Page 44 of Her Faithful Protector

“I do. You going to get whoever is in that truck, right?” Ezio asked. “Because I don’t have the shot,” Ezio groused.

“Yeah, I’m in position, but I need them to peek their heads out. I’m just not sure that they haven’t got one of the village women in there with them, so no grenade.”

“Gotcha. One distraction coming up. Maybe even three or four.”

What?

Nic heard the distinctive sound of a sniper rifle popping two times, followed by cackles of chickens and squeals of pigs. Ezio must have blown out the locks on the pigpen and the chicken coop. Nic kept his sights on the back of the truck, gratified to see both men pop their heads out to see what the noise was all about.

Nic carefully aimed. Two bullets, two headshots.

“One down,” Cullen said.

“I’ve got one,” Raiden said.

“I’ve got two,” Nic announced.

“That brings the total to eleven,” Max’s voice rumbled. “Asher, what’s your status?”

“Everyone’s in the church.”

“Raiden, get your ass in there. If you need a medic back-up, let us know and we’ll send in Kane,” Max commanded.

“It’ll take me a little more than a minute, lieutenant,” Raiden said. It was obvious that he was occupied setting up a kill, otherwise, he’d be there faster.

“Okay, as soon as you can,” Max agreed.

Nic backed out of the Jeep. “Ezio, what’s next?” he asked.

“Two gunning at us—”

An explosion rocked Nic back on his heels. He whipped his head around to look, then cursed as he was blinded.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” He yanked the night vision goggles off his head then pushed his thumb and forefinger into his eyes, trying to clear them.

“A Jeep just exploded,” Raiden reported. “West end of the village. Any casualties?”

Everyone reported in.

“They’re trying to divert us from the villagers’ homes. That’s got to be it,” Cullen said. “The sick fucks have been hiding out in there. I don’t want any of them to get away.”

Nic could see now. He didn’t need the goggles since it was damn near dawn. He heard the blast of automatic fire, and then more.

“Who’s on that?” Max demanded to know.

Everywhere Nic looked, there were pigs and chickens. Three doors burst open and the shooting started at a mad pace. One of the men had a woman by the neck, using her as a human shield.

The man on the right was shot down in a hail of bullets. Nic cursed; he didn’t have the shot to help the woman in the middle and he knew that Ezio didn’t either. He shifted his rifle to get the third man, but he’d already ducked back into the house. Someone was going to have to go in after him.

The middle man continued forward, firing short bursts as he made his way to the truck with the two men Nic had shot.

“Come to Papa,” Nic murmured to himself as he crept back into the Jeep where he’d made his successful shots. The woman wasn’t struggling in the least; she was worn down and defeated. Who could blame her? Nic kept his rifle trained on the man as he backed up toward the truck, continuing to shoot at nobody, trying not to trip over pigs and chickens.

Nic needed a clear shot; he couldn’t have anything that would pass through the man’s body into the woman. He waited.

It was the pig that saved the day. The animal shot between the man’s feet, and he stumbled. Nic made another headshot. The woman dropped to the ground and then he shot the kidnapper through the heart as well for extra insurance.

“I saw that, Hale. We’re down to nine.”