Operation Leap of Faith

Chapter 1

Present day - USA, Minnesota

The wind carried the ghost of music with it, a disruptive whisper in the otherwise silent night. The woods were eerily quiet; a predator was on the loose. An outcrop of rocks crowned the gentle slope of the hill. It was the perfect vantage point. Glaz adjusted his scope again, his movements slow and silent.

The modern house would better be labelled a chalet than a cabin, all polished wood and luxurious windows that made Glaz's job so much easier. There was no one outside, but he had counted at least three people inside. He knew there were supposed to be five, yet just four of them were targets. A cold wind ruffled the leaves in the ground, some sticking to his face. He made no move to wipe them out of the way. He wished he could have better camouflage than the rather bulky winter jacket he wore, but at least he wasn't shivering from the cold after spending so much time prone on the ground, looking through the scope of his rifle.

From what he could see, his targets had all gathered in a single room. Glaz flipped on the thermal scope, focused all his attention on the sight of his targets and took a deep breath. The first shot was clean and perfect, shattering the window's glass and distracting his targets. The first guy dropped dead before the rest had time to process what had happened. The second shot pierced another man's chest as he tried to hide, who then stumbled and collapsed. By now, his remaining target was fully aware of what was going on and had run out of sight. Glaz calculated a possible path of movement and waited. The exterior walls wouldn't be easy to perforate at this distance, and he'd rather not waste bullets blindly. He waited.

Not one but two guys came out through the front door. The first one went down in a spray of blood and gore, the bullet going through his forehead. The last man standing retreated back inside, having deduced it was much safer than staying in plain view of an unknown shooter. Glaz could only imagine his panic, yet he felt no remorse. He'd been tasked to kill them all, and he would. It was an inherent risk in their line of work, they should have known there would be consequences for what they had done.

After what Glaz considered a long enough wait, it was clear the remaining man wasn't coming out any time soon. Glaz would have to go in to finish the job. He got up with a resigned sigh; Glaz disliked fighting in close quarters. He un-holstered the pistol, knowing it was better suited for a closer range shootout than the sniper rifle. Sticking to the shadows and corners, he approached the house, the main door still ajar and jerking with the wind gusts. In moments like this Glaz missed not having rappelling equipment to climb to the roof and surprise the enemy from above. His only entrance points were the main door or one of the windows. He chose the main door.

The inside of the house was as empty as the outside. The music blasting from the living room made it difficult to know if someone else was moving around. Quickly surveying the area, Glaz moved forward. The bodies of his victims lay on the floor, their blood mixing in an already congealing pool on the carpet. One of them had knocked a glass coffee table, small shards of glass crunching underfoot with every step he took.

The hostage was hiding behind the couch, trembling in fear but without making noise. A barely noticeable movement by the corner of his eye was all the warning he got before the remaining man emerged from behind the bar counter, aiming his gun at him. Glaz ducked out of the way and shot his own pistol. Luckily, his reflexes were good and his aim even better. A bullet sailed dangerously close to his ear, but the other man made a gurgling noise, blood pouring out of his mouth and running down his chest before he fell down dead. Mission accomplished. Well, mostly.

Taking his phone from the pocket of his jacket, Glaz sent a simple text message to his contact, a person called Shrike.

"It's done."