He texted back.
Chase: Go
A loud explosion erupted.
Trevor bent and cupped his hands.
Chase stepped into them and reached for the top of the wall.He dragged himself up to the top and lay low until he was sure all was clear.The guard on the roof had moved to the rear of the building to check out what had caused the explosion.
Chase reached down, grabbed Trevor’s hand and helped him scale the wall.Once they were both on top, Chase slipped over the side and dropped to the ground.
Men shouted nearby.
Chase focused on his main goal—find Alana.“Go help Carson and Gina secure the gate.I’ll look for Alana.”
“You need someone on your six.”
“I can move better alone,” Chase said.“And they need the help.The sooner Hank and his guys get inside, the better off we’ll be.”
Trevor nodded.“On it.”He ducked into the shadows and moved around the side of the house toward the front.
Alone, Chase tried to think like Delgado.If he had Alana here, where would he keep her?Chase was about to slip in through some French doors when his cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
He dug it out, hid in the shadow of a bush, cupped his hand around the glowing screen and read the message.His breath caught in his throat, and his heart skipped several beats.The message was from Trevor.
Trevor: She’s out front
His gut instinct was to run around to where Trevor was and confront whoever had Alana.Thankfully, reason followed close behind instinct, giving him pause.If Alana was out front, someone held her prisoner or at gunpoint.He could do nothing to help her if they shot her in front of him.Delgado would know this and demand he throw down his weapons and give himself up.
Chase squelched his urge to confront Delgado and entered the house through the French doors.He hurried through what appeared to be a study with bookshelves lining the walls.As he came to the front foyer, he spied a man carrying a submachine gun heading up a staircase.Chase watched as he cleared the landing above and ran to the end of what sounded like a hallway.Based on the pounding of footsteps, the man raced up more steps.
Chase checked all directions and then ran up the staircase to the second floor.He turned the direction the other man had gone and found another set of steps at the end of a hallway.These steps were narrower and appeared to lead to the roof.
Easing up the steps, he rose to the top of the building where the roof had been turned into a patio.Two men stood looking over the edge of the stucco wall down to the ground in front of the house.
Chase emerged onto the patio and crept forward, one quiet step at a time.
Shouts from below captured the guards’ attention and held it.
Walking stealthily, Chase closed the distance between him and the two men.When he reached them, he grabbed both of their heads and smashed them together as hard as he could.Neither man saw him coming and, apparently, hadn’t expected to be attacked on the rooftop.Too stunned to fire, they staggered.One fell to his knees and toppled over.The other reeled and lifted his weapon.Before he could fire, Chase hit him in the side of his head with the butt of his weapon.
The second man dropped to the ground, out cold.
Chase peered over the side of the patio to the front of the house, where Raul Delgado stood in the light shining out from the front entrance.He held Alana in a headlock, a handgun pointed at her temple.Four of his men stood around him, weapons at the ready.
Beyond the front of the house, the driveway curved through manicured gardens to the gate, not visible from where Delgado stood.The delivery truck sat in the gateway with no guards in sight.
Shadows slipped along the inside wall of the compound.
Hope stirred inside Chase.
Hank and his team had arrived and breached the compound's walls.
Chase hoped they weren’t too late to keep Delgado from killing Alana.His jaw set in a firm line, he balanced his rifle on the edge of the patio wall and aimed at Delgado’s head.The man was far too close to Alana.If Chase got a clear shot, he’d take it.However, with Delgado’s other men lined up around him, he might only have time to kill Delgado.The others could turn their weapons on Alana and take her down before Chase or the rest of the team could do anything about it.
Delgado spoke to his men in short, clipped tones.All but two of them turned outward, and the others moved closer to Delgado, using their bodies as shields to protect their boss.
One of the two men at Chase’s feet stirred.Chase slammed the butt of his weapon onto the man’s head and returned his attention to the drama unfolding in front of him.
