Part 24 (1/2)
Jason paused a moment and then unloaded. ”Jude left.”
”What do you mean left?” When Jason remained silent, Carlton continued, ”Oh, don't f.u.c.king tell me he pulled a disappearing act on her again. I'll hunt his a.s.s down and kill him myself.”
Jason smiled. He'd have to get in line if Jason didn't know better this time. ”Yeah, well, it wouldn't do any good. But nevertheless, that doesn't explain where Lori ran off to.”
”s.h.i.+t. I'll go check the club.”
”I'll go see if she's at Jude's house. Maybe she went there to cool off.”
”Good plan. I'll call you in a bit.” Carlton broke off the call, leaving Jason holding the phone and wondering what sort of rabbit hole he'd descended.
Chapter Twenty.
Jude inched forward behind his closest buddy from the force, Ike. They squatted down behind a group of bushes and peered through their binoculars at the warehouse. ”What do you think are the chances he's really in there?”
Ike glanced over his shoulder with a wry grin. ”Slim to none. He doesn't operate this way.”
”That's what I was thinking. So this has to be a decoy.”
”That'd be my guess.”
”Why?” Jude wanted his best man's take on what was going down.
”Got me, man. It's crazy. Why would he hole up in this shack with all his people and wait for us to come surround him? It's like he knows we're out here and he's going to come up from behind. He's an a.s.shole of the largest sort, but he isn't stupid. He'd be a sitting duck if he were in there.” Ike shook his head. ”I'm not buying it.”
”Me neither.” At least they were on the same page. ”So what do you think we should do?”
”Watch our backs, that's for sure.”
Jude agreed, and for emphasis he turned around. Nothing.
A voice came over Jude's earpiece. ”We move forward ten yards on three. One, two, three.”
Jude stayed on Ike's back as they duck-walked closer to the warehouse. ”What the f.u.c.k is this guy playing?” His question was rhetorical and Ike didn't answer.
They watched, straining to see any sort of movement behind any of the windows. They shouldn't. The gla.s.s was too high for a man standing on the ground, but just in case.
”Ten more on three. One, two, three.”
Everyone moved. They'd been here for hours. Something didn't feel right. Jude didn't like the way his skin crawled. He looked through the binoculars for the millionth time. As far as he could tell, there was no evidence anyone was in the warehouse, let alone one of the world's most-wanted terrorists.
”What sort of intel are we following here?” Ike asked. ”I don't get it. If they were in there, they'd be coming and going. Are we sure they aren't onto us?”
Jude said nothing. He strained to see any sign of life in a panoramic sweep of the area. ”Did anyone check to see if there was some sort of underground system running from this warehouse?”
”Yep. Nothing on the grids.”
A distant noise caught Jude's ear. A vehicle. It grew closer. h.e.l.l, it barreled right past where he and Ike were kneeling and straight up to the front door of the building. How had it gotten past the security check point on the road?
Jude pressed his mic. ”What's going on, Stanton? How'd this truck get here?”
Silence. Static. And then his earpiece lit up with foul language. ”What the f.u.c.k is going on out there? Unit four, respond, please. Unit four... h.e.l.lo? Unit four, please respond.” Stanton screamed a few more obscenities. ”G.o.ddammit, unit four, what are you doing? f.u.c.k...”
Jude held still. If the security checkpoint was breached, it could be that unit four was dead. No wonder his hackles were at an all-time high.
One man jumped from the truck and rapped on the door to the warehouse. Jude watched him through the binoculars. Middle Eastern. Someone opened the door and stepped out. The two men conversed for a moment, the guy from the truck pointing at the truck bed.
The man from the warehouse nodded and then flipped the hatch down and reached in to drag something from the bed.
f.u.c.k, not something, someone. There was no mistaking the human form. Someone medium-sized, wrapped in a gunny sack and wiggling to get free. The man from the truck threw the body bag over his shoulder and hefted it higher before entering the building behind the second man.
f.u.c.k. f.u.c.k f.u.c.k f.u.c.k. What the h.e.l.l was Sharik playing at? A hostage? Who? From where? Why?
The door closed. s.h.i.+t.
Jude took a deep breath. He narrowed his gaze on the entrance to the warehouse, hoping someone else would come out or the man from the truck would leave so they could grab his a.s.s on the road. No such luck.
Stanton droned on in Jude's ear, but he was still eying the front door.
”So much for our theory that Sharik wasn't in there,” Ike whispered.
”Yeah.” Jude leaned forward and held a branch aside. ”Although it could just be his men.”
”Do you think it's all staged?”
”Yep, but that doesn't change the fact that we need to move in. If they're holding someone hostage, we need to pick up the pace.” Jude pressed the b.u.t.ton on his mic. ”Stanton.”
”Yeah, I know, dammit. I'm working on it.”
Jude waited another minute and then spoke to his commanding officer again. ”We need to move, Stanton. What's the word?”
”I can't get anyone from unit four even individually.”
”So we move in.”
”Yes. On three. Everyone respond please. Units one, two, three and five, do you copy? On three we move in.”
The leader of each group confirmed he got the message, and Stanton gave the signal. ”One, two, three.”
Jude stood, his legs stiff from crouching for so long. He kept low but moved at a near run for the side of the building. His gear was heavy. He hadn't worn it in months. And it would hardly protect him from the kind of artillery Sharik would be carrying.
He hit the side of the building at the same time as everyone else. They had the place surrounded. It made his stomach roil. What the f.u.c.k was Sharik's game? That b.a.s.t.a.r.d was on Jude's last nerve. He touched his pocket to confirm his grenades were still attached. He had two. All of them did. It was part of their uniform. But no one else in his unit was planning to use theirs. That was between Jude and his G.o.d.
He'd love for this fight to turn out another way, but the deck was stacked against him. Abdul Sharik was going down today one way or another. And Jude knew his best bet was to beat the man at his own game-suicide bomber.
Jude held his rifle with his right arm and pointed at the entrance to the building with his left. Men on the other side of the door nodded at his signal.