Counter-Strike (A Mitch Kearns Combat Tracker Novel Book 2) by JT Sawyer

choice but to follow
through on his orders from above. He’d heard about what happened to field
agents who swam against the tide and probed into their superiors’ affairs. He
didn’t need his helicopter to mysteriously crash in the mountains like one of his
colleagues on another of Crenna’s teams did last year after doing wet work in
Latin America. At least that’s what Von suspected. He continued rubbing his
neck as the satellite image refined its search and zoomed in on the fleeing
Land Rover which was headed towards Germany. Von grinned at the thought of
heading to that country. He remembered a college semester abroad in Stuttgart—when
the world seemed so good. Before he signed away his life to the agency and
their claws became embedded in his soul.

 
     
    Chapter 8
    After arriving in Vienna on the Gideon company
jet, Dev had arranged for a Mercedes Benz SUV to be waiting at the airport so
she and Mitch could immediately head to Yin’s location. She didn’t want to
bring an arsenal of weapons with them in case they had to quickly ditch their
gear and flee the estate so she opted for two HK pistols, spare mags, and suppressors.
    An hour and a half later, Mitch drove the
rented black SUV along a narrow road until it emerged at the edge of the forest
and a large field. Two hundred yards ahead was a three-story estate where Yin
was supposed to be located based upon the plates of a stolen Land Rover Dev had
been tracking. The spacious grounds looked to be well-maintained under the
moonlight and the opulent home was nestled amongst a backdrop of groomed spruce
trees. There was a single light on in the first-floor window, casting a soft
glow onto the eerie scene of lifeless figures sprinkled around the lawn.
    “This looks like the place,” said Dev,
peering through a night vision device at the grassy area near the side
entrance. “I count six men down and a disabled vehicle—quite a party they had
here.”
    Mitch approached cautiously in their SUV,
pulling to the right of the Audi. He and Dev quickly exited, their pistols in
hand.
    Dev studied the scene, noting the precise
headshots of the deceased and the large caliber entry wounds which had
splintered a few of the skulls. There appear to be two different groups of
men with some being Caucasian and the others dark-skinned, possibly Filipino.
If I was able to track Yin down then others can do the same. Just a shame they
got here first.
    She and Mitch did a quick sweep of the
inside, finding another dead body in a third-floor bedroom. Then they retraced
their steps and scanned the grounds once more. She saw Mitch kneeling down near
a muddy swath of exposed ground beside the door.
    “Got something?” she said.
    “Mmm…just an unusual boot pattern—the
tread is different from the rest.” He pointed to the zig-zag pattern etched in
the soil. “This reminds me of my old jungle survival boots. I used to refer to
these as Charlie Brown boots because of that design with the Z-pattern.”
    She gave him a puzzled look. “Who the hell
is Charlie Brown?”
    “It’s an American cartoon with Snoopy,
Pig-Pen, and…” He stopped, shaking his head. “Never mind. It’s hard to
explain.”
    Dev rolled her eyes. “So, aside from that
fascinating insight, what can you tell from the tracks?” She watched Mitch as
he got up and followed the boot prints down the driveway with his redbeam
flashlight, stopping abruptly at a thick patch of brush not far from the
treeline.
    “Looks like he got in another vehicle and
headed off to the north.” Mitch backtracked towards the estate and examined the
bodies again. He squatted beside one of the men who looked Malaysian. Mitch
shined his flashlight on the face and then down at the hands. “You’re a long
way from home, son.” He noticed a tattoo near the wrist. Sliding up the black
sleeve, he saw a red-and-green tiger on the inner forearm. He bit his lower lip
in faint recognition, trying to recall where he’d seen the image