Drake Sisters 07 - Hidden Currents

to his shoulder.
    Some unseen force kept him from pul ing the trigger. He and the bodyguard stared at each other while time stood stil . The features came into focus, sharp and defined. He was looking at the face of a younger version of the only relative he’d seen in a picture—his father. A chil went down his spine, his heart nearly stopped beating and then adrenaline pumped into his system. The bodyguard dropped the rifle to his side without taking a shot.
    A streak of orange-red lit up the night like a whip of lightning, coming from the ground toward the helicopter. Abel swore and the helicopter pitched away from the tracer round. Ilya fired off three rounds in rapid succession, taking out two of the three men.
    In the distance, coming from the north side, scattered gunfire erupted, letting Jackson know that Matt’s team had engaged the enemy, trying to clear the way for them to make it to the boat unharmed. A vol ey of shots and automatic gunfire reverberated as the enemy used the standard “pray and spray†assault. Every now and then a gun answered, a single control ed shot as Matt or Kent or Luke found a target.
    Aleksandr went out of the house first, sweeping left to right, clearing the path to the first cover, a large fountain in the courtyard. Jackson came after him, pistol out as he carried El e, with Jonas bringing up the rear. The sound of an angry bee zinged past Jackson’s head and thunked into the fountain, burrowing a hole through the marble and spraying chunks out the other side.
    Jonas hissed a command and Aleksandr and Jackson hit the ground while Jonas swung around and returned fire on ful auto, spraying the area behind him, uncertain where his target was. While Jonas laid down a rain of fire, Aleksandr and Jackson sprang up and ran for the cover of the grove of trees forty meters away. Jackson shifted El e off his back to the ground and came up on his knees behind a smal nest of boulders, bringing his rifle around.
    â€œMove,†he snapped to Jonas. “Got you covered.â€
    Jonas took off running toward him, and Aleksandr and Jackson sprayed the area behind him. Jonas leapt the last meter.
    â€œWhere is that son of a bitch?†Jonas demanded. “Is he dead?â€
    â€œI don’t know. Ilya? Are we clear?†Jackson asked.
    A bul et whined past, this time coming at them from the vil a’s second floor.
    â€œI thought you cleared that house,†Ilya growled.
    â€œThat sneaky son of a bitch,†Jackson cursed. “He could hold us here forever.â€
    â€œI’l get him,†Ilya said. “Abel, come around.â€
    The helicopter zipped through the sky. Jackson crawled around the pile of boulders, using his knees and toes and elbows, rifle ready, circling around to get in a better position. Jonas fired a couple of shots to lure the target out. As soon as he slid back behind the rock, the enemy popped his head up to take the shot. Jackson shot him.
    â€œClear,†he said. “The son of a bitch can go to hel .â€
    â€œYou’re clear here,†Matt said. “Move, move, move.â€
    Aleksandr took the lead, Jackson with El e tight behind him and Jonas, as usual, brought up the rear. Overhead, Ilya in the helicopter did another pass over the area, looking for Gratsos and his bodyguard. They’d gone into a hole somewhere and Ilya was fairly certain that if it was a Prakenskii guarding him, no one would find the Greek.
    Matt and his team fel in behind the rescue team to protect them, spacing themselves a smal distance apart. Abel kept the helicopter above them as they ran out onto the dock and boarded the waiting boat. The wind had real y picked up and ripped and tore at their clothing as they positioned themselves for best protection.
    Jackson went down in the bottom of the boat to cover El e, shielding her body from the others as they made their way out to sea. The waves rose up, choppy and merciless, and the rain poured from the sky. Several hundred meters from shore, Tom detonated the charges on the smal dock. It went up in a blaze of fire.
    Kent grinned at Tom. “That was a thing of beauty.â€
    The waves rose up behind them, hurling them through the water, throwing the boat as fast as the wind pushed at them. Al of them had night-vision glasses to their eyes, keeping the helicopter in sight, speeding to the rendezvous point.
    â€œDropping Jock now,†Rick said.
    â€œMan