Prologue
“Move to secure the hostages, I’m going back for the girl.”
“That’s a negative, Captain K. Secure the HVT and move to exfil now.”
Reid could hear his commander loud and clear but as he looked at the burning building he couldn’t just walk away and let a young girl with her entire life ahead of her die of smoke asphyxiation. He turned to his teammate Holler, who was looking at him and waiting for the order.
As team leader it was his job to secure his men’s safety and the safest option was to secure the HVT and get out of there. But with his sisters Nessa and Tori in his mind, he couldn’t walk away as a child died.
“Secure the HVT and head for the exfil.” He turned to Skinner. “You’re with me. I’m not leaving that girl to die.”
His teammate nodded and they took off towards the burning building, their bodies low as the sounds of gunfire from down the street hit their ears.
It should have been an easy mission, but the intelligence they had was off. The terrorists had hit the building before they could get Senator Reece and his family out. The objective had been to secure the Senator first. His bill for new legislation regarding the unification of gun control throughout the States was high profile and was receiving a mixed response.
He personally didn’t give a fuck. He just wanted to do his job and although technically the first objective was to secure him and his family, when the building had blown his orders were changed to secure Reece and exfil.
He’d thought the girl had been off site, had been assured she was off site, but the Senator had been screaming for his daughter as they dragged him out the building. The soul deep desperation as he begged them to save her had been something Reid couldn’t and wouldn’t walk away from.
Now, as they entered and made their way over the burning beam that hung down from the floor above, he knew it was likely not all of them would be walking out of this building alive.
He turned to Skinner who was wearing the same expression. “You can…”
“Shut your Southern trap. I ain’t going nowhere.”
Skinner was a damn good agent. Loyal and a brilliant tactician. Reid nodded and moved forward, ascending the stairs. He rounded the first set of stairs in the grand old building, his visibility decreased as the smoke thickened.
With eight bedrooms, the place was like a maze in the daylight, but at night with smoke and fire, not to mention the added threat of two armed terrorists still at large, it was a fucking quagmire of shit.
With his Heckler and Koch HK416 at his shoulder, Reid advanced down the second-floor landing to where the bedrooms were located. A wall of fire blocked his path as smoke burned his throat. “We need to find another way.”
Skinner nodded and they back tracked into one of the first rooms at the top of the stairs to see if they could move through the rooms. He knew from the plans that the office to their left had a balcony. If they could get past that he had a chance of getting in through the window.
“Captain K, this is Tack. Please be advised that the HVT is secure. We have more heat headed our way and our window for exfil is closing.”
“Good copy. We’re closing in on the target now.”
“Good copy. Tack out.”
Reid knew his boss was pissed but he also knew he was a good man. The balcony, as he expected, gave them access to the daughter’s bedroom window. He and Skinner made their way over the ledge as another explosion inside rocked the building causing him to lose his footing on the ledge and have to grab for the windowsill. Using all his strength, he hauled himself up and used the butt of his gun to smash through the glass.
Pulling himself up and through, he hit the ground and rose to see one of the men they’d been searching for standing over the form of the half-naked teen, his pants around his knees as he attempted to rape her.
Time stood still as he took in the scene, and watched the man grab for his gun. Reid reacted and fired, unflinching as the man fell dead on top of the girl he’d been about to rape. Over his feed he heard Skinner curse as he came through the window.
He ignored his teammate as he approached the girl and dragged the dead man off her prone body. Relief hit him as he saw the man hadn’t accomplished his heinous and depraved mission. He caught the terrified look in her eyes and held his hand up, as if calming a skittish animal.
Her wild eyes went between him and Skinner.
“Rachel, my name is Special Agent Reid. We’re with the FBI. I need to know if you can walk?” He watched as she nodded. “Good, we’re going to have to go out the window and descend using ropes. I’m going to need to secure you to a harness. Okay?”
Again, she nodded, but this time moved to stand. He saw the blood and bruises on her face and felt his blood boil. Pushing back the anger, he moved to her and quickly secured her to a harness attached to Skinner.
“Captain K, this is Tack. Sitrep.”
“Tack, this is Captain K. We’ve secured the target and taken out one of the tangos.”
“Good copy. Please move to exfil. Helo is five mikes out.”
“Good copy, Tack. Captain K out.”
The room was filling with smoke now, the roar of fire beneath them loud in his ears. Sweat poured from his body as the heat increased around them.
Skinner moved out first and Reid instructed Rachel to swing her leg over the edge. The girl followed his lead as Reid began to cough on the smoke.
“Go, I’m right behind you.”
Skinner nodded and began the climb down with the girl. Reid was about to swing his leg over when the floor beneath him gave way and he found himself falling through the ceiling of the large dining room.
The oak dining table broke his fall. The landing stole the breath from him. He felt a rib crack, sharp pain lanced through him as ash and fiery debris rained down. Rolling off the table he fell to the floor as the fire around him burned everything in sight. Glass smashing from the heat gave him a vague idea where the window might be.
Limping, he moved in that direction and he felt someone plough into his body, knocking him to the floor. Twisting, he fought with the man on top of him. His attacker tightened his forearm around his throat in choke hold. Spots danced in front of his eyes, a combination of lack of air in the room and the tight hold around his throat. He knew he needed to get free and fast.
Sliding his left arm up inside the choke hold, he pushed his attacker’s face to the side and with his right arm locked his hands and applied quick pressure, making the tango release his hold. Rolling, Reid hit the man with a one-two punch, but the smoke was getting to him now and his strength dissipated.
He needed to end this fight quickly but couldn’t get to his gun. Applying the same choke hold the attacker had used on him, he used the last of his strength to choke the man out. He fell back on the ground as he heard voices from the window. As his vision began to blur, he saw Clayton East’s face, his oldest friend and FBI Medic.
“Always getting yourself into shit and needing me to come save your, ass,” he said with a grin as he lifted Reid and half dragged, half carried him to the window before pushing him into Holler’s waiting arms.
As soon as the cold air, fresh air hit his lungs he began to cough, hacking up the smoke from his lungs. “The girl?” he asked in between bouts of coughing.