“It’s Kevin’s phone,” Daniel said, patting his vest frantically with his right hand. He dug the phone out of a snap pocket meant for ammo. She took it from him as he fumbled with it.
An unfamiliar number glowed on the display. She jabbed the answer button.
“Danny?” Kevin barked in her ear.
“Rotten timing, Beach! He’ll call you back!”
“Put him on, you—”
She hung up and powered the phone off.
“Stay focused. You can call him back when we’re finished.”
“No problem.”
Well, Kevin was alive. She supposed that was good news. Except someone was going to have to tell him his retirement arrangements were gone and his friend was dead.
“What are you going to do?” Daniel asked. “Tell me the plan so I know what to watch for.”
“You’re going to ram through the gate, if they closed it. That will get their attention. We’ll tweak the plan if there are more than four waiting. You accelerate up to the house, then turn right so that your side of the vehicle is exposed. Four or less, you slow down, but don’t stop. I’ll slide out. Hopefully, they’ll stay focused on you. Keep going a few yards, then stop driving and start shooting. I’ll hit them from the side. You shoot to kill. I will try to get someone down that I can still talk to. I’m hoping that somebody is passed out in my room upstairs, too. I’ll take Einstein to keep the other dogs off me. Khan stays with you. If they hole up in the house, I’ll get back in and we’ll come in through the wall.”
“I can see the gate. It’s open.”
“Punch it up to the house.”
He accelerated.
“Lights!” he told her in the same moment she saw them. Headlights coming up the road toward them, moving closer fast.
“Goggles off! New plan. Hit them. Hard. Roll right over them if you can. Brace yourself, don’t lose control of the car.”
She grabbed the dash with one hand, her seat with the other. Daniel shoved the goggles to his forehead and floored the gas pedal. She wished there was a way to secure the dogs. They were going to feel this.
The other car didn’t react to their charge until the last second, like maybe its occupants had been watching behind them rather than out front. Or maybe, with the headlights and running lights off and the matte-black paint, the Humvee was mostly invisible in the night.
It was a midsize SUV, white. Once he saw them, the driver veered off to Alex’s right. Daniel jerked the wheel right and the Humvee plowed into the passenger side of the SUV with a deafening shriek of tearing metal and the explosive pop of safety glass crumpling. The dogs flew forward; a shower of metallic clanks and jangles sounded while Khan’s body crashed heavily into the back of both the driver’s and the passenger’s seats. Alex’s head whipped forward but missed the dashboard by inches when the seat belt yanked her back. The SUV flew a few feet away, tottered on two wheels for a second, then smashed, driver-side-first, into the ground. The passenger-side headlight burst with another explosion of glass. Khan and Einstein whimpered, falling back to the floor.
“Again!” she yelled.
Daniel slammed the front of the Humvee into the undercarriage of the SUV. Metal protested and squealed. The SUV slid across the flat yard like it weighed no more than a cardboard box. She could see they weren’t going to be able to roll it. There was nothing to push it against, just the endless grass.
“Cover me.” She snagged the goggles off his head. “Use the nightscope on the rifle. Einstein, come!”
Alex didn’t wait for a response. She was out of the Humvee before it was totally stopped. Einstein’s toenails scrabbled against the back of her wet jeans as he hurried to join her. She had to move fast, before the men in the car could recover from the impact. Before they could get their automatic weapons back into play.
She ran straight for the windshield, Glock held tight in both hands. She was better with the SIG Sauer, but this was going to be extremely close up and she would probably want to ditch the gun afterward.