Chapter 218: Chapter 218
“Don Leon, the barracks in the forest is about to be abolished. Whether there are people in it or none, the order was made, and Terrence Clayton’s minions are on the move as we speak. If you have your men in there, tell them to pull out. Especially if your grandson and his wife are there, I strongly suggest you inform them of this message immediately!”
The caller was using a voice synthesizer, so it was unrecognizable if the caller was a man or a woman.
“Let me know who you are, whether what you say is the truth or just a prank; I want to thank you for this length of effort to notify me; let me return the favor one day,” Leandro wisely replied.
“I will come to find you in person one day, then you will know who you are, and I will personally ask for your help. But for now, we don’t have time. Tell your men to pull out!”
That was all they heard before the line was cut.
“Tatum Eliott, leave the area right away. I repeat, leave the area right now! A tip just came in; that place is about to be permanently erased from the map. Move out! I repeat, move out!” Brianna did not wait for Don Leon to finish the conversation with the unknown caller. She decisively spoke to the microphone to inform the soldiers they sent to deal with Charles Anderson.
“How about the target?” Tatum asked, although he had no problem following every given order.
“He might have already left without us knowing or noticing, but if I am right to believe my intuitions, Terrence Clayton doesn’t care whether Charles Anderson is still in the barracks or not; they want to clean any tracks that might lead to the Clayton. They are planning to blow and burn the whole property to turn it into ashes,” Brianna answered.
“Boss B, we’re a mile away from the location Jack had sent us the info,” Blake Gordon reported.
“Stand down and watch our fellow soldiers fleeing the target area. Assist if there are injured soldiers and take every one of the fallen soldiers you would get the chance to spot around the place home with you. Load them in the vehicles. The least we could do to repay their loyalty is to give them a proper burial. But do not neglect to inspect your surroundings. Do you copy?” Brianna could not hide the sadness in her tone.
“Copy that, Boss!”
Blake relayed the command to his team, and they soon saw Tatum’s men running in their direction. Everyone fled in different directions. Tatum and the men closest to his position ran in the opposite direction where Blake was, but as Blake also told his team to spread out, taking different paths in preparation to enter the target area, other soldiers were able to assist Tatum, who had a gunshot wound on his left thigh.
Tatum let the rest of his team run before him, not wanting to drag them down with him as he could not run at a fast speed. He was still halfway to the palm farm nearby, where he was headed to join the other member of his team, and the backup team was taking safety refuge when the first blast of bombing blew off. The shock wave was too strong that Tatum was pushed away from the direction where the explosion happened.
The people who saw Tatum coming in their direction were signaled by Tatum to stay where they were, so all they could do was with for their team leader to join them, but instead of seeing him run with a limp foot, they were shocked to see him flew in the air while they ducked their head when they deafening sound exploded. They roared in horror, and as soon as they deemed they could run to his side to assist him, a few men did. Two held Tatum side by side while another watched their backs as they walked into the safety spot.
“Medic! Team leader Eliott is unconscious! Double time!!!” one of the soldiers shouted.
“Boss, I can see a shooter from the east direction half a mile from the target location. Can we identify them, or am I clear to shoot back?” Blake asked.
When he saw the first batch of soldiers running in their direction, Blake wanted to know the situation in a better view, so he gave the order to assist the others to his men while he climbed up the biggest and tallest tree nearby to check the surroundings. He also saw Hoggins and Finn do the same thing, so they just exchanged nods when their eyes met and proceeded to look around. He saw a piece of glass shine as it faced the sun, and Blake could tell it was from a sniper rifle’s lens. He quickly reported what he saw to make sure he was not pointing the barrel of his gun at one of their own people. He only saw it not before or while it was being fired to say it was the gun that shot one of the buildings.
“We can’t really tell as we do not have a clear vision from all the trees and leaves in the surroundings. But if it tries to shoot again, take them down. They want to get rid of all the possible evidence we can find in that barracks,” Brianna answered confidently.
“Yes, Boss!”
While Blake and Brianna were in their conversation, Andy and Leandro were welcoming the lawyers summoned to check on the documents that Jack received from an unknown sender. Jack was busy doing his part of the task, exposing every ugly side of the dirty and devious politician all over the multimedia. Enzo was assisting Tatum’s team as he was told to do. Enzo also made a direct call to the medical team to help Tatum Eliott as soon as possible. Lucien noticed a disturbance in the Casino. The young Michaelson informed the leader of the team they have sent to supervise the area right away.
“Assist the Casino security personnel, but remain in your civilian attire to make it appear like you are just among the clients who are there to have fun,” Lucien ordered. “But don’t lose eyes on them. Then take them for questioning when no one is looking,” he added.
Then Lucien also checked the place where his parents were being secured, it was actually Brianna’s villa which Lucien now had the mobile remote control of all the traps set in her yard, front and back, while their men in camouflage were hiding around the area.
“From the airview, the shot was made to explode the power supply of the whole structure. I can guess it was taken by the opponent’s team,” Enzo stated his thoughts.
“Blake, if you can move closer to the shooter and identify them, that would be better,” Brianna suggested. She did not want to make her tone commanding as it would mean getting closer to the place that seemed to be on its way to total vanishment. If the next blow hits the armory, it will cause a stronger blast than what occurred just moments ago.
“I am moving forward,” Blake declared decisively.
Blake gave orders to his second in command and then hurriedly moved to do as he had said. He did not want to bring along anyone with him, but he shook his head and sighed when he noticed his comrades Hoggins and Finn catching up with him. Well, everyone in Brianna’s team, the mercenary team, has a direct line of communication from the field to the control room just as Blake Gordon does. Everything Blake hears over his earpiece, they could hear. Although the rest of the soldiers did not, it had been the way they do it ever since they became a team. So, Hoggins and Finn knew where their team leader was going and what he was about to do.
“There is no way in hell we are letting you go there on your own!” Ramil Finn grinned at Blake when he saw the latter was looking at him and Hoggins with disbelief.
“And I agree to that!” Hoggins added with a wink.
The three moved with speed and minimal silence to avoid attracting attention.
Sniper rifles can only shoot up to eight hundred meters from the shooter’s spot to its target. And since Brianna gave the orders to make a stop and wait for the next command when they reach a mile distance from their target location, Blake and his team were positioned farther by half a mile to the shooter by distance. And because the barracks was surrounded by mountains in the midst of the forest, Blake saw the flash of glass shining opposite from his direction. Now they are running in that direction to get a better look at who could have taken the shot.