Page 49 of Waiting for Him
“Can’t you drive any fucking faster?”
“Relax, Boomer.” Ian waited for an oncoming car to pass, then drove around the little old lady behind the wheel of her seven-year-old Ford Taurus, cruising at ten miles under the speed limit. The communications van driven by Marco followed suit, as well as Devon in the other SUV. “We’re loaded to the gills with weapons and ammo, so I have no desire to get pulled over. They said two hours, and we only used an hour and ten of it. Five more minutes, and we’re there. Now chill, or I’m leaving you in the com-van.”
“Like fucking hell!”
Ignoring his youngest employee, Ian continued to the Michaelsons' house in a quiet neighborhood on the outskirts of the city. He parked a few hundred feet down from the driveway, out of view of anyone looking out the windows. The other vehicles pulled up behind him, and the occupants got out, scanning the area. In this part of Sarasota, the property lots were larger, so houses were more spread out.
Rick and Eileen Michaelson had fallen in love with their semi-retirement home after house-hunting for days with a realtor eleven years ago. It was secluded enough for quiet and privacy, yet close enough to others so they could become friends with their neighbors. A six-minute drive was all it took to reach the more populated residential and commercial areas.
While it sucked their neighbors had been too far away to hear screams for help, if there’d been any, it was to the team’s advantage. Once they blended into the tree line, they wouldn’t have to worry much about someone calling the police regarding a small army of men with guns running around. While Boomer got out, joining the rest of the team, Ian tapped on his headset microphone. “Reverend, you there?”
A burst of static came through, then cleared. “Yeah, Boss-man. What’s your status?”
“Just pulled up. How are things there?”
“Five by five.” The military code meant all was well. “Just going to go get Kat. Stay safe, brothers.”
“Amen.” Ian exited the vehicle and met the rest of the team by the side of the comm van, where weapons and equipment were being double-checked and strapped on. The men were dressed in camouflage and armed to the teeth. “Carter, find yourself a sniper position. My guess is they’re in the family room. It’s the largest and has the most windows to see if anyone is coming. Rear of the house, northwest corner. Scan the front and side windows for tangos on your way.” Without a word, the spy disappeared into the trees with his trusted MK-11 sniper rifle. “Polo, Dev, take one of the SUVs, drive past the house, and park up the road—approach by foot from that direction. Work your way around and stand by to breach the kitchen door. Check the windows on your way too. Egghead, I want to know where the heat signatures are and how many, then use the side door to the garage. Wait a count of three after we breach—I don’t want you getting in the way of any crossfire.” He turned to Chase’s two men. “Burke, Dusty, you’re with the geek.”
Brody reached into the van and pulled out a handheld heat-detecting device, then took off after his two temporary teammates, all using the tree line as cover.
“Boom, you’re with me at the front door.” Ian waited for a reply, but Boomer only silently stared at his parents' home.
“Hey! Boomer!” He got in the younger man’s face. “This is just like every other mission, frog. I need your head in the game.”
Knowing his boss was right, Boomer took a deep breath and went into battle mode. Anything else could result in one of his teammates getting hurt or killed, and he’d be damned if he was the cause of that happening. “I’m good. Let’s just do this.”
Ian waited a moment until he was clearly satisfied his friend was in the right mindset. Then, readying his assault rifle, he took point, leading the way to the edge of the property. The house sat back from the road, and, thankfully, Boomer’s mom loved to landscape with trees, shrubs, and flowers. There wasn’t too much to use as cover, but enough, so it was better than nothing.
Going about twenty feet into the trees parallel to the property, they stopped and waited for the team to check in with intel. Carter was first. “Blinds are all pulled shut. No signs of movement.”
“Fuck!”
Ian glared at Boomer but didn’t say anything about his low-volume outburst. He’d do the same if the situation were reversed. “Heat signatures?”
It was a few moments before Brody’s reply came over the airwaves. “Nothing at the front end of the house. Going around the east side. Blinds are shut here too.”
The waiting was killing Boomer, but he knew it was necessary. The more intel, the better their chance of ending this without getting his parents killed—if they weren’t dead already.
Pushing the ugly thought from his head, he listened for his teammate’s next report.
“No heat, east side.”
“Take it around back,” Ian replied before heading for the front door. Staying low and watching for anything out of place, Boomer followed him. After using two trees to stop and scan the area, they reached the porch and silently flanked both sides of the front door, waiting for another update. Devon and Marco alerted they were ready for the breach command at the rear kitchen door.
“Two positives, full heat, ninety-nine and ninety-eight degrees. Both on the floor of the family room.”
“Just two? What the fuck? Take it around the west side, Egg. Make sure there are no surprises. Dev, Burke, make sure there are no boobytraps on your entrances . . . I don’t like this.”
Boomer didn’t either as he began to inspect the door frame. The only good thing was, if it was his parents lying on the floor, they were still alive. Otherwise, their heat signatures would be cooler. Unless they’d been killed, and the tangos left only moments before the team arrived. But why would they have done that without Kat and the money?
On Ian’s side, there was a thin vertical row of paned windows down the length of the door. He took a quick peek and then shook his head. “Nothing that I can see.”
Brody rounded the house, jogging up to them. “No one else in the house, Boss-man.”
Grimacing, Ian acknowledged him with a nod. Something was wrong . . . seriously wrong. But the only way to find out was to enter the house . . . very carefully. “Burke, Egghead’s with us, so it’s just you two. Since you can’t see inside, I don’t want to risk the door being rigged, so wait for us to let you in. Dev, how’s the back look?”
“Clean.”
