Staying low, he fired off two rounds into the doorway. The first one hit a guy dead center in the chest. The second one hit a guard on the right shoulder, sending him sprawling backward, but it didn't knock him to the ground.
"Got it," Merc said. He sprinted forward, pulling his knife free as he ran. The injured guard was dead within seconds. Merc wiped the blood off his blade before he sheathed the knife once more. "Clear."
They breached the doorway, weapons braced and heads down, ready for anything. The entryway was small; the walls made of concrete cinder blocks, as ugly as a pig's ass. Knowing that this place robbed Mankel of his preference for over-the-top luxuries gave Mack a small surge of satisfaction. The bastard had always pampered himself, but this place-this place was straight-up, basic training austere.
"Bet Mankel loves it here," Mack grunted out.
Ranger heaved a laugh, knocked his rifle to his shoulder, and sidestepped into an open doorway on the left. "We've got them on the run." He reemerged from the room he'd just cleared moments later, clutching a medieval battle ax. "Might not be Mankel's taste, but I'm all kinds of digging this joint."
"Shit, I've always wanted one of those," Riser muttered.
"Let's go." There was a narrow stairway built against the right wall, and a path beside it just wide enough for them to file down it two at a time.
The air filled with the sound of footsteps pounding the halls overhead, rushing up from the back of the house. "Here they come."
Mack barely had time to prepare before another round of gunfire broke out. The lights went out, and the hall went completely dark except for the sunlight filtering in from the open doorway behind them.
Mack fired off a round. He dove left, and then came up firing.
Bullets whizzed past his ears, clanged into the walls, and ricocheted off the concrete. The smell of gunfire burned his nostrils. Talk came slow and steady in his ears. Damn, he loved this.
He fired off another round and then called out the order to halt. Straight-up silence permeated the space.
"Merc."
There was a click, and the blue glow from an LED flashlight filled the room. About nine bodies were splayed around him, arms and legs spread, blood seeping onto the floor. "Grab their weapons. That was only round one." It was easy work for his team.
They armed themselves with more guns and a couple of extra grenades, and Mack snatched a radio from one of the men's belts. It wouldn't hurt in the least to be on the inside loop of Mankel's communication.
They'd taken out all the men on the ground floor, which left only the men up the staircase before they took the basement. Mack smiled. "Time for a little hide-and-seek."
Merc clicked off his light and the team silently ascended the staircase, avoiding a dead body on the left. There were two doors opposite each other, and that was it. The compound was small by Mankel's standards. His movements just visible in the dim glow from the doorway, Mack signaled for his team to split. They were dividing to conquer.
The landing was wide enough for them to break off left and right.
Mack crept down the hall, watching Riser and Ethan's backs, the dim light fading as they approached the door on the left. They looked back; Mack nodded. Riser kicked in the door and they moved in, weapons raised.
Mack was distantly aware of the sound of gunfire in the other room, but all his attention was focused on the cavernous, nearly empty bedroom before him. He was so close to Mankel he could taste the victory. Two years of just missing the bastard responsible for Shane's capture and death ate at him, gnawing on his soul like a starved dog with a bone.
Now he was minutes from feeding his need for revenge.
Pop. Mack charged back, searing pain ripping through his left shoulder. He rolled. Motherfucker. On the ground, he could see his assailant's feet beneath the bed.
Mack fired a round, savoring the sound of the bullets sinking into the other man's foot. Screams filled the air as he hit the ground, and Mack took him out with a single bullet to the head. "Clear."
Riser fired off another round, and the guy seeking cover behind the dresser on the right fell to the ground.
"Colonel, you're hit." Riser rushed across the room and pressed his hand against Mack's wound.
Mack hissed as fresh blood seeped into his armpit. "It didn't hurt until you jabbed a finger into it."
"You'll live." Riser said through a grin.
Mack pulled away from Riser's probing eyes and moved back out to the hallway. "I'm good. Let's move."
His men circled up, backs to one another, keeping an eye out for the enemy. The other half of the team joined them with a nod.
"The entrance to the basement is supposed to be on the south corner," Mack said.