He thought about it for a moment. The light machine gun’s high rate of fire would certainly pack a punch, but nobody on the team had much experience on the M249. Nearly all their operational time had been spent behind the gunsights of Russian-made weapons or similar knockoffs, which was most likely why the arsenal in Pennsylvania contained several AK variants. Everyone on the team, except for their sniper, had chosen a compact version of the AK-12 assault rifle.

“How many times have you fired one of these?” asked Felix.

“A few times. It’s not the easiest weapon to handle. The rate of fire is extremely high.”

He shook his head. The last thing he wanted to do was throw a wrench in the works at the last minute. Especially if their opponents were as skilled as Pichugin’