~Chapter 23~

Meanwhile, Josh’s team had moved up, through the raised dining room area and into the library. As they entered the library, Sniper raised his pistols and fired two shots.
The shots zinged past both of Josh’s ears and caused the two guards approaching from either direction to fall back with small gushing holes in their chests.
Josh looked back at the marksman who shrugged noncommittally.
“Sorry.”
Josh nodded uncertainly, “Um… yeah… how about you go first.”
Max spun the guns around in a classic western move and grinned widely.
“Whatever you say.”
Josh rolled his eyes, “I say keep moving.”
Nodding once, the sharpshooter turned and entered the library, Rugers at the ready.
Josh and Scarlet entered behind him, MP5’s at the ready.
Blue-uniformed movement to their left caused both Max and Josh to react and fire in unison. One of James’ men dropped, one bullet in his head, one in his heart.
Josh and Max exchanged glances.
“Did you make the head-shot or did eye?”
Shrugging, the two of them moved on, each dropping one of the two guards appearing from behind a bookshelf.
They encountered six more guards hiding in the library, and one that entered from the door leading to the guest quarters.
The bridge from the central complex to the guest quarters was empty, and as they broke into each of the six guest rooms, they only found three of James’ men in the last one.
As Scarlet and Josh dispatched the guards, Sniper moved on and, holstering his Rugers, he took the AWM from across his shoulders. He approached the end of the bridge and, getting down on all fours and popping down the bipod, sighted down the length of the bridge.
Seeing a blue uniform through his scope, the marksman smiled slightly and squeezed the trigger. He watched the blue disappear from his sights and another blue shape took its place.
Max had put down four of the guards by the time Scarlet and Josh reached him.
Josh peered down the bridge as the marksman’s rifle roared again.
“How many?”
Sniper squinted through the scope, “There were eleven; I’ve gotten five so far.”
Scarlet reached behind her and pulled one of the grenades off her belt. Pulling the pin, she stepped out onto the bridge and hurled the grenade with a pitch that most professional baseball players would die for.
She pulled back as the grenade exploded, drawing out more of the guards and giving Max a new target rich environment.
The sharp crack of the rifle sounded five more times, each one no one doubted resulted in another death. With the fifth report Max’s cartridge was depleted. The sharpshooter got to his feet, policed his bullets and ejected his cartridge.
As the marksman reloaded his rifle Josh and Scarlet moved down the bridge and finished off the last of the guards in the security dome located in the center of the bridge. They then moved on down the second half of the bridge to James’ personal quarters.
Sniper came up behind them, rifle across his back once more and pistols cocked and loaded.
“Well, anyone ever wanted to know how the rich and famous live?”
Scarlet moved ahead of them, taking point position.
“Seen it before, nothing special. They hide their dirty laundry under their bed just like everyone else.”
Josh moved up behind her, “Scarlet and Max, take the balcony and check the office and bedroom. I’ll go through James’ art gallery and meet you outside the bedroom.
Scarlet nodded and, bringing her weapon up to her shoulder, started around the balcony that circled the structure.
Max followed her, Rugers at the ready with barely a glance back at Josh.
Josh turned and, pressing the stock of his own weapon to his shoulder, entered the private art museum of James Hughes.
The gallery was fairly impressive. Mainly abstract pieces, with a few statues and Native American samples. One wall, just next to the door leading to the bedroom, was covered in antique swords, guns, and even a few tribal spears and a Renaissance suit of armor.
But, while Josh would usually have loved to look over the art collection, it was the fifteen or so guards that seemed to come out of the woodwork that caught his attention.
Josh looked around at all the guns trained on him.
“Whoops.”

Scarlet crept around the balcony, MP5 moving back and forth in an attempt to cover every angle.
Behind her Max had one of his Rugers pointed behind them, the other aimed over Scarlet’s shoulder covering the area ahead of them.
They had almost reached the door leading from the balcony into James’ personal quarters.
Scarlet glanced back at the marksman, “Strange, you would think there would be more guards.”
Sniper turned his head to look behind them, checking the windows and balcony for signs of the enemy.
“Just means they are somewhere else.”
Scarlet snorted in derision, “Way to be comforting, Max.”
“Just trying to help. Duck.”
Scarlet went flat on the floor as Sniper stepped into the doorway and brought both his pistols up to bare. The Rugers flashed and spat out five bullets.
Five blue uniforms, spattered in blood, crumpled lifeless to the floor.
“I think I found some of those guards you were talking about.”
Scarlet got up, keeping her gun up and pointed in front of her.
“Way to be observant.”
“You want the office or the bedroom?”
Scarlet grinned slightly, “Office. Seen enough bedrooms in my day.”
“I bet you have.”

Scarlet approached the Office door and, finding it slightly ajar, poked it open with her gun barrel.
“Hello? Any stupid blue jerks at home? It’s the exterminator…”
She looked around the room, noting the bathroom door, bedroom door, and desk as the only hiding places. Keeping her eye on the doors, she approached the desk cautiously.
She reached the desk and turned quickly around the corner of the desk and ran her sights over the area.
It was then she noticed the bathroom door, which was ajar just as the office door had been, move ever so slightly. She moved carefully and silently towards the door, MP5 pointed unwavering at the crack in the door. She wasn’t sure if the door’s movement had been someone on the other side or just a breeze.
She kicked the door open and did a quick sweep of the master bathroom. Finding nothing, she backed out and opened the bedroom door.

Josh stood in the middle of James’ art gallery, surrounded by sixteen of James’ blue-clad guards. A mix of P229’s and Spectre M4’s were trained on the man.
“Sir, put you gun on the floor and put your hands in the air. If you do not comply, we will be forced to use deadly force.”
The man the Underworld called the Sharktooth ran his eyes over the encircling security guards.
“You know… Back in the Roman Empire in the Arena, when a Gladiator was being sent into a battle they were fairly certain they would lose, they would look up at the Emperor and, raising their weapons shout ‘We who are about to die salute you’.”
The Guards looked uncertain, “What is your point?”
Josh’s cold gray eyes locked with the man’s brown ones.
“I was just thinking, you might want to salute me; because you are about to die.”
The Guard’s eyes went wide as Josh, almost faster than seemed possible, dropped his MP5 and drew his Desert Eagles and put two .357 bullets in the man’s chest.
The rest of the men opened fire as Josh dropped to the ground, fired three shots while on his back, and rolled to his feet in front of the nearest pair of guards. He dropped one of his Eagles and drew one of the Japanese Sais he carried along with his Magnum pistols.
As he came to his feet he shot the guard immediately in front of him in the heart at point-blank range. As that man fell he brought the Sai up and buried it in the neck of the guard just to his left.
Withdrawing the trident-style knife from the man, he spun on his heel and hurled the knife across the room and into body of another guard. He brought the Eagle in his hand up and with three rapid shots took out the three guards immediately to his right. Reaching down and retrieving the Eagle he dropped, he raised both pistols and gunned down the four guards straight in front of him.
Dropping the gun in his right hand, he instinctually shot the guard standing behind him just beside the glass case with the suit of armor. Rising to his feet, he ran forward to retrieve the Sai from the man’s chest, all the while strafing the remaining four guards with the Desert Eagle.
Drawing the knife from the corpse and dropping his other gun, Josh unsheathed his second Sai and charged the last guards. A quick slashing motion left the first guard he came to with a cut throat. With the bullets of the guard’s M4’s carving the air all around him, he reached the second guard and rapidly stabbed the man in the stomach six times.
He stood up and, in one quick motion, threw the Sais at the remaining two guards. The knives buried themselves in the men’s throats and they dropped to the ground writhing in the throes of death.
Josh picked up his Desert Eagles and, ejecting the clips, loaded new ones. He holstered the guns and reached down to pull out the knives out of the guard’s still-twitching bodies. He wiped the blood off on their uniforms and rose to his feet. The knives returned to their sheaths, he retrieved the MP5K from off the ground and surveyed the carnage around him.
“Should have saluted.”