Chapter 10
The phone rang out in the quiet house, startling everyone. Kate made a dash for it and quickly answered, hints of panic in her voice, "Jack?"
"Uh, no. Mrs. Bauer?"
"Yes, what is it?" She slowly sat down on the couch; convinced she was about to receive bad news. Amy came over and sat next to her, grabbing her hand and squeezing it for support.
"This is Agent Bowman. Agent Goodrich wanted me to call and let you know that we have found Ryan, and he is safe."
Waves of relief crashed over her, "Thank god, where is he, where's my baby?"
"He's right here at the site. The paramedics have checked him over and he doesn't have a scratch on him."
"What about Jack?"
"I'm sorry, I don't have any further information on him. I'm sure he'll call as soon as he can." The agent wished he could tell her more, but he had his orders.
Kate needed more answers, "Wait! At least tell me what happened to Ryan."
Agent Bowman definitely didn't want to be the unlucky one to tell her about Ryan's little adventure, so he said, "I'll let Agent Bauer fill you in later. This should all be over soon." He wanted to reassure her, "Don't worry, Mrs. Bauer, everything is going to be fine."
"Thank you." She hung up and looked at Amy, tears of relief glistened in her eyes.
Amy stood up and put out her hand to help Kate up, "Come on, grab your coat, we're going over there."
Agent Goodrich spoke into his radio, "All teams, we are a go. Agent Bauer gave the codeword, repeat, we are a go!"
All snipers carefully eyed their targets. The Sniper Division team leader spoke into his radio, "Ready, on my mark, bring them down. Three, two, one, now!"
Ten guards fell to the ground, wounded or dead. The ground assault SWAT unit split up into teams of four and made it's way to each door. They barged through the doors with body shields and full Kevlar armor, expecting return fire. There wasn't any.
"Sir, this is team A. All clear." "Team B, all clear." Every team repeated the same refrain.
"Copy, Jack is still in there somewhere, as well as at least five hostiles. Find them."
Agent Goodrich couldn't believe how easy their entry had been. He just hoped nothing would go wrong now. He knew Jack could take of himself, but now it seemed that it was Jack alone against five hostiles. The odds seemed about even.
Hassan yelled at Jack, "I said shut up!" He went over to Jack and grabbed him.
Jack was violently thrown down into the corner of the office on the floor. Hassan and three of his associates then held a quiet conference around the large desk. Jack strained to hear what they were discussing, but gave up when he realized that they were not using English. He whispered to the mike as he worked to loosen the ropes binding his wrists, "What's going on?"
Agent Goodrich responded in his ear, "Sit tight Jack, all teams have entered the building and are making their way to your position." In Jack's position sitting on the floor, he was able to slowly access the small guns hidden in his boots, taking one in each palm.
Just then, Ariz burst through the door with a look of sheer terror on his face, "All the guards are down! There are SWAT teams swarming this place, we have to leave. Now!"
Hassan took a handgun out of his pocket and aimed it squarely at Jack's head. "You're coming with me." It wasn't a question.
He pointed at one of his men, "You, call the helicopter to pick us up on the roof now." When Hassan noticed Jack's look of surprise, he said with a sly smile, "Ah, you didn't think I would leave my escape up to you, did you Mr. Bauer? I knew I would never get that helicopter I asked for."
He ordered, "Ariz, set the traps behind us, let's get up to the roof. Leave the other hostages, they are of no use to us, we have Mr. Bauer." Hassan moved behind Jack and lifted him up, the gun pressed into his temple with steady pressure.
The voice in Jack's ear spoke up, "We got it Jack, we'll cut off the chopper, and I will warn the men about the traps. The snipers are ready if you make it to the roof. We're trying to get a twenty on your position." Jack coughed loudly to be heard over their movement.
Though his wrists were still tied, he had loosened the binds enough to allow limited movement. He slowly aimed each gun at the heads of the other two terrorists coming towards him as Hassan pulled him backwards. He knew this was it. He couldn't miss because he probably would not get any more shots off and he was playing a hunch that Hassan would not shoot him immediately; he still needed Jack as a hostage to get to the roof.
Jack felt he was running out of time, so he took a deep breath and threw his head back and up, powerfully connecting with Hassan's nose, causing an audible crack. Jack hastily ducked down as Hassan grabbed his nose in pain and pulled both triggers. The guns were pointed across each other because of the awkward position of his hands, but managed to find their targets.
They both instantly fell to the ground. One fell back dead with a shot to the head, blood dripping down his face. The other was groaning on the floor with a hole in his right thigh. Blood was pouring out of it and pooling on the floor, he must have hit an artery. They were no longer any concern to Jack.
The man who was calling the chopper threw down the phone and turned towards Jack when he heard the commotion. Jack pointed both guns at him and fired simultaneously. He went down hard too, bleeding from the abdomen in two places.
He glanced quickly at Ariz, who was frozen in position, transfixed by the sight of his comrades' blood painting the floor red. He was also not much concern to Jack. Hassan remained his only obstacle.
Hassan regained his composure and brought the butt of his pistol down on the back of Jack's head, causing him to lose his grip on the guns. Jack's vision went black for a moment as he fought unconsciousness and gravity. He blinked his eyes several times to clear his blurry vision and stay upright. His head was throbbing and he was still seeing stars, but he brought his elbow back in an effort to punch the nose again. Hassan anticipated the move and leaned right. Jacks elbow swept the air as Hassan landed a hard punch to Jack's stomach.
He leaned over in agony, breath knocked from his lungs. Hassan took advantage of Jack's prone position and kicked his leg. He was taunting Jack, "You bastard, you are no match for me Agent Bauer, you Americans think you are so tough."
Jack fell painfully on the ground, still hugging his stomach. He gradually slipped his hand under his Kevlar flak jacket and wrapped his hand around his remaining gun. He began to softly laugh through his pain. Hassan aimed the gun at Jack's head again and demanded, "What's so funny?"
Jack alternately chuckled and winced in pain, "I know something you don't." He slowly cocked his hidden gun.
Hassan was angered by Jack's insolence and interference. He rushed over to him and roughly positioned the gun against his temple.
"What do you think you know?" he sneered.
In one fluid motion, Jack flung his hand out of his jacket, aimed at Hassan's heart and pulled the trigger. He grimaced with new pain the sudden movements caused, "You're not so tough either."
Hassan fell back and clutched his chest with a look of surprise on his face. Blood dripped out of his mouth as he gasped for air. Jack painfully recovered to his feet and stood up over Hassan's almost lifeless body. He pulled the trigger again, putting an end to Hassan's life. He felt no remorse.
Jack saw movement out of the corner of his eye and suddenly remembered Ariz. He swung his arm around and pointed the gun at him. "Don't move!"
"Don't shoot me," he begged. "I give up, please!" His hands were raised above his head in the universal symbol of surrender.
"Jack, it's over, don't do it, he gave himself up," Agent Baker was standing in the doorway surrounded by SWAT personnel. Jack looked at the cavalry, lowered the gun and sat down on a nearby chair in pain.
Agent Baker smiled and spoke into his radio, "Sir, Jack didn't leave any for us, it's over. Got four down in here, one prisoner. Need medical assistance ASAP."
"Copy that."
To Be Concluded...