to room," Ronnie said.

"I hate houses," Lamont said.

"We don't have to go in," Ronnie said. "We open the door, we toss in grenades and wait. That ought to stir things up. We can follow up with something more serious than a flash bang if we have to."

"Sounds like a plan," Nick said. "Short and simple, I like it. Remember, there aren't any good guys inside that villa. Everyone in there is a legitimate target. Anyone have something to add?"

No one did.

He reached up to scratch his ear. "Okay, let's do it. Weapons free."

Kalicklickclick.

Four safeties came off as one.

They slipped through the opening in the hedge and sprinted for the back of the villa. They reached the end of the house with no sign of alarm. The tractor they'd seen in the satellite photo was parked behind the villa, between the house and the building with the wine press. There was a window high up on the wall of the building and a door directly opposite the villa. The door was partly open. Dim light showed through the opening.

"Better check that out first," Ronnie said.

They moved to the open door. Ronnie took a quick look.

"I don't see anyone. Take my six."

He stepped inside the building, Nick behind him.

The interior was a large, open space. A single bulb hung from the ceiling. There was a small office to the right and several tables. Massive hand-hewn beams of dark wood supported the roof. They looked as though they'd been there a long time. A large wooden tank stood near a set of high double doors at the far end that opened onto the vineyard beyond. Rows of wine barrels stacked two high and six across ran along both sides of the room. A main aisle went down the middle, with narrow aisles branching off between the barrels. There was no one there.

They went back outside. A heavy wooden door marked the rear entrance. Ronnie went to it and tried the handle. It clicked open. He raised his eyebrows and looked at Nick.

"Open it up and toss in a grenade," Nick said. His voice was quiet over the radio link.

Ronnie pulled open the door with a quick movement, ducked behind it and threw in a flash bang. He followed it up with another.

They looked away and covered their ears. The grenades went off with a deafening blast. The ground vibrated under their feet. Inside the house, someone screamed. Someone began firing. A stream of tracers poured through the open door.

"Up there," Selena yelled.

A man leaned out of a window and began firing at them with an automatic rifle, sending spurts of dirt from the ground at Selena's feet. She shot him. The rifle flew from his hand and he fell back out of sight.

A dark object came out of the house and landed between Lamont and Selena.

Lamont reached down, grabbed the grenade and hurled it away. He threw himself against Selena and took them both to the ground. Nick and Ronnie hit the dirt. The grenade detonated and sent a rain of dirt and rock over them.

Ronnie pulled a fragmentation grenade from his belt and threw it into the hallway beyond the open door. The explosion ripped through the night. More screams came from the house. Smoke billowed out of the opening.

The gunfire from the villa became constant, a steady ripping sound that sent hundreds of rounds toward them. Men began firing from windows on the second floor.

The house was a death trap. They kept firing and retreated behind the tractor. Bullets hammered into the metal with sharp, ringing sounds. It was poor shelter. They were too exposed.

"Into the winery," Nick yelled. "Lay down covering fire."

It was a short distance away. They ran for the open door, firing as they went. Lamont yelled and went down, his leg shot out from under him.

Selena let go with a long burst at the house as Nick and Ronnie grabbed Lamont and dragged him past her into the building. The bolt on her MP-5 locked open as she backed into the winery. Nick slammed the door shut behind her. Bullets thudded into the thick wood. Selena dropped the empty magazine and reloaded.

Ronnie was bent over Lamont, tying a makeshift bandage around a ragged wound on his lower leg.

"How bad?" he asked.

Lamont spoke between gritted teeth. Beads of sweat covered his forehead "I think the bone's broken. Hurts like a bastard."

"You want morphine?"

"Nah. Maybe later. After we get out of this."

"Now what?" Selena said.

Nick looked around.

"They'll be through that door pretty quick. They have to come in after us. Lamont, can you handle your rifle?"

"No problem. I just can't stand."

"Ronnie, you help Lamont and set him up to cover the door. Get behind those barrels over there. You take the other side. How's your ammo?"

"Still got plenty."

"I'm good," Lamont said.

"Selena, you take the same side as Lamont. I'm going to make sure they can't get through those doors in the back."

He turned and ran to the rear of the building. The big doors were closed but there was nothing to keep them from being pulled open. There were heavy U-shaped brackets on the doors. A long, heavy plank stood upright nearby. Nick lifted the plank and dropped it into the brackets. The doors were safe for the moment.

He moved to where Selena crouched behind one of the wine barrels. Something heavy slammed into the door they'd come through. It splintered and flew open.

Two men came through the broken door, rolled to the sides and came up firing. Covering fire came from outside. Bullets smashed into the rows of wine barrels, punching through the oak. Red streams of wine fountained out onto the floor.

Lamont leaned on a barrel, firing around it. Ronnie was on the other side. Everyone was shooting at once. The building filled with the sound of the guns.

