Two guys would be stationed out back in case they were able to make a run for it.
"One, gogogo!"
The door blew open and the men moved as one, swarming into the space.
And the three red figures on Nick's tablet disappeared.
Fuck!
He looked up from the tablet and saw an immensely bright glow coming from the door. The inside of the warehouse was lit up like day. Light that bright would blind the SWAT team members, who had on night vision. Night-vision goggles magnified ambient light sometimes a thousand fold. In the sudden presence of a very bright light, they'd automatically switch off but not before causing temporary blindness.
His guys were now blind.
The shooting started immediately, careful single shots. No spraying and praying, these guys were pros.
Someone screamed.
There was an explosion in the back of the building. The two SWAT team members stationed in the back were gone.
Nick ran, a clock ticking in his head. The SWAT team would know to go to ground and seek cover, even while nearly blind. But right now, right this instant, they were sitting ducks.
Another shot, another man screamed.
"Down!" Wilson roared. Then screamed as a bullet hit him.
Fuckfuckfuck!
"Morrison!" he yelled into his comms. "Men down!"
"Incoming," Bud's calm voice replied. "Two mikes." A car door slammed in the background and an engine revved.
Two minutes were an eternity. Plenty of time for the good guys to die, for the bad guys to escape.
Nick rounded the corner to the back, briefly eyeing the remains of two brave police officers. Rage burned in his heart. He toggled the handle of the back door, but it wouldn't open. There was a lot of noise coming from the warehouse, so nobody would hear the bullet that struck the handle unless they were right on the other side.
If somebody was right on the other side, and heard the shot, then they'd be standing right there, armed and waiting for him.
Nick shot out the lock, kicked the door open, went in low, almost hoping someone would be there.
Nothing.
He could see at a glance the situation. A three-sided wall of glass had been erected around what was a command station. Glass explained why the three heat signatures had winked out. It didn't allow IR through. The men had stepped into the cubicle when the lights went out.
Two huge spotlights had been mounted on stanchions. A generator buzzed. They'd expected the lights to be cut.
The SWAT team was recovering, shooting back from behind makeshift cover. An overturned table. Ominously, two of the SWAT team members were on the floor, still.
The spotlights were aimed at the door, so Wilson and his men were still blind. They couldn't see what Nick saw, the three men retreating, firing steadily to keep Wilson and his men under cover.
The way the bad guys were retreating showed discipline and training. One would keep up a steady fusillade of bullets while two retreated, then another one would take to a knee while the shooter fell back. It was disciplined and well thought out. Nick knew from the drone footage that out back was an SUV, which would no doubt be armored. They had their escape planned, already probably rejoicing that they would make it out and disappear.
Nope. They were not leaving this building alive.
To hell with the order not to shoot to kill. Two men were down, two others were dead. Nick hoped with all his heart that the SWAT team members lying so still in the warehouse were alive, but the bad guys had shot to kill and had forfeited anything resembling mercy. There were two dead men out back.
And they'd tried to kill Kay.
The first of the men was almost at the back door. Wilson and his guys were still shooting blind, the bright light directly in their eyes. Their bullets went wide.
Calmly, Nick took a knee, shouldered his weapon, selected single shot. This required precision shooting.
So far, they hadn't realized he was there. They were too busy trying to kill Wilson and his men.
Nick took careful aim and fired three shots. One after the other, spaced not even a second apart.
One by one, the escaping men fell. The first one grabbed his neck and looked astonished before falling to the ground. The other two realized there was another shooter but they couldn't tell where. They were still looking when they fell, red mists where their heads had been.
The shots from the back of the warehouse ceased and so did those from the SWAT team. Wilson stood from a crouch and limped forward. The front of his tactical pants was red with blood, but you wouldn't know that from his face.
"Mancino?" he called, shielding his eyes with the palm of his hand.
"Yo." Nick stood just as Bud rushed into the room.