Page 1 of A Soldier's Temptation
Chapter 1
Machine gun fire ripped through the air as SEAL Team Charlie took cover behind the shelled out husk of a building. They’d dropped into Iraqi territory at zero dark thirty to rescue a group from Doctors Without Borders. The doctors had been on their way to a refugee camp when their chopper was shot down.
After making a high altitude jump, they landed about twenty klicks from the crash site. That should have been the hard part, but from the drone surveillance, they knew the group was surrounded by enemy combatants. Now they had to get to them before it became a hostage rescue situation.
John “Riot” Dillon hated this kind of mission. Grabbing or eliminating hostiles was a lot less complicated than rescuing civilians. Most people were so freaked out they didn’t know how to react and often didn’t listen to the instructions which put all their safety in jeopardy.
It had been over two hours after the crash before Charlie Team was activated. Considering all they’d been through, the doctors were probably wondering if help was coming, and there’d been no way to let them know. Three and a half hours later, they were about half a klick away.
“Gus, sitrep,” Elwood, their master chief requested over their coms.
“One tango on the roof watching the location of the HVTs. Two more guarding the front. It’s weird they haven’t moved in yet, but I don’t think we have much time.”
“Copy that. Do you have eyes on the civilians?”
“Negative. I can’t get close enough without being seen. The windows are covered. But I have five heat signatures.”
“Copy. Sit tight we’re coming to you,” Elwood said.
“Copy.”
Gus was second in command and had taken point to scout out the HVT’s location. Whoever had decided to get the doctors out of the open made an excellent decision. If they hadn’t found cover, they’d be sitting ducks. They’d been shot down over one of the few areas ISIS still controlled.
“Listen up. Gus couldn’t get eyes on the HVTs.”
“Are we sure they’re in there?” Shaggy asked. His nickname came from the cartoon as he was a dead ringer for Scooby-Doo’s best bud.
“Yes, he has five hot bodies grouped together inside the building. And there are several tangos surrounding the location, it’s a good call.”
“What’s the plan, Boss?” Disco asked. He was their medic and ballistics expert. If it needed to go boom, he made it happen.
“Shaggy, you and Riot will take out the tangos in front. Gus will take out the sniper and Disco and I will get inside and assess the situation.”
“Any idea on their condition?”
“Negative. We need to be ready for anything.”
“Copy that, Boss,” Shaggy said.
“Worst case, we each grab one and hustle to the EXFIL,” Elwood said. “We have thirty mikes to make it to the rendezvous point. Let’s move.”
Shaggy took point with John, Disco, and Elwood following behind. It was pitch black with the exception of occasional flashes of machine gunfire and John was happy they had NVGs. As long as they weren’t shooting at the SEALs, they didn’t care who they were engaging with as long as it wasn’t the doctors.
As they silently made their way through the streets, they stayed in the shadows of the buildings. It should ensure that if anyone was searching for them, they’d be a lot harder to spot.
“Elwood, we have movement,” Gus’ voice echoed in their earpieces.
“Copy that. We’re within range. Are there more tangos?”
“Two more just showed up. Not sure if they’re relieving the others or not.”
“Copy that. We’re on your six. Get ready to take out the sniper. We’ve got the others,” Elwood replied.
“Copy.”
“Go on my signal,” Elwood told the rest of the team.
John and Shaggy took their position on the side of the building closer to where the HVTs were located. They’d need to move quickly to take out all four tangos before they got off a shot and alerted anyone in the area.