Selena was caught up in the adrenaline high of the firefight. Almost as if something had taken control of her body, she moved out and shot one of the men who'd burst into the building. She felt like she'd stepped into a different dimension of time. Everything seemed to move in slow motion, except for her. She watched the second man start to turn his weapon toward her, his movements like a stylized ballet. She fired, felt the steady recoil in her wrists and arms. She watched the bullets stitch across his chest and drive him to the ground.

She ran toward the doorway. She felt powerful, invincible. She dropped a magazine and inserted another on the run.

"Shit!" Nick yelled. "Ronnie, go!"

Selena ran past the tractor, weaving and bobbing as fire from the house tried to bring her down. She ran through the open door toward a light at the end of a hallway. Someone came out of a room on the side, silhouetted against the light. She cut him down.

She reached the front room. Several men stared at her in surprise. Someone raised his weapon and fired. The rounds went past her with an eerie, whining sound. Her bullets took him in the chest and blew him backwards. She swung her MP-5 in a slow arc around the room, firing until the bolt locked back. She ejected the empty magazine and reached for another.

A man stood in the far corner aiming his rifle at her. Time speeded up again. Selena froze.

This is it, she thought. She fumbled with the magazine and waited for the impact.

Shots sounded behind her and the man spun and collapsed. Ronnie came up beside her.

"You all right?"

"I'm fine," she said. "Thanks."

"You're welcome."

Nick came up to her. He looked angry. "That was a damn stupid thing to do. What the hell is the matter with you?"

"Nick," Ronnie said. He put his hand on Nick's arm.

"It's all right, Ronnie," Selena said. "If he wants to be an asshole that's his problem."

"I count four dead bandits in here," Ronnie said. "Plus the ones we came through."

He walked over to one of the bodies.

"These guys look like mercenaries," he said. "The targets were never here. It was a setup."

"Gutenberg found out we were listening," Nick said.

"We made a lot of noise," Ronnie said. "We should get out of here."

"Then we'd better make it quick," Nick said. "Go get the van and bring it here. Selena and I will get Lamont."

"Copy that," Ronnie said. He went out the front door of the villa.

Nick said to Selena, "Why did you go in there like that?"

"It needed to be done."

"You got carried away, didn't you?"

She thought back on the feeling that had driven her out into the open. She'd felt fearless, as though she were an unstoppable force.

"I knew I wouldn't get hit," she said. "I wasn't thinking about it, it was a feeling and I went with it."

"You were in the zone."

"Yes."

"You almost got killed."

"Nothing new about that. I guess I'm finally getting used to it."

"I've been where you are," Nick said. "It's not good when you start thinking nothing can touch you. That's when you take risks. That's when you get hurt or killed."

"But I didn't, did I? Get hurt or killed."

"Not this time. Try to hear what I'm saying. You showed a lot of courage back there and I respect that. Hell, if we were in the service you'd get a medal. But most of the heroes I know are dead. I don't want you to be one of them."

Selena heard something in his voice that made her listen. At first she'd been angry because he'd seemed to criticize her. In hindsight, she saw it wasn't like that.

He's angry because he cares for me. He was afraid for me. That's different. Besides, maybe he's right.

She really didn't know why she'd jumped up and gone after those people like that. She hadn't thought about it. She'd just done it.

"It wasn't something I planned," she said.

Nick sighed. "I know, and that's what scares me. Acting without thinking can save your life but you have to watch out for believing you're invincible."

"I hear you. I'll think about it."

"That's good enough for me. Let's go find Lamont."

Lamont had gotten himself to the door. He was propped against a table, holding his rifle like a crutch and standing on his good leg. Blood stained the bandage Ronnie had wrapped around the wound.

"Figured it was cool when the shooting stopped," Lamont said.

His voice was strained. His coffee colored skin was pale.

"Take his good side," Nick said.

Selena took Lamont's MP-5 and slung it, then draped his right arm around her shoulders. Nick took Lamont's left. They moved out of the wine building toward the front of the villa. Selena heard the van coming up the gravel drive. In a moment Ronnie drove into the front yard.

Ronnie and Nick helped Lamont into the back of the van and laid him down.

"Ahh, watch the leg."

"We have to get out of our gear and back into civvies," Nick said. "Ronnie, let's get Lamont fixed up. We can't be seen like this."

In a few minutes they were changed into street clothes.

"Lamont, you want that morphine now?" Ronnie asked.

"Yeah. Send me to cloud land."

Ronnie took a morphine syrette from the first aid pack.

"Selena, you drive," Nick said.

"Where are we going?"

"Back to the plane."

"What about Lamont? He needs a hospital."

"We can't go to a hospital. How are we going to explain that wound? We have to get him back home. The bleeding is under control. We've got plasma on the plane and antibiotics. We'll splint his leg for now. Once we're in the air, it's only five or six hours. He'll be okay for that long. I'll call Harker and tell her to have an ambulance waiting."

"He's right, Selena," Lamont said. His voice was weak. "I'll be fine. Get us out of here."

An hour later they reached the airport. Nick had called ahead for the pilot to get the plane ready. A bored customs official took a casual look at their diplomatic papers and waved them through the gate to the private terminal where the Gulfstream waited.

Ten minutes later, they were in the air.