Chapter 9
The sound of my phone vibrating against the wooden end table woke me up. I picked it up and stared at the phone clock wondering who was calling me at 2.30 in the morning for a good few seconds until my brain woke up and realised it was Nora, the CIA director.
Sliding accept, I put the phone to my ear and yawned, "Yes."
"Took you long enough." Nora huffed back; it was clear she too was woken up not too long ago.
"Richard just broke. We got their base of operations and names of his associates tasked with bringing you down. It's a townhouse in Farbanti."
This was good news, but not urgent news. Unless...
"You want to move in right now? shouldn't we get someone to check it out first?"
"Yes. Richard has already missed his check-in. We fear they might go underground we if wait any longer. We have a blueprint of the house and are confident we can pull it off."
I was silent for a second, the scenarios of what could happen flashed through my head as I debated the pros and cons of approving the mission internally.
"What assets do we have in the area?"
"Task Force 141 got a team assisting SAD in the city."
"… sigh... I'm trusting you on this. You got the green light for the operation. I want the people responsible taken out."
====================
Six men stalked the dark alleyway, MP5SDs in hand. There were no streetlamps here, necessitating the use of night vision goggles. The green glow from their GPNVG—18 gave the men of the Special Activities Division an otherworldly look.
A trait they have used to their advantage when it comes to intimidating their targets.
<<Bravo-Six. Moving on the rear garden.>>
Price whispered into his radio, unlatching the wooden gate leading to a townhouse
<<It's a quiet night Six. Keep it that way.>>
The lady at the opposite end of the radio calmly said.
<<No promises Kingfish.>>
The men walked quickly but quietly into the garden, stopping briefly by the basement door as they split into two teams. Soap would lead a group of four into the basement while Gaz and Price would clear the first and second floor, or at least until Soap's team finished clearing the basement.
The two of them climbed up the collapsible ladder Gaz had brought along for the mission, clamped to the kitchen window still.
The kitchen was empty, but down the corridor, the light in the dining room was on, and voices could be heard coming from it.
"Taking the Front room." Price whispered, walking into the room, gun raised, squeezing off three shots one by one. The sound of the gun cycling each round, abruptly cutting off the chattering of the occupants inside, letting the silence take over.
Price
<<Front room Secured.>>
Gaz kept his position by the living room door, gun trained on the front door and the stairs, waiting for Price to join him.
*Thump thump thump
Someone was running down the stairs, Gaz's head snapped to towards the stairs, the lit dining room was causing his NVGs to bloom, distorting his vision. But he saw a figure running down the stairs.
Instinctively, he took the shot squeezing-off, a burst of three 9mm sub-sonic rounds, causing the figure to stumble and hit its head against the wall with a rather loud crash.
Gaz
<<X-ray down>>
Stepping over the body, the two crept up the stairs, the beams of light from their laser sights shone a bright green on their NVGs, dancing around the door as they walked up, ready for any surprises.
Price
<<Bravo-Six moving to the second floor.>>
Price took one side of the door, with Gaz taking the other closer to the door handle. They looked at each other, and Price gave the nod, raising his MP5.
Slowly, Gaz reached for the door handle, pushing it down slightly, the wooden creaking as it swung open.
Price took point, entering first. His eyes scanning every centimetre of the room.
Empty.
They checked the other room. Empty again, just a bed and a cupboard with some clothes.
Soap
<<Alpha-Three, basement secured.>>
Price
<<Bravo-Six, townhouse secured, commence SSE (sensitive site exploitation) take photos of any X-rays for identification later.>>
Since the second floor was empty, Gaz and Price went downstairs, with Price heading straight back to the living room.
Gaz stayed by the stairs, pulling out his phone to take a picture of the person he just killed. He tried not to think about it, having to take a picture of the person he just killed.
*Beep. Click.
The camera flashed, revealing the face of the figure. A swirling feeling appeared in Gaz's stomach as he stared at the picture.
"Fuck. Fuck!" he threw his phone onto the floor as he backed away.
"I did not just do that."
"What's wrong son?" Price asked, walking up to Gaz.
"A kid. I just a shot a kid."
===========================
(the next day)
"What is the meaning of this?" I hissed; I was tempted to throw the file in my hands at the woman sitting across from me, but I restrained myself. Showing my anger through my tone.
"We suspect the house is being used as a dead drop or a decoy, hell, Richard might have lied to us. The real headquarters is somewhere else. Whatever it is; it has been taken care off. We burnt the house."
"Anyone saw our men?"
"unlikely. It was the middle of the night, and our men made no noise what so ever."
"How's Kyle. The report said he was the one who shot the girl."
"The entire team has been recalled back home for a Psy eval."
"Good." I nodded. "This operation never happened, you hear? The CIA was never there." I slid the file back to Nora, who glanced at before taking it, stuffing into her briefcase.
"What operation?"
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