“Confirmation of the prisoner?” Noble paused, waiting for the answer. Everything on this job hinged on the fact Joe McCarthy wasn’t dead yet.
“They have one with a hood, but no way to ID him.”
“Copy that, Ambra One.” Noble told him. “We move on your order.”
Waiting was painful. Christ, why couldn’t shit move fast like it did on TV shows? Cut to the next scene and there you go, action and all that jazz.
“Tangos have made contact.”Zenko informed them.“I have eyes on the target, physical visual ID.”
“Copy.”
“They are opening the truck. I can’t see the contents.”There was a pause, before Zenko muttered a soft,“Shit, go, go, go. They are testing the drones.”
Red Squadron burst into action. Moving as one, they approached the meet site they would ambush.
“Eagle, we have company,”Zenko warned in their ears as they moved.“Multiple armed males on the ridge, directly west of your position.”
Fucking fabulous, they could already see more fighters appear on the ridge ahead of them.
“We have five more fighters directly ahead of you.”
“Copy that,” Noble replied. “We see them.”
* * *
Rick satbehind the wheel of the truck. As much as he wanted to be in the thick of things, he understood why his orders were to wait here. “A glorified fucking getaway driver.”
“You say something, Pirate?” Castiel asked softly as they stood listening to the coms units tell them what was happening just out of their field of view.
“Nope. Just bitching.” Listening to Noble and his team move forward sucked. He wanted to be out there too. “Why did you call me Pirate?”
“You’re part of Black Squadron,” Castiel told him. “Plus, you got a black beard. Blackbeard was a pirate, so I’m gonna call you Pirate.”
“You watch way too much TV, man.”
“Yup.”
“Eagle, Ambra One, we just got lucky, the guards on our prisoner are watching the drones. Prisoner ducked behind the truck.”
“I got him, Ambra One.”Through Noble’s earpiece, they heard the soft sound of a grunt and a scuffle.“American, American.”The sensitive equipment picked up Noble’s words clearly.
“Ambra One, to all Stations, fall back.”
Christ, the waiting was killing him, but as he heard no sounds of shouting or gunfire, he was taking it as a good thing.
“Bravo Three, Ambra One, deploy the boom.”A minute later, a fireball lit up the sky, the boom sounding a second behind the flames.
“That’s our cue.” Castiel signaled for Rick to turn over the engine. The five minutes it took for Red Squadron and their prisoner to make it back to the trucks took forever.
“Look frosty, Pirate, here comes our boys.” Castiel warned. Gunfire and screams filtered back to the trucks. It fucking sucked waiting here, but neither dared to move.
Noble was the first to appear, he sprinted over the lip of the hill, carrying the prisoner in a fireman’s carry over his shoulder. By the time he reached the truck, the others were hot on his heels. Noble tossed Joe, the prisoner, headfirst into the truck and dived in behind him. Saxon and Drax slammed the doors shut.
“Go, go, go.”
Yeah, Rick wasn’t waiting around, he hit the gas and floored it as fast as he dared down the mountain. He slowed long enough for Zenko and Shaun to jump into Castiel’s truck, then took off again. Destination PAF Camp Badaber and their bird outta here.
“Woo hoo!” Drax slammed his hand off the dash. “Fucking awesome boom, Sax.”
