~Chapter 22~

The road wound up once and went on a couple miles before turning back on itself, going on for another few miles, and then turning onto the last four or five mile length of road leading up to the Villa’s parking garage.
As she entered the last stretch, Lexy sped up and built up speed until, nearing 110mph, she smashed through the red-and-white striped barrier and screeched into the parking garage. She pulled the wheel hard to the left and, slamming the breaks, brought the Blazer to a screeching halt less than twenty feet from the entrance to the Security Booth.
Scarlet and Lexy had put metal plating up on the outside of the windows, allowing them to roll the windows down part way and aim their machine guns through the open slit.
Scarlet put the barrel of her MP5K through the slit and, backed up by the rapid series of shots from Lexy in the front, opened up on the guards in the booth.
Josh opened the door on the opposite side of the vehicle and got out with Sniper and Wraith. He moved to the rear of the vehicle and shot from around the back while Wraith added his own fire from over the hood.
Max moved back farther into the garage and found cover behind the first parked car he came too. Flipping down the bipod and resting it on the hood of the small Honda Accord, he sighted his first target and added the loud crack of the AWM to the cacophony.
Nathan, meanwhile, was feeding the first bandolier into the M240. Pulling back the bolt and chambering the first bullet, Nathan turned its 7.62mm rounds on the security booth.
The large window shattered and the computer monitors and equipment on the table inside exploded in a shower of plastic and sparks.
Of the six guards in the booth, two had fallen the moment Scarlet and Lexy had opened fire. Another went down after taking a bullet from Wraith’s MP5K.
A guard poked his head up over the shattered window ledge and he immediately disappeared in a shower of blood and cranial fragments.
From behind the car he was stationed behind, Max Caldwell smiled coldly.
Josh looked over at Wraith and made a motion with his hand.
Wraith nodded and, pulling a small egg-shaped object off the back of his belt, ran forward in a crouch to the door of the security booth. Pulling the pin, the black-haired Informer bounced the grenade into the booth.
The flash of the grenade forced the last two guards out of hiding where they were quickly picked off by Max and Josh.
Wraith brought his machine gun up and trained it on the bridge entrance leading to the main Villa. A few random bursts from the MP5 kept the guards gathering at the end of the bridge from advancing.
Max snapped the bipod back up against the stock his rifle and, reaching down to the ground, policed his shells. The mercenary was a careful soldier, never leaving any sign of his presence besides carnage and dead bodies.
Inside the Blazer, Emma slapped the magazine onto the top of her P90 and, taking a deep breath and with her gun at the ready, got out of the car. She approached Wraith and stopped just behind him, waiting for the others to catch up.
Nathan and Scarlet got out of the back of the Blazer and moved forward to flank Wraith, weapons at the ready.
Behind them, Josh and Lexy approached and Josh moved up to stand by Wraith.
“You ready?”
Wraith nodded, “Team 2, form up! Nathan take rear. Emma, stay with Lexy.”
Josh nodded to Sniper and Scarlet.
Sniper ejected the cartridge from his rifle and, loading a single bullet into the chamber, slid home a fresh cartridge. He then took up his position between Josh and Scarlet, who was guarding their flank.
Josh and Wraith each drew grenades from their utility belts and, trading glances, rolled them down the bridge to where James’ security was hiding. They took off on a run just on the heels of their grenades, guns up and at the ready.
Josh tracked a movement at the end of the bridge and dropped a guard with a short burst of 9mm rounds.
“COVER!!!”
At Wraith’s shout they all dropped and turned their faces away as the grenades exploded with a tremendous roar and brilliant flash.
The hidden guards panicked and fell over themselves in their sudden blindness. The flash-bang grenades took away their vision and deafened them to the approach of the Taske team.
They had almost reached the end of the bridge when Josh and Wraith dropped to one knee and opened fire on the soldiers. Emma and Lexy came up just behind them and took their places in the center of the bridge. Nathan and Scarlet took stances on either side of the women and the four of them added their fire to Josh and Wraith’s.
Sniper remained behind them, his AWM slung over his shoulder and two .45 Ruger P345 pistols in either hand. The slime, sleek pistols had a precise dovetailed, three-dot sight system that gave the mercenary the increased accuracy someone with Max’s specialty needed.
“Go!”
The gunfire stopped and Josh and Wraith rose and forged ahead. A guard appeared out of nowhere and raised his H&K to level it at Josh’s head.
Josh literally felt the bullet go by his head as Max raised one of the Ruger’s and, with an almost inhuman calmness and accuracy, put a bullet in the guard’s head.
Josh looked back and nodded gratefully to the marksman. He and Wraith then exchanged glances and, on a silent three-count, each put a burst of gunfire into the lock of the Villa’s front door.
