Enemy of Mine by Brad Taylor Read Free Book Online Page B

Retro had stopped what he was doing as soon as he heard the Birdseye call, locating a concealed position that would allow him to set up his downlink and handheld video screen.
    “Roger. Nothing moving right now.”
    Johnny said, “Looks like the buildings left and right are apartments. The one to the rear is a small hotel. It also has an alley that leads to the Medina wall.”
    That’s it.
He gave instructions to Johnny, setting his team up in a box around the hotel. He left Retro in place and called Decoy to meet him in the alley as the assault element. Before Decoy arrived, Retro said, “Got movement on the roof. Burqa woman and the mistress just exited.”
    “Decoy, what’s your status?” Knuckles said, “If that’s Crusty, we’ll know shortly. He can’t jump from roof to roof wearing that sack.”
    “Two minutes. Brett and I’ll be there in two minutes.”
    Retro said, “Mistress went to the left/east wall and looked across to the adjacent building.”
    East? That’s not the hotel.
    “Say again? Which wall?”
    “She’s running. She’s across. East building. I say again, east building.”
    Shit.
    “Burqa’s off. It’s Crusty. He’s throwing the luggage across.”
    “Roger all. Johnny, box the east building now. We’re on the way.”
    Knuckles took off, running into Decoy and his other teammate when he rounded the corner. They said nothing, just falling into step behind him.
    Johnny came on. “We’re set. Only way in and out is the north and south.”
    “Which one will he use? Where should we stage?”
    “North. Stage north in the alley. South fronts some shops. He’ll probably want to stay out of sight this close to the mosque.”
    Yeah. Why would he come out so close? Risky.
    Retro came on. “They’re still going. They didn’t enter the building. They’re going to the next building to the east. I say again, the mistress just jumped to the next building to the east. Crusty’s throwing luggage.”
    Jesus Christ!
Johnny came on before he issued a command. “Moving. This building makes more sense. Exits north, south, and east. East exit is just a walkway, but it leads to the Medina wall. It’s hemmed in on both sides by buildings.”
    “Roger.” Knuckles knew they were falling behind Crusty because they had to run about twice as far around the buildings as he did straight across them. If Crusty sprinted down the stairs and out the door, they might miss him. It was going to be close.
    “Knuckles, this is Birdseye. We’re out of space. I’ve got to continue on.”
    Knuckles couldn’t believe what he’d just heard. At a dead sprint, panting into his Bluetooth earpiece, he said, “Negative. Do not leave. I say again, do not leave.”
    “Not my call. Can’t risk the cover and I’ve already deviated wide from my flight plan. I’ll give you optics as long as I can, but it’s going to be a rear view from a distance.”
    Knuckles swore, but knew he was right. If they managed to get Crusty, and someone mentioned strange aircraft orbits that tied it to his disappearance, the ensuing investigation would be catastrophic. They’d already raised their signature by running all over the place like a Laurel and Hardy movie.
    He reached the corner of the third building and held up, pulling out his smartphone. He initiated the moving map and saw Johnny’s team setting up, each man a glowing green icon. “Johnny, I’m coming in now. I’ll be passing your south team shortly.”
    “Roger. I got you.”
    “Knuckles, this is Retro. The camera angle’s off. They’re across the building, but they disappeared behind the roof access. I don’t know if they went in or not.”
    “Can’t you see if they break out? Onto another roof?”
    “Stand by…. Feed’s breaking up. Birdseye’s out of range.”
    Dammit
. “Wonderful. Since you’re free, start working exfil procedures. Figure out how we’re going to get out of here with up to two extra. Johnny, your guys see anything?”
    “We can’t