Page 42 of Renegade (The Santini Assassins #2)
SHOOT TO KILL
CAROLINE
C aroline said nothing as Grey drove to the site. She knew him well enough to know that he was in strategy mode, navigating possible situations they could be walking into. Though she didn’t doubt his brilliant mind, she believed Sin and Dakota were interrogating Haqazzii and had no cell signal.
Even so, they’d weapon up and approach with caution.
After driving into the neighborhood that led to the site, he pulled over and glanced in the rearview mirror. She turned around. The street was quiet, no vehicles in sight. When she turned back, he wrapped his hand around her leg, gave it a quick squeeze before letting go.
“Thanks for comin’ with me tonight.”
“My pleasure.”
He continued on to the dirt road. Once there, he pulled around back, pressed the button for the hangar, but the door wouldn’t open.
He tried again, but nothing. “Lockdown. ”
Caroline’s stomach roiled, the hairs on the back of her neck stood on end.
“I think you’re right,” she said. “We gotta weapon up.”
Instead of leaving their bullet-proof vehicle, she climbed into the middle seat, handed him his go-bag before she unzipped hers. On went her Kevlar vest, next she pulled on her shoulder holster, tucked her Glock inside.
While Greystone did the same, he said, “Helmets.”
She reached into the back, handed him his, then grabbed her own.
Caroline’s mind rocketed into emergency mode. “First, we kill the lights in the control room.”
“Confirmed,” he said.
“We have no idea how long this has been going on.”
“Expect an ambush,” he bit out.
“How do we get into the building if the hangar won’t open?”
He pointed. “There’s a scanner on the building, next to the door.” He regarded her. “We got this. No matter what we find, we go after Haqazzii.”
“Even if they’re wounded?”
“Stay focused on our target. Shoot to kill.”
She heaved in a breath, hoping to slow her palpitating heart, then she nodded. “Understood.”
“Let’s go.”
They opened their doors, shut them quietly. Greystone locked the SUV. He stood in front of the scanner. The light flashed yellow. She stood in front, the light flashed green. He opened the door, went in. She followed, shut the door.
The oversized garage was dark, but the light coming from the hallway inside lit their way. The scanner was flashing red. Scrolling across the small screen were the words:
LOCKDOWN… LOCKDOWN… LOCKDOW N
“He got out,” she groaned. “That monster got out of the hole.”
They each unholstered their weapons, strapped on their helmets, and stood in front of the scanner. The door slid open. They raced inside, cleared the immediate area, and started running toward the control room. She kept turning around, her gun pointed down the quiet hallway.
Before they turned the corner, they stopped, their backs against the wall. They listened. Only silence spoke back. As soon as they stepped into the hallway, he looked left, she right. They continued clearing the space as they made their way through the building.
C’mon, c’mon.
As they hurried through the silence, adrenaline pumped through her at a frenzying pace. They entered the control room, she shut the door behind them and bolted it.
Step one completed.
They stared at the screens on the wall. The hallways were empty. Then, Caroline tapped the laptop. The computer came alive and she gasped at the sight.
Grey whipped his head toward the screen. “Fuck, no.”
Both Sin and Dakota were trapped in the hole. A bare-chested Sin was sitting on the cement floor next to Dakota, holding his blood-soaked shirt against Dakota’s shoulder.
Caroline pressed the intercom button. “Sin, can you hear me?”
Sin opened his eyes, the hatred pouring from them. “That son of a bitch is somewhere in the building. Find him and annihilate him.”
“I got this,” Greystone said. “What’s your status?”
“He grabbed my Glock from my holster when I was shackling him.” Sin said. “I wasn’t hit, but Dakota took a bullet in the shoulder. ”
Caroline wanted to get Dakota medical attention, but they had to find Haqazzii first.
“How long have you been down there?” Caroline asked.
Sin glanced at his watch. “Eighteen minutes.”
“We’re gonna black-out the building,” Greystone said. “Does that include the hole?”
Dakota opened his eyes, started to sit up, and winced. “Fuck. Yeah, everything in the building goes dark, no exception.”
“Are you sure he didn’t escape?” Caroline asked.
“Yes,” Dakota replied. “Sin activated lockdown from my phone.”
“Is there a crawl space or something like that where he could be hiding?” Greystone asked.
“There’re built-ins in the game room,” Dakota said. “I wouldn’t put it past him to hide in there.”
“There are comms in the desk drawer,” Sin said.
“Copy,” Caroline said. “We’re out.” She killed the intercom switch. “I’m coming with you,” she said to Grey.
“Austin, I need you in my ear, talking me through this.”
Instead of pushing back, she said, “Understood.”
And she did.
“Lock yourself in and don’t open the door unless I tell you ‘the pink pig is flying to the moon’. Code for I’m alone.”
She handed him the comm, slid one into her hear. “I’ll tell you if I see him.”
“Copy,” Greystone replied.
“If he grabbed night goggles, you won’t have the advantage.”
“Like hell I won’t,” he said as he fitted the comm into his ear. “He has no idea who he’s up against.” With his Glock in hand, he tossed her a nod. “Ready?”
“We got this,” she said, and killed the lights in the building.
GREYSTONE
Greystone lowered the goggles on the helmet, stepped into the hallway, and cleared the area. “Lock it.”
She snapped the bolt into place. “Done,” she said through the comm.
Greystone lived for these missions. Hunting down the world’s worst gave him a deep sense of purpose. He knew Haqazzii had a gun. Might have a kitchen knife. Even so, he wasn’t afraid.
Keenly aware of his surroundings, his senses were on high-alert. Despite the hard floor, he made no sound as he traveled down the hallway. He’d walk forty feet, stop, and listen. Haqazzii would either be lying in wait, ready to pounce, or he’d be on the move himself.
Greystone could clear each of the offices, but he had a plan. His gut told him Haqazzii was hiding, ready to unload Sin’s weapon the second Greystone made his presence known.
But Greystone had lured terrorists out before and he’d do it again. First, he cleared the break room, then he made his way back into the women’s locker room, though he doubted Haqazzii would be there. After clearing that, he did the same in the men’s. Then, he leaned against the cold, tiled wall.
“Austin,” he murmured.
“I’m here.”
“He’s not in either locker room or the break room. Do you think he’s in an office?”
Silence.
“No,” she said. “We forgot to ask if he stole a phone.”
“Fuck me.”
“Sin, did he take a phone?” Caroline asked. “No, Grey’s still looking for him. Grey, he didn’t take a phone.”
Was that a mistake? Had Haqazzii fucked up?
“Austin, I’m out,” Greystone whispered .
He ran through the layout of the building in his mind.
And that’s when it hit him. Haqazzii wasn’t hiding in an office, and he wasn’t lurking in a restroom.
He hadn’t crawled into one of the built-ins in the rec room either.
Sajid Haqazzii was hiding in a location that would give him complete advantage, a sniper waiting to take out the BLACK OPS, one shot at a time.
Moving like the wind, Greystone took off for the kitchen in the residential wing of the building. As he approached, he stealthed over to the doorway and, with his back against the wall, peered into the pitch-black room.
He didn’t know if Haqazzii had stockpiled an arsenal of weapons from the locker room. All he knew was that Haqazzii had a Glock… and that was all he needed to take them out.
With his weapon drawn, he entered the L-shaped kitchen, glanced around the corner at the air conditioner intake duct built into the ceiling.
Blood rushed through his veins.
The oversized door hung askew. Sajid Haqazzii was hiding in the ceiling.
Gotcha .
Grey needed to be right, he needed to be swift, and he needed to be exact.
I got this.
Greystone cupped his hands around his face, creating a tunnel to help carry his voice.
“Sajid,” he whispered before he ducked behind the oversized refrigerator.
Nothing.
He cocked his head, hoping to catch Sajid’s breathing, but silence thundered in his ears.
“Sajid,” he whispered again, this time aiming his Glock toward the ceiling. “I see you, Sajid.”
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Bullets rained down through the ceiling .
Greystone locked in on the holes and unloaded his weapon.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
THUD.
Greystone stilled.
He waited, his full attention focused on the ceiling. A dark mark bled onto the white. The stain grew larger, spreading over the area. Moving slowly, Grey stepped on a kitchen chair, then climbed onto the table, hoping it would hold under the weight of his two-hundred-twenty pounds.
He poked his head through the opening. A body lay in the space, not ten feet away, the feet closest to him. He needed confirmation Haqazzii was dead and not just wounded or playing dead.
“Sajid,” he whispered. “It’s over.”
No response, but Greystone wasn’t walking away without full confidence he’d taken the terrorist out, so he raised his arm into the open space, aimed at Haqazzii’s torso.
BANG! BANG!
“Rot in hell, motherfucker.”
Greystone stepped down, walked around the corner, making sure he stayed tucked behind the refrigerator.
“Austin.”
“I’m here.”
“Man down. Light us up.”
“Are you wearing goggles?”
“Yeah.” He flipped them up. “Clear.”
“Three, two, one.”
He squinted against the bright kitchen as he eyed the ceiling. If Haqazzii was alive, he wouldn’t be for long.
“That’s a mess.”
The dark stain was spreading across the ceiling as Greystone jumped on the table, stuck his head into the duct, then pushed himself into the tight space. Using his phone’s flashlight, he shone the light on the body .