There was no official entry way, it opened straight into the living area where about twenty or so guards were waiting.
“SREAD OUT!”
The team broke up and began to spread out into the room, firing as they went.
Emma held the trigger of her P90 down and strafed the guards as a loud, piercing scream filler her ears. It took her a moment to realize the scream was her own.
The one-time secretary was holding her own remarkably well, but it was Josh Taske that really shone. The old-school warrior had depleted the clip in his MP5 and, instead of reloading, he had opted to draw the twin Desert Eagles he carried in the sling-holsters on his hips.
The two .357 Magnum pistols roared in unison as the Taske heir picked his targets and dropped every one. Only Max and Wraith came even close to the man’s innate accuracy.
Nathan was a different kind of monster all together. The haggard soldier held the MP5 in one hand, his .45 Colt in the other. When his Colt ran out he holstered it and switched solely to his MP5.
The floor was covered in spent shells by the time the last guard fell. The Team spent a moment to load fresh clips and Josh reloaded and holstered his Eagles.
Wraith and Josh checked in with each other before going their separate ways.
“You guys good?”
Wraith nodded, “There are more guards around the corner. We will clean them out and move along as planned.”
Josh nodded and the two clasped arms.
“Good luck, Sharktooth.”
Josh nodded, “You two.”
They broke up and Josh beckoned to his fire team.
“Okay, let’s go.”
Scarlet and Sniper took up their positions as before behind Josh and the three of them headed to straight ahead and left into the dining room area.
Wraith and his team moved ahead and broke right. As Wraith predicted, more of James’ security was lying in wait around the corner behind the couches and by the enormous fireplace.
Nathan moved around the pool table and knelt to fire over the back of one of the three leather couches. He was able to drop one of the seven or so guards with his first burst of fire.
Wraith stood behind the pool table, using his hyper-active brain to detect guns being trained on him in order to avoid the gunfire.
Emma and Lexy took positions on either side of Nathan, using the couch for cover. They found they had a certain rhythm, one covering the other and keeping the fire off the other.
Wraith dropped the last one and the room was silent for a moment.
“Reload, prepare for next wave.”
Nathan looked up from loading his weapon.
“Damn, Wraith, you sound like a frickin’ video game narrator. ‘Ah don’t think we need the play-by-play.”
Emma looked a bit sheepish as she looked up from her reloading.
“Um… remember, new girl here? I think he is doing it mainly for my benefit.”
Nathan snorted, “Yeah, unless this whole fire team commander thing has gone to his head.”
Lexy suddenly raised her rifle and screamed at the top of her lungs, “WRAITH! DOWN!”
Wraith’s reflexes were what saved him. He dropped just as a bullet carved a tunnel through the air where his head used to be.
The gunman had been hiding behind them and to their left, behind a large circular Vegas-style poker table. The gun he held Wraith automatically identified as .40 caliber Sig Sauer P229, 12-round magazine with short recoil/double action and high-contrast sights. A favorite of the FBI and DEA, the P229 was a well-made little weapon.
The bullet intended for Wraith went over his head and barely missed Lexy. The woman raised her weapon and, barely bothering to use the gun’s sights, put a three-round burst in the man’s chest.
Emma watched in shock as the man dropped like a stone. She glanced over at Nathan, “Um… one thing no one told me about these operations…”
Nathan glanced at her momentarily before going back to scanning the room.
“What’s that, Hon?”
“What do you do one of these missions when you need to use the toilet?”
Nathan stared at her for a moment before a slow smile spread across his face.
“Damn, girl, you are getting the hang of things!”
Emma smiled sweetly at him and pulled back the bolt of her machine gun, chambering the first round of a new clip.
Wraith motioned for them to move up past where the poker table sat. Past the table, down a short hallway was the entrance to the kitchen.
Nathan crept down the hallway and took up position against the wall next to the door.
Wraith moved passed him to the opposite side of the door and, pulling his second-to-last grenade, tossed it into the large, commercial-grade kitchen.
The resulting explosion was followed by the screams of more guards.
Nathan and Wraith turned the corner and opened fire on the deaf and blind security guards, dropping three of them with their first few shots.
Lexy kept her gun at the ready and watched their backs, keeping an eye on the bridge leading from the central complex to what Wraith had told them was James’ personal quarters.
Emma came to stand between Nathan and Wraith, adding her P90’s fire to theirs.
With the initial opposition eliminated, Emma and Lexy moved in and began sweeping the kitchen for more guards.
Wraith followed close behind, quickly dispatching a guard that poked his head out from around the corner of the fridge. He then motioned for Nathan to check the large walk-in freezer.
Nathan looked in through the already opened freezer door, seeing hanging rows of cold cuts and shelves of frozen goods.
“Damn… I hate freezers…”