A small fence was no obstacle. I went over it without breaking stride and pounded through a flower bed. At the house I turned, pressing my left shoulder to the wall, and brought up my H&K. Smoke drifted in my vision from all the gunfire and I caught the same smell that follows a firework display. But I had no target. Charles continued to lay down covering fire and I could hear the metallic ting of his bullets striking the vehicles. Quickly I stood, taking a glance in the window and sweeping the room with my gun. It appeared clear. Grabbing at the sill, I clambered inside, over a dresser and into the room beyond. A man lay ten feet away. He was dead. Unfortunately it wasn’t Rickard.

Moving through the room, I heard the rattle of a gunfight somewhere in the house, someone screaming in Spanish. At the door I peeked out into a hallway. Cordite hung in the air. I walked slowly, checking and clearing rooms as I progressed. One room I came across held the bodies of two men who looked to have been cut down from behind. Almost opposite that room were a door and a short flight of steps leading down. I thought I heard voices.

Just as I turned to investigate, bullets cut through the house, knocking pictures out of frames and plaster from the walls. In reaction I ducked. At the other end of the hallway a man ran into view. He was a second or so in recognizing I was a stranger—and therefore an enemy—and in that time I brought up my gun and gave him a measured burst. The bullets knocked him sprawling, his gun flying out of his hands.

The walls of the house shook to a detonation. Not the boom of a Hollywood explosion but a dull thud. Someone was throwing hand grenades. Following the noise there was a moment of utter silence, but it didn’t last long. Somewhere a man began to scream. Guns began rattling again, and I turned my attention back to the short flight of stairs. I went down them stealthily, holding my H&K ready for anything that might present itself. Periodically I checked over my shoulder for anyone following but it seemed I had the stairs to myself. The short passage in front of me was also empty.