Fletch pointed at the door and motioned for Mueller to open it. Then he motioned to Tevin to clear the guards he felt sure were standing right outside. As soon as the first shot was fired, chaos would ensue.
Tevin moved forward and waited for Mueller to twist the latch. The two gave each other a nod. Mueller yanked the handle and pushed the door open. Tevin rushed through and twisted to the right. He fired the pistol, putting a bullet through a guard’s temple. He spun back left and squeezed the trigger again, zipping a round through another guard’s forehead before the man could raise his weapon.
The other three filed through the door. They stayed low and assessed the situation in an instant.
Fletch’s assumption that the doorway led outside was incorrect. They found themselves in what had the appearance of a sort of guard station. There were two windows in the front wall and one in both side walls. Beyond the glass the Americans could see the flurry of activity going on in the courtyard. Transport trucks were being loaded with long wooden crates. The markings on the sides were difficult to read from the SEALs’ vantage point, but they already knew what the crates contained.
“Toli’s moving his weapons. We need to move, too.” Fletch said.
Alberto pointed out the obvious problem. “Yeah but this place is swarming with his soldiers. There must be hundreds of them.”
“We can’t sit here all day and wait. If we’re going to get out of here, now is the time.”
He looked into the eyes of each of his men. Their resolve was as strong as his. And they knew he was right. If they waited around, they’d never get out alive.
9
“You know this is never gonna work, right?” Sean asked. He finished propping up linens to make the shape look as much like a human figure as possible.
“Maybe,” Emily said. “But we need a diversion.”
She looked out at the plains leading up to the walls of Toli’s compound. “The land here is flat. So even if the Jeep veers off the road, it’s going to hit something. Might be the gate. Might be the wall.”
“Or it might just steer itself off course and into the jungle.”
“Either way, it will draw some attention from the guards. If Toli is half the paranoid control freak we believe he is, I’m sure those guards in the towers have been told to shoot on sight.”
“True. This Jeep will be Swiss cheese before it gets close.”
“Probably. And while they’re destroying that one, we’ll flank them with this one.”
They’d taken two of the old SUVs from the camp after Emily laid out the plan to the men. Her idea was to sacrifice one Jeep, sending it crashing into the compound walls. It would draw out some of Toli’s men and the attention of pretty much everyone inside. Then they would be able to circle around and enter from the smaller gate in the back. It would be a tight window, but Sean agreed it could be done, even though he was giving her a hard time about the plan not working.
He finished making the dummy prop and checked everything one last time. “Good to go. You ready?”
Emily nodded.
They were tucked safely behind a short ridge, just beyond the guard towers’ lines of sight. Once the Jeep was over the knoll, it was another seven hundred yards to the compound. Sean’s timing would have to be perfect. If he waited too long to bail out of the Jeep, the guards atop the towers might see him. If that happened, the plan wouldn’t work.
He propped a tree limb in the passenger side and started up the hill.
She followed close behind and sped up to walk next to him. Once they reached the crest, the two cut off the dirt road to a lone tree perched nearby. They kept low until they reached the broad trunk and then tucked in behind it. Each of them had binoculars and spied on the facility, careful to make sure they stayed close to the shadow of the tree.
From their vantage point they couldn’t see what was going on inside the compound. A cloud of dust rose up from inside, but other than that there was no movement.
Sean moved the binoculars up a little and saw the guards in one of the towers. “Looks like we’ve got two in each tower,” he said. Moving his view to the right confirmed there were two more in the opposite lookout station.
He spoke into his radio. “You know, Fitz, for moving up the timetable on this operation, I gotta say there isn’t a lot going on down there. You sure Toli’s making a move?”
Fitz’s voice crackled in the earpiece. “Just going with the intel I received, Sean.”
“Someone else is coming to the party,” Emily said. “Two 0’clock.”
Sean took his eyes away from the binoculars for a second and then redirected them to where a new dust cloud was billowing into the sky. A transport truck was rumbling toward the fortress via the north road. Sean adjusted the focus of the binoculars.
“Got a transport truck heading into the compound,” he said.
“See?” Fitz answered. “Word is those things have been coming and going all day.”
Sean nodded. “Okay. Okay. I get it. Trust the intel. Point taken.”
Emily spoke up. “Sorry to cut in on this again, boys, but as soon as that transport goes in, we should take advantage.”
“Agreed,” Sean said. “They’ll be occupied with loading the truck. The diversion will add an additional element of panic to the situation.”
“Exactly.”
Sean looked over at her. “Ready then?”
She gave a nod. “Now or never.”
They crept back through the weeds to the road and then hurried down the short descent to the Jeeps.
Emily hopped into hers and turned the key. The motor grumbled for a moment and then evened out to a smooth hum.
Sean started the sacrificial Jeep and shifted it into gear. He eased it up the hill until he could barely see the top of the gate over the ridge. The transport truck was just going through the opening. The guards quickly closed the massive doors as soon as the truck was clear.
The road down to the main gate was a straight shot. As hopeful as he was that the Jeep would stay on the road and break down the gate, he knew better than to expect that. He shifted it into neutral and attached the two rubber cables he’d found in the back to the steering wheel. Then he connected them to the door handles. When he jumped out he’d have to go over the door. Fortunately, the Jeeps’ tops were long gone. The only thing that would make the maneuver difficult was jumping from a higher point. That, and the ground was rocky.
Satisfied the steering wheel was stabilized, he gave Emily the thumbs-up. She flicked her head up, giving him the go-ahead. “I’ll be right behind you.”
Hopefully not right behind me, he thought. I’d rather not be run over. He took the stick out of the passenger seat and wedged it between his seat and the steering wheel.
Again, Sean shifted the Jeep into gear and stepped on the gas. At the same time, he jammed the fork of the branch into the gas pedal. The Jeep groaned and lurched forward. He’d started it in second gear to make sure the vehicle had a little more speed as it rolled toward the compound.
Sean crossed the crest of the hill and began the descent. He let go of the wheel, climbed up on the seat and over the door. Holding onto the edge with his fingertips, he lowered himself down as the Jeep picked up speed. With no time to hesitate, Sean let go and tucked his head between his arms.