CHAPTER 5

"So our best chance to acquire the target is at 03:00. We will leave here at approximately 02:30. Once we enter the landing zone, there will be complete radio silence and we will begin the entry into the compound. You have been assigned your codenames. I am Mr. Black" said Merker. "Kutsik will be gray, Bybee is blue, Nathan is red, DiMaggio will be brown, and Houston will be green. Any questions?" Merker looked around the room. "You have fifteen minutes before lift-off."

Houston removed his Sig Sauer 9226 from his shoulder holster and rechecked the load. The other men also checked their weapons which ranged from a Remington shotgun that had been modified, to H & K MP5's, and M4's, as well as an M25 sniper rifle. Houston was surprised to see that Slugger was to be their sniper for the op.

"Guess we better get a move on." Slugger clapped him on the back. They made their way out to the specially equipped Blackhawk helicopter that was waiting for them. Houston followed Slugger onboard and fastened his harness. After making sure it was secured, he pulled his St. Christopher medal out of his shirt. It had been a gift from Mama Novelli a short time after he had met her. Matt looked at the picture of CJ that he had taped to the back of it the night before while he was on the way to Germany.

"She's a beaut!" yelled Slugger above the noise of the turning rotors. "Is she your girlfriend or your wife?"

"Yep, she's beautiful for sure" said Houston as he put the medal back inside his shirt. "And she's my wife."

"Got any kids?"

"Not yet, but I think there's one on the way." Matt couldn't help but smile with pride. He couldn't wait to have a little one running around the house. Truth be told, he wanted a whole bunch of them running around the house.

"Congrats, man!" The young SEAL gave him thumbs up.

After everyone boarded, the all-clear was given and they took off into the black night sky. Matt knew that it was a good thing that there was no moon out tonight. It would help to cloak their approach. The sky was cloudy so there were few stars visible. Even though he was accustomed to flying a plane or helicopter at night, Matt still found it somewhat unnerving to be on the blacked-out chopper flying into complete and total darkness. He knew the pilots were the best of the best; he just needed to have faith in them – as well as somebody else.

Although Matt had never been an overly religious person, he found himself talking to God more these days. He didn't even try to go to church anymore: the last time had resulted in a bomb threat being called in and the Sunday worship was interrupted. He felt closer to God when he was out riding his horse or at the lake – or just watching a sunrise or sunset. But since he and CJ had gotten together, he seemed to believe more. He found himself praying at that very moment that he would live through this mission and get back to CJ – and hopefully their child.

Houston started thinking about CJ but then reminded himself to keep focused on the mission. Lack of focus could get him killed and he figured that he had more to live for now than he ever had in his life previously.

Suddenly the sound of the chopper changed; it was almost completely silent. Matt looked at Slugger and could barely see him in the little bit of light that was on inside the helicopter. He was smiling.

The 30 minute flight seemed a lot shorter. As they neared the landing zone, each man again rechecked his weapons. They left the Blackhawk, and got into their entry formation. The Blackhawk made almost no sound as it lifted back into the air, running in complete blackout. It reminded Houston of a large bat swooping away.

The area was extremely dark. Only two lights were visible: one at the guard shack in front of the compound and one that was on the balcony of the main house. As the SEALs expertly maneuvered toward the guard shack there was very little sound as a silenced MP5 took out the two guards inside. Kutter quickly moved the guards behind some nearby barrels.

At this point the unit divided into two groups of three: Houston, Slugger, and Kutter were team A and Merker, Bybee, and Nathan were team B. Houston and Kutter knelt down and gave Slugger a boost to the top of the compound wall. Then Kutter gave Houston a leg up as Slugger reached down and helped him to the top of the wall. Then Slugger and Houston both reached down and helped Kutter up to the top. They immediately jumped down and rolled to try to muffle the sounds of their landing. By this time both teams were ready to hit the main building.

They resumed their entry formation, with Houston in the middle. They swiftly and quietly made their way across the open courtyard to the side door of the main building. After watching the compound for over a month using his own private satellite, Houston and Uncle Roy had decided that this was the best place to make entry.

Nathan found the fuse box located near the door and traced the wires for the security system. Within seconds it was deactivated. He gave the go-ahead sign to Merker, who proceeded to pick the three locks on the door.

Once inside the building, the SEALs were at a slight disadvantage: they didn't know which room the target was in. Houston had estimated that there were six rooms in the building: a kitchen, a bath, and four bedrooms. After watching the house for so long, he thought that the target was using the northeast bedroom on the second floor.

The team carefully made their way up the stairs. As they approached the first bedroom Merker decided to try it instead of going on to the northeast bedroom. Houston tapped his shoulder and shook his head no at him, and pointed to the other bedroom. Merker shook his head no and eased the door open. In the little bit of light that entered the room from the balcony Houston could make out 3 children in their beds. As the team carefully moved back out into the hall, up popped the head of one of the children. "Walid! Walid!" shouted the boy.

The SEALs ran quickly to the next bedroom and burst through the door. There was the target. He sat bolt upright in bed and fired several shots at the intruders. Houston heard a gasp and saw Slugger go down. He had been hit in the throat. The other SEALs threw flash-bang grenades: one in the direction of the target and one in the direction of the children's room. These gave them just enough of an advantage to rush the target and disarm him. However, six guards came running up the steps. Shots were fired from both parties. Houston was covering Slugger, who was doing his best to apply pressure to his wound. As the guards topped the stairs, Houston took out three of them while Kutter took out the other three. Houston grabbed a towel that was lying on a chair in the hallway and tied it around Slugger's neck. Merker had cuffed the target and was working on taking him out of the room. Just then, eight more guards appeared on the stairs. More shots were fired. Houston was supporting the injured Slugger and firing at the guards at the same time. The team made their way down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs the SEALs were met by more of the guards. "How many of these guys did you say there were?" Nathan asked incredulously.

"Not sure. They must be stacked up in here like cord wood." Houston fired more rounds at their attackers. He quickly popped another magazine into the Sig, grabbed the sniper rifle from the semi-conscious Slugger, and kept moving toward the door with the other men. Once outside, Merker called for the Blackhawk to move in. They were almost to the chopper when Houston looked up and saw one of the guards on the balcony with a rocket launcher. He quickly eased the young SEAL down to the ground, brought the sniper rifle up and fired almost simultaneously. The guard crumpled up on the balcony. Merker saw what had happened and looked almost in shock. He quickly recovered and they continued moving toward the Blackhawk.

As they got nearer to the chopper Houston again checked the balcony and saw yet another guard attempting to get off a shot with the rocket launcher. Again he brought up the sniper rifle and instantly pulled the trigger. Down went the guard, pulling the trigger on the rocket launcher and firing it into the midst of the guards who were still swarming the compound.

At last they made it to the chopper. Kutter had also been hit and was bleeding heavily from his left leg. Once the target was loaded, the wounded were loaded and the helicopter took off into the dark night. Just then Houston looked around at the target and noticed that there was a wire sticking out of his left sleeve. "Bomb!" he thought to himself. He grabbed Merker's arm and pointed to the wire. The commander ripped open the man's shirt, only to find a bomb strapped to his chest. He and Houston looked at each other. Without a word, Houston grabbed the left arm of the target while Merker grabbed the right arm. Together they threw him out of the helicopter. The bomb exploded before he hit the ground. The two men looked at each other and smiled.

Although he had wanted the terrorist to be tried in a worldwide court, Matt knew that they hadn't had any choice in the matter: it was either throw the man out of the chopper to explode in midair, or have the bomb detonate inside the chopper taking out every man on board. Matt fully intended to get back home to CJ, so the decision to throw the man out of the chopper was an easy one.

Matt leaned over to check on Slugger. He was dead. The Blackhawk landed back at the base. Houston choked up a little as he and Merker unloaded the body of young Joey DiMaggio. They carried him into the hospital building. Once inside, Matt noticed a splotch of blood spreading across the right shoulder of the commander. "Commander, looks like you've been hit. Better get that looked at" said Houston. Merker looked at Houston's left shoulder and said "Same to ya, Tex. Better get checked out yourself."

Matt looked down in surprise. He had never even felt the round hit home. As he started laughing, Merker eyed him suspiciously. "What's so funny?"

"I guess I've been hit in that shoulder so many times it doesn't even hurt anymore." He continued to laugh as the doctor examined the wound.

"Good Lord, how many times have you been shot there?" The doctor was used to dealing with gunshot wounds on a daily basis, but not on a limb that looked like Houston's shoulder.

"This makes number ten for the shoulder." Matt just shook his head.

"For the shoulder? How many times have you been shot all together?" Merker was amazed.

Matt sat there and did some calculations. "This makes twenty three. Of course the first seven happened in Iraq."

Merker grinned and shook his head. "I was wrong about you, Houston. You're alright. You're crazy as hell, but you're alright."