GhostWalkers 10 - Samurai Game

informant. She was determined that these four men who had come to kidnap the infants would not be returning. Eventually Whitney was going to find himself without too many friends and then, for the first time, he’d truly be vulnerable.
    A radio muttered and she heard the command. “Get the thermite in place.”
    Lily, tell everyone that they plan to blow up some of the houses as a distraction
, Azami reported. The assault wasn’t going to be on the two main gathering buildings, but on some of the outlying buildings probably to draw off anyone left at the two compounds.
    The night was dark, swirling clouds blotting out any semblance of moon. The wind tugged at her face, cool, reminding her that fall was creeping toward winter and up in the mountains, it got cold. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Saber go prone, wiggling beneath the brush into a small animal trail. One touch of Saber’s hand and she could disturb a man’s heart, disrupt it enough to actually kill him. Azami certainly knew what it felt like. Her heart actually jumped at the memory—and it wasn’t the same heart.
    She shook off her past. Her father was right. She had to be in the present, and thinking about something she had no control over did her no good at all. One enemy at a time. She heard a small rustle and then a murmur as the man approaching just to her right spoke into his radio in a soft voice, telling his leader he was in position and ready to invade the house. He was a good distance away, but clearly he expected to ease his way through the trees and rush to cover across the open space as soon as the explosions started. She expected fireworks, but it wouldn’t be the same ones Whitney’s men expected.
    She waited, patient and still. To her left, in the direction Saber had taken, she heard a thud. Branches snapped. Her target turned his head toward the sound. Before he could say anything into his radio, she put an arrow through hisheart. He went down gracefully, slumping over, still clutching his weapon.
    In the distance, toward Team Two’s compound, she heard gunfire. Bright, orange red flames danced, the night suddenly glowing from somewhere to the front of the main structure she was guarding. A fireball whooshed through the air, like a bright comet. Nico’s wife, Dahlia, defending her home.
    Azami moved to her right, falling back a little, to stay in front of the soldier making his way toward the helicopter hangar, determined to destroy the GhostWalkers’ compound.
Her
home. She would be living here with these people who were like her, who could accept her differences. No one was touching her home.
    She heard him coming almost before she could get set. She had no time to get out of his way. He was of medium build and moved easily through the forest, with hardly a whisper of a sound. He parted a bush and was face-to-face with her. She stepped into him, shoving his gun up as she drove the knife deep into his chest. His finger closed on the trigger and the gun roared in her ear, but his body was already slumping to the ground. He had one arm around her, and the deadweight nearly pulled her down.
    Saber emerged from the bushes, twigs and leaves in her hair. She had a gun in her hand and fire in her eyes. Visibly relaxing, she helped Azami shove Whitney’s man aside. In every direction, they could hear the firefight raging.
    “You okay?” Saber asked.
    Azami nodded. “You?”
    Saber took a breath. “Yeah. I guess so. I really did promise myself I wouldn’t do this again, but no one is going to take the babies from us. They aren’t going to live the life we did. I got two of them.”
    “I’m with you,” Azami agreed. “And I also managed to get two. That should be the four man team.”
    They did a quick reconnaissance of the area.
    Clear, moving around to the west
, Azami reported.
    Negative
, Lily said.
The boys are making a sweep, but we think we’re good. They didn’t get near either house. Poor Mari was really hoping someone would walk through her door. Come on in.
    They walked together, keeping a sharp eye on their surroundings, just in case someone had been missed.
    “Did you have a difficult time trusting Lily?” Azami asked Saber.
    Saber glanced at her. “At first,” she answered honestly. “But she’s shared all of her money to build these compounds and to make each GhostWalker independently wealthy. She’s worked tirelessly to help those of us who aren’t anchors be able to just walk down a street