Page 67 of No Fear

“OK. If you trust him, that’s good enough for me. Do it.”

Chapter Eleven

“Let’s move.” Dex’s command was quiet in Donnie’s ear. About fucking time. Two weeks they’d been roughing it, watching and waiting to get a confirmed sighting of the Aziz brothers. They had seen and identified known Reborn soldiers, but they had been beginning to think the intel was shit and the brothers weren’t here.

The latest intel had led them to this house at the edge of a small village, and for the past forty-eight hours they had been surveilling it. The house was close to the mountains and rough terrain, where they currently hid.

Finally, Hakim Aziz had made the grave mistake of looking out a window for a few seconds. Long enough for Donnie to snap a shot and confirm his identity. Women and children were also in the house, so a ground assault was necessary to avoid innocent casualties. They’d seen that with other HVTs in this region. They surround themselves with women and children, so a drone would not drop a bomb on the place.

Despite not seeing Omar Aziz, the op was a go. If Hakim was in there, there was a good chance Omar was, too. A little after 0200, with the half-moon providing the only light, Raven and Nyx, night vision goggles in place, approached from either side. Slow and steady. Who knew what precautions the brothers had taken.

Donnie followed Steve as they approached the rear of the house. The structure was concrete. The windows had been blocked by carpets, common in this area at the base of the mountains. A beat-up truck was parked outside and the remnants of a fire burned near a couple of chairs. Crouched low, they waited for Dex’s command.

Raven were taking the house while Nyx secured the perimeter, making sure no one else got nosy and came looking. Execute the targets, get confirmation, then disappear quickly and quietly into the night. Easy day.

“Nyx in position. All clear.” Liam’s voice came through coms.

Five seconds later, Dex’s familiar calm tone sprang them into action.

“Execute.”

Donnie entered the house through the rear. Years of training allowed them to move like ghosts. Carefully checking for wires and booby traps, they cleared the first two rooms.

Hearing shouts across the hall, Donnie focused on his own task, confident his teammates were handling their business.

Entering the third room, he and Steve found three people asleep on mattresses on the floor. One stirred, a woman. She opened her mouth to scream. Gun raised, Donnie placed a finger to his lips. Eyes wide, the woman moved to the other mattress and gathered two children to her, watching him with wary eyes. Not a threat. He and Steve moved on.

Gunshots echoed.

“Two tangos down. The house is awake now,” Ryan said on coms.

Steve and Donnie moved on. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Dex and Ryan were to Donnie’s left, Tyler and Mackie to his right. He led the way upstairs, knowing Steve, Dex, and Ryan were behind him. Tyler and Mackie would maintain the ground floor. Movement to his right. The outline of an AK47. He fired without hesitation. The body slumped to the floor. Steve moved to ID.

“Tango down.” But not their target.

Only a couple more rooms remained left to clear and now, whoever was in them knew they were coming.

Donnie and Steve flanked one door and Dex and Ryan sized up the other. On Dex’s signal, they swept into the rooms. Donnie took in a man the correct size and build of one of their targets. His hand gripped the shoulder of a young boy in front of him. At the same time, Donnie saw the man’s packed vest and the detonator in his hand.

Jesus Christ. Donnie fired. Kill shot between the eyes. The man’s hand dropped and Steve grabbed the detonator before it hit the ground.

Lifting his NVGs, Donnie took his torch and illuminated the dead man’s face. Damn. Not their target.

“Tango down. Vests on target. Repeat. Vests on target.” Donnie alerted the rest of the team, not knowing what was happening in the next room with Dex and Ryan. No one had mentioned vests in their intel. No one had mentioned women and children being in the building either. Steve was disconnecting the vest as the boy looked on, terrified. The poor kid looked about seven and had probably seen more death in those few years than most people saw in their lives.

Dex’s voice came through coms. “No sign of HVTs. Nyx, do you have eyes?”

Donnie watched as Steve took the boy’s hand and led him downstairs to where the women and children had been placed in the one room. Dex and Ryan joined him as Liam responded.

“Raven 1, no one has left through the doors. Base, any movement on ISR?”

“Nothing.” Kelly confirmed. “But two vehicles have mobilized to your south.”

“We need to move,” Liam said.

Donnie glanced over at Dex. “Tunnels?” Daram was known for them.

“Anyone see any?”