BAM!
The back door banged open, someone shouted in Arabic.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Greystone and Teddy drew their weapons as they charged toward the kitchen. In a split-second, they took in the macabre scene, and opened fire.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Three men, cloaked in black, dropped to the floor. Greystone kicked away their assault rifles while Teddy shut and bolted the back door. Both agents and the asset were down. Greystone dropped beside Sherry, felt her carotid. His heart broke for her. An innocent woman caught up in so much destruction, then mercilessly gunned down in cold blood.
Teddy knelt beside Cal. “Fuck, I don’t have a pulse.”
Greystone flicked his gaze to Cal.No, goddammit.He rushed over. “Check on her.”
Teddy hurried to the female agent while Greystone started doing CPR on Cal.
The female agent groaned. “Are they down?”
Greystone stopped doing compressions on Cal’s chest, pausing to breathe life into him. “C’mon, breathe for me.” He resumed CPR.
“Don’t give up on him,” said the female agent.
“Were you hit?” Teddy asked.
“One bullet flew past my ear,” she replied. “I was hit in the arm, but it doesn’t look bad.”
Greystone glanced over at her before pausing to breatheinto Cal. Teddy grabbed a kitchen towel and held it against the wound on her forearm. She pulled out her phone, called for help, while Greystone eyed the bloodbath.
What the fuck just happened?
He continued working on Cal until the female agent said, “He’s gone.”
Greystone pounded on Cal’s chest. “C’mon, man. Fight.Fight.”
Teddy knelt next to him. “I’ll try.”
Greystone knew it was futile. Cal was gone, but he moved away so Teddy could continue CPR. After he pulled off the monsters’ ski masks, snapped pics of them, he knelt beside Sherry. Two gunshots had pierced her chest. With gentle fingers, he closed her eyes, said a silent prayer before standing.
“So close to freedom,” Greystone muttered.
“The police are on their way,” the agent said. “You should go or you’ll be here for hours.”
“We’re not leaving you,” Greystone said.
“Help me up,” the agent insisted.
After he assisted her onto a kitchen chair, he examined her wound. “You’ll be okay, but we’re staying.”
“As the presiding officer, I’m ordering you to leave,” she said. “We didn’t know all the details of this job, only that it’s big. If you stay, your covers will be blown.”
“We’re taking the photos.” Greystone reached into Sherry’s sweater pocket and removed the pictures. “We’ll clear the area before we leave.”
The agent opened a kitchen cabinet and retrieved her gun. “I should never have let my guard down.”
Teddy stopped doing CPR on Cal, closed his eyes, and rose. Greystone glanced around at the bloodied kitchen and lifeless bodies before confirming the agent wanted them gone.
“Go,” she insisted. “Now.”
