Page 58 of Romi
“I, erm, I don't know what you mean,” he stuttered, shuffling his feet nervously, unconsciously backing up a step or two.
Useless pig! I pulled the Trigger, shooting him in the head.
“Armen, Rolan, go keep the tunnel clear!” I shouted to the guys as a worrying thought occurred to me.
Very few people were aware of our secret entrance at the back of the house, which led to a large underground tunnel and carpark, but Ivor might have found out about it like he had the Lab location. If so, that would explain how he'd slipped away. Of course, you also needed to have the code to enter and exit, but if Ivor had discovered the tunnel, then I guessed he might have also discovered the code.
That could also mean he'd told our enemies about it.
Shit, shit, shit.
If our secret entrance had been compromised, we might have been in more trouble. I radioed the guys, who confirmed the tunnel was empty. We were in the clear, but I still had Marko change the security code remotely. If Ivor had escaped that way, which was the most likely scenario, at least he wouldn't have been able to bring anyone back through with him.
“Some coming your way,” Anton said to Vlad, who was positioned in the trees along the driveway.
The enemy was getting closer. It was time to get everyone into position.
“Trigger, head up to the roof!”
He nodded and disappeared. I gestured to Derrick to remain on the porch. His boyfriend was inside taking care of the women and kids, and he was here in case one of the men needed him as a medic, but he'd also insisted on defending the house. Miki had said no at first, and when Miki said no, people rarely disobeyed him. However, I'd quickly discovered that Derrick was a formidable character in his own right, and he'd won the argument easily.
“Gracie's family,” was his reasoning. He wasn't about to let someone he considered family get hurt. I liked the guy.
Nodding to him as I passed, I gestured to the rest of my team to move forward, and we took up our designated positions in the forest area about three hundred yards from the house to wait. We were the last line of defence. If anyone slipped past our men near the gate, Anton's men who were scattered throughout the grounds, or our traps, we would be ready.
The sounds of muffled gunshots up ahead could be heard, even amidst the first rounds of fireworks. Marko was setting off from inside the house to help cover their noise. I itched to get in on the action, unhappy at having been relegated to stay so far back.
Adrenaline coursed through my body, setting me alight with pent-up energy that needed to be released. With nothing to do but wait and listen to the enemy invading my home, my anger built. So, by the time Anton's voice confirmed through the radio that several of the Broxy's had managed to break through his lines and were headed my way, I was seething with barely controlled rage.
Gesturing to my brother Dimitri and our team, we slowly crept forward using the thick canopy of trees lining the long driveway as cover as we waited for the first dark shadow to emerge.
As soon as they were close enough, I signalled to open fire. I took down two almost immediately, and Dimitri got another with a headshot.
“Yes!” he shouted in glee, and I chuckled. Someone was enjoying himself.
A couple hunkered down behind some hedging. At least a dozen of them seemed to be hidden in the trees. It was difficult to tell exactly how many there were, but we roughly matched their number.
We traded shots back and forth for a while, only succeeding to hit one other guy. This was not going great, and I could tell by the radio chatter that the others were facing similar problems.
Trigger was obviously keeping track of what was going on with us, but he had yet to take a shot.
“Trigger?” I asked, not needing to say anything else.
“Romi, they are too well covered, I can't get a clear shot,” he replied, his frustration evident in his voice.
This was proving more difficult than we'd anticipated. The Broxy's had night vision goggles like our own and vests, too, along with similar weapons, but we were more trained in combat than these guys. We were all put through regular military-style training to ensure we were able to defend ourselves and anyone else we needed to. Also, Anton's men were all ex-military. We should have had the upper hand. Nevertheless, with the similar equipment, vests, and the cover of the trees, it was hard to make any significant progress, and we needed to keep this fight as short as possible to avoid police involvement.
We had to get closer.
After quickly relaying my plan to my men, I gestured to Dimitri to move forward. As he did, I provided covering fire.
A shot rang out, whizzing past his ear. He quickly dove behind a fallen tree, just making it in time. My heart thundered in my chest at how close my baby brother had come to nearly taking a bullet to the head just now. He might be a grown-ass man, but my mama would never forgive me if I let anything happen to him. I wouldn't forgive me either.
“Missed me,” he taunted, laughing, and sounding like he was having the time of his life. I shook my head. Sometimes, I wondered about his sanity. The Russian word for brother was brat, and Dimitri always acted like the English version of the word. He was the youngest and spoiled, so it was no surprise. Still, deep down, I wouldn't have him any other way. My brother might lack sanity at times, but he had a way about him that could brighten your darkest hour. He made people smile.
“Your turn,” he shouted, pulling me out of my thoughts before providing a steady stream of cover.
Running out from behind my tree, I made it another ten feet or so before diving behind another. While we moved forward, distracting the enemy, Dariusz and my men slipped away and headed further into the forest area so they could swing around behind the Broxy's in a pincer movement as I'd instructed.