“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yeah, give me a second to bandage it.” Kroup grabbed a roll of gauze from his IFAK and wrapped the leg, soothing Havoc with praise the entire time. When he finished, he said, “Let’s go.”
The window opened on a hinge and would be a pain in the ass to deal with. “I’m breaking it off,” I said.
The others stepped back in case the glass shattered.
“Ashley, we’re breaking the window,” I warned before slamming the butt of my rifle into the window frame and breaking the hinges. Jamie caught the frame when I tossed it back.
The small window redefined the term ‘fatal funnel’. I’d be a sitting duck the instant I put a body part through it until I had my rifle back in my hands.
“Are you alone?” I asked Ashley.
“Yes.” She nodded as she answered. Hearing the terror in her trembling voice erased any relief I felt knowing she was alone. This ends now.
“I’m going in feet first,” I said to the guys.
Ashley said she was alone, but that didn’t mean there wasn’t someone hiding that she couldn’t see. I’d take a bullet to my lower legs over a hit to my head any day of the week. “Help me up.”
Jamie and Jack stood on either side while I explained what we were doing.
“On the count of three.”
On one, I used the brothers’ shoulders to lift myself while I jumped and shoved my feet through the window. They pushed on my back and shoulders to help me get through faster.
As soon as my feet hit the floor, I brought my rifle up and scanned the room.
“Clear.”
When Ashley said “It’s a bomb” I forced myself not to respond. It wasn’t an issue. We’d leave the same way I’d come in.
Fighting the impulse to rush to Ashley, I held my rifle on the only internal door in the space. I wouldn’t risk her life, their lives, by not clearing all the rooms first. And for that, I needed my team.
Chapter 52
Ashley
Thud! Nathan landed. Then silence, until he yelled, “Clear.”
Thank you God.
“There’s a bomb,” I warned him, but he didn’t respond.
Two more people entered, then I heard Havoc yelp.I remember his name. Another thud echoed as someone else came in through the window.
“Clear the bedroom,” Nathan said.
“On it.” That was Jamie’s voice.
“Jamie?”
He didn’t answer.
I turned to see Jack with him.
“All clear,” Jamie said, exiting the room.
“There’s a bomb,” I said again.
