FALLEN | The Devil of Caracas

Chapter 13 | Into the Fire

Lexi hears Jason shout as he and the others immediately dash for the stairs.

Her heart jumps. 'Shit,' she thinks to herself.

Pfoot! Pfoot! Pfoot!

She hears more suppressed gunshots from upstairs.

Her concern is confirmed by the storm of boots pounding their way down the stairs. She runs out of the room to see the three darkly clad men sprinting for the back door.

"What happened?!" she yells.

None of them reply. She helplessly watches each man run out to the backyard, weapons in hand. Then Lexi rushes up the stairs and hurries into the bedroom where she sees Anatoly muttering angrily in Russian.

"What the hell happened?" she demands.

She looks out the window and sees one dead guard on the patio and multiple shots in the unbroken bathroom window.

"Bulletproof glass would be good addition to brief!" yells Anatoly, his accent even thicker than before. "Worthless CIA!" He fires another shot at the last guard, hiding around the corner, keeping him pinned. 

---

Sam leads the charge out of the house, followed by Dietrich and Jason. Out of the kennel, jumps a large mutt, barking loudly at the men.

Through his clenched jaw, Jason hisses, "Shut the fuck up!" Still on the move, he raises his rifle and pops two rounds into the animal.

The dog yelps and drops quickly to the ground, where it stays.

"D, hit the lights," orders Sam.

Dietrich pulls a small detonator from his vest pocket, as they line up against the brick wall, separating them from Pérez's property. He flips the switch and gives it a squeeze. They hear a distant pop, like a firecracker, and instantaneously every light in the neighborhood gives out, providing them the cover of darkness.

---

Lexi moves to the wall near the window, keeping herself out of Anatoly's line of fire. She glances down at her husband and his two comrades, jumping up and pulling themselves over the brick wall.

Her gut is tight and her heart pounds quickly. For the first time, since the crash, she offers another prayer.

---

Sam, Jason, and Dietrich drop to the ground on the other side of the wall and then sprint toward the patio door, making their way around the luxurious pool.

The pinned down guard sees the dangerous men approaching. He's trapped near the sliding door and just out of view from Anatoly's reign of death. The patio is slightly concealed by the overhang of the rest of the house, providing shelter for him. If he makes a leap for the door, he knows he would be in the sniper's crosshairs. Desperately, he opens fire.

All three men take aim as they move. Their suppressed weapons unleash focused hell on their target as the guard drops to the ground.

They make their way to the patio and see the guard choking on his own blood. He curls up on his side, grabbing at his chest and gut, where he was shot. Without pausing, Sam aims his MP5, and fires a bullet into the man's head, ending his misery. He then tries the handle of the sliding door - locked. He backs up and fires a few rounds in it to test its strength. It proves to be the same quality of bullet resistant glass as the window. Enough bullets and perhaps the door will be torn to shreds. But they don't have time.

"Breach it," he says.

Dietrich pulls out a small plastic explosive, strips off the cover from the adhesive lining, and slaps it on the glass, near the door's handle. He then arms it and grabs the detonator from his vest. The three of them move around the corner of the house to provide themselves shelter from the blast.