"What’s up?" Tanner demanded when he joined them.
"They coming," Naomi said. "And—"
An RPG round streaked out of the shadows and struck the front face of the rock, missing the three by twenty feet. The curvature of the boulder prevented fragments from striking them, but the impact was enough to make their ears ring.
"Just what we fucking needed," Naomi spat.
"Fall back around the rock," Tanner said.
After they had slid around their cover, He handed Naomi the C-4 Dante had given him. "When I say run, you two head for the stairs. Drop one of these on every landing, and set the timer for the first one at forty-five seconds and reduce each timer by fifteen seconds after that. When you reach the beach, head for the boat."
"What about you?" Stephen asked.
"I'll start after you when you two reach the top of the stairs."
"Better be quick," Naomi said, setting the timers on the C-4.
"I will be," Tanner said, stepping to the other corner of the rock. "Two, status?"
"A third of the way down," Liam replied. "There's three sets of stairs and they're narrow — not designed for three people across. Hassan is groggy, but he's still combative."
"I don't care if you have to shoot his kneecaps out and throw his ass down the stairs," Tanner said. "His guards are after us with at least one RPG launcher, maybe more."
"Copy." There was a grunt and Liam said, "I’ll carry the bastard over my shoulder."
"Tell me when you hit the beach." Tanner leaned out just enough to point his MP5 in the direction of the enemy. He saw several guards advancing and he fired. Two fell while the rest dove for cover. Before Tanner could shoot again, another RPG projectile slammed against the rock closer than the first one, staggering the OUTCAST trio.
"They're getting better," Stephen noted.
Tanner shook his head to clear it, then gripped his MP5. "Get ready to run."
Naomi leaned out and squeezed off a well-aimed grouping. A gunman fifty yards away screamed and grabbed his stomach before keeling over.
"Not yet," she said. "We need to give the others more time—"
"There’s no more time," Tanner said.
Naomi's jaw tightened. "No," she said, realizing that he was more than willing to put his life on the line, to wait up here providing cover fire for them until it was too late for himself.
"Not this time. I won't be going down those stairs without you. I lost Chance because he stayed behind. I am not going to lose another friend."
Tanner scowled. Chancellor 'Chance' Zanetti had been Naomi's lover and fiancé before he had died on OUCAST’s first mission, stopping a drone attack on U.S. soil carried out by Muslim fanatics. She hadn't talked about it much, but Tanner knew she still felt his loss.
He sprayed lead in the direction of the enemy. "Get ready to run. I promise I'll be right behind you."
She nodded, then handed Stephen the C-4. "I'll be waiting at the top of the stairs.”
"Go!" Tanner fired off a long burst.
Stephen and Naomi ran. Tanner let his MP5 dangle from its sling and grabbed a frag grenade from his harness. He pulled the pin and threw it as far as he could. He turned and ran for the stairs. He heard the grenade explode but didn't slow down.
As she promised, Naomi was waiting for him. Stephen was already halfway down the first flight of stairs and as Tanner reached the top, he saw a block of C-4 against one of the rail supports.
"Move!"
Naomi gave him a quick smile and raced down the stairs, taking them three at a time. Tanner glanced at the C-4's timer and saw that it was down to thirty seconds. He started jumping down the stairs. There were three flights, with a landing separating each. Ahead of them, Stephen reached the next landing, stopping only long enough to activate the timer and place the charge against a rail support before continuing down.
"Two to Prime," Liam said. "We're at the boat, deploying smoke."
Naomi and Tanner reached the first landing almost at the same time. Tanner's eyes flicked to the timer as he raced past.
Twenty-five seconds.
The pair started down the second flight of stairs. Tanner could hear shouts at the top of the cliff.
"Keep moving!"
Gunfire erupted and he heard bullets strike the wooden stairs behind them. By now, Tanner's legs were screaming at him, his lungs were trying to take in more air than they could. His throat was dry and burning, his face was covered in sweat. He kept moving.
Tanner heard the speedboat's engines start up. He look up and saw smoke forming near the dock, and a figure — probably Liam — standing there, throwing another smoke canister.
In front of them, Stephen reached the last landing and dropped the last C-4 block.
Tanner’s earpiece crackled with Liam’s voice. "Two to Prime! Multiple tangos coming down the stairs!"
"Stay where you are!" Tanner spat. He and Naomi reached the last landing, neither slowing as they dropped down the last flight of stairs. More gunfire chased them from behind, this time close enough to splinter the railing near Tanner's arm. The close call spurred both OUTCAST operatives on.
They were five steps from the beach when an explosion behind them lit up the night sky. Another blast, closer than the first, detonated as they leapt off the last steps. They landed on the beach.
Sand flying, they raced after Stephen, who had a five-yard lead on them. They had only gone a couple of feet before a third explosion, closer than the other two, nearly knocked them off their feet and pelted them with splinters, stones and other debris.
Tanner glanced behind him and saw that the staircase was almost completely destroyed. A few of the steps had avoiding being shredded, but not many, and anyone who had been on the stairs would have been torn apart by the trio of explosions. Black smoke — thick and heavy — hung in the air, along with the co-mingled stench of burnt wood and flesh. He could make out multiple figures on the cliff top, but none of them seemed inclined to continue the pursuit.
He turned around and charged through the smoke, glad for the screen it provided in case there was a sniper on the cliff. After a few strides, Tanner found himself standing on the dock, clear of the main smoke cloud and. Stephen and Naomi were ahead of him, going for the boat.
Liam was waiting for them. "Get onboard, quick. Police are on the way."
"How's Hassan?” Tanner asked.
"Dante's on top of things." Liam flashed a cruel smile.
They ran for the boat and got on. The rest of the team was already aboard, including Dante, but he wasn't sitting in one of the seats. Beneath him, the body of Hassan struggled to get up from the deck. The former Secret Service agent looked annoyed.
Tanner looked at Liam. "I didn't think you meant it literally!”
Liam only grinned as Danielle put the boat into gear and sped away from the dock.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The safehouse included a basement that was cold, damp, and suitable to hold an important prisoner for interrogation. There was even a cell in one corner, but Tanner had decided to leave Hassan in the center of the main basement, hands and legs cuffed to a steel chair. The chair in turn was attached to one of the support columns by several strands of heavy-duty wire.
It was nearly dawn when OUTCAST pulled into the safehouse's garage in a vehicle driven by Madelowski. The garage, built lower than the actual house, featured a passageway connecting it with the basement, each end hidden behind a steel door disguised as shelving. Once the still-hooded Hassan was cuffed to the chair they left him under the watchful eye of one of Mandlenkosi's nephews and went upstairs.