"Did we lose power?"
"I . . . I don't think so. Vlad, quickly!" They start for the front door, picking up on the possibility that I may have arrived earlier than expected. I rise, aim the rifle at the door and prepare to pick them off--when I feel the muzzle of a gun at the back of my head.
"Don't move!" shouts a voice. "Drop the weapon! Yuri! Vlad! I have him!"
The two Russians stop and look to the loft. "Eli? Is that you?"
"Yes. Drop it!" I let the rifle fall. "Raise your hands!" I do so.
Eli. Eli Horowitz, the one who betrayed my daughter. He's standing behind me with a gun to my head. The nearby lantern casts a dim glow over us, and now the Russians can surely see me.
"Bring him down!" one of them shouts.
"Get moving," Horowitz says. "To the stairs."
I slowly walk toward the stairs as Horowitz follows, the gun in one hand and the lantern in the other. A bright light flicks on below. Apparently one of the Russians found a floodlight that isn't connected to the main work lights switch. Now the room is dimly illuminated.
"You're early, Mr. Fisher!" the one called Yuri says. "We had a surprise party prepared for you, but it's not ready yet."
"Yeah, come back in the morning," Vlad says, laughing.
When I'm at the top of the steps, I abruptly step back into Horowitz, grab his gun arm, easily pull the weapon out of his hand, and then throw his body over my shoulder onto the stairs. He lands in the middle, on his back, and the entire staircase collapses from age and his weight. Horowitz yelps in pain as he falls to the floor amidst the debris.
Before I can do much besides leap for cover, both Russians let loose with their AK-47s. The bullets rattle everything in the loft as I crouch behind an old stove.
"Mr. Fisher?" I hear Captain Weiss in my ear. "What's happening?"
"Bring in the men, Captain!" I order, pressing my implant. "I'm up in the loft, there's three of them on the ground floor!"
More bullets whiz at me as I dart from behind the stove. I feel the heat of a round snapping at my right boot, too close for comfort. I make it to a more strategic position behind a large refrigerator, though, and take a moment to catch my breath. I turn off the night vision and see that the two Russians have taken cover behind the appliances on opposite sides of the floor. Shit, they'll be able to pick off the Shin Bet as they come through the door.
"Captain!" I say. "Don't come through the front do--"
But it's too late. The front door bursts open and three men rush inside. The two Russians are surprised but have the presence of mind to draw their fire toward the intruders. The three Shin Bet are hit and fall to the floor.
I reach into the Osprey and pull out two smoke grenades. I activate them to explode on contact and then throw them into the middle of the space. They burst loudly, quickly enveloping the room with thick, black smoke.
The Russians below me fire blindly into the middle of the room and up in my direction. I take the risk of jumping off the loft, landing hard on the floor. I hear windows breaking in other parts of the building--probably in the back rooms--as more men penetrate the hideout by other means. I run for cover as the Russians continue to fire in all directions. There are shouts and bursts of gunfire in the back of the building--were there other kidnappers inside? In the cover of the smoke I rush across the floor and return to the dark corridor. I burst into Sarah's room and find her lying by the cot. I pick her up in my arms and carry her out. When I reach the warehouse again, more Shin Bet have entered and taken cover, shooting in the direction of the hidden Russians. The noise is intense, and I feel my daughter shaking against me. I can't go that way, so I run through the corridor to the back door of the building. More Shin Bet have broken it down and are rushing inside. I let them through, and then Sarah and I leave the building, out into the fresh air. I run a good thirty yards from the warehouse before I stop and place her on the ground.
"Sarah, honey, talk to me!"
"Dad!" She isn't letting go.
I raise my goggles and finally get a good look at her. She has some bruises on her arms and around her face.
"What did those bastards do to you?"
"They hurt me with pliers," she sobs. "I didn't want to give them your secret number, but I couldn't take it, Dad. I couldn't take it."
I hold her close and stroke her head. "It's all right, Sarah. You did the right thing. No one can handle that. But you're going to be all right now."
Captain Weiss and another soldier appear behind me. "Mr. Fisher? Is she okay?" Weiss asks.
I nod, but she's not about to let go of me.
"Sergeant Marcus here will take her to safety," Weiss says.
I pick up Sarah again. "Sarah, honey, this soldier will take you away from here."
"Don't go!" she cries.
"Sarah, I promise I'll be right back to be with you and take you home. But first I have to go in there and play angry father. They can't do what they've done to my little girl!"
She smiles but still clings to me. I turn to the sergeant and he takes her into his own arms. Sarah doesn't protest. The sergeant runs with her down the road as Captain Weiss hands me a Tavor Micro Assault Weapon.
"Would you like this?"
"You bet."
I take it, lower my goggles, and rush for the back door.
The inside of the warehouse is a firestorm. I take cover behind more junk on the side and see that the two Russians are perched behind strong cover, firing at us with impunity. Another dead Shin Bet lies on the floor, and the rest of the team is firing from behind whatever protection they can find. I take aim with the Tavor and shoot, but the two targets are very well protected. The one mistake they made, though, is that they have no way to escape. Eventually they're going to run out of ammo.
Then one of the Shin Bet throws a grenade at the wall where a Russian is holed up. When it explodes, I hear the man cry out in pain. The Russian, obviously wounded, makes a last ditch attempt to kill some of us. He stands--it's the one called Vlad--then steps from behind a refrigerator and wildly fires his AK-47. The Shin Bet easily pick him off, and the man falls, hitting the floor with a splat.
The smoke from my grenade has begun to clear, and the other kidnapper continues to shoot at us. This time I take one of my own frag grenades, set it to explode on contact, and toss it toward him. When it goes off, the Russian's gunfire ends abruptly. All is quiet for a moment. I hear the captain give an order, and two Shin Bet run to inspect the damage. They rummage around and eventually pull Yuri's limp body from the junk. They drag him to the clear area and toss him to the floor. Another splat.
I move to the dead kidnappers and look at their faces. I don't recognize them.
"Search the rest of the building," the captain orders his men. He approaches me and asks if I know them.
"I've never seen them before," I answer. "They called each other Vlad and Yuri."
"We'll be able to identify them soon enough."
I turn back to the rubble of the fallen staircase and realize that someone is missing. "Where did--? There was another one here earlier," I say.
"My sergeant tells me they got one of them in the back. Shot him when they came through the windows."
I move toward the back rooms and find the body of the kidnapper in question. He's a young man, shot several times in the chest, but he's not Eli Horowitz. One of the Shin Bet is going through his wallet and papers.
"You have an ID on him yet?" I ask.
"Yes, sir. His name is Noel Brooks. Lived in East Jerusalem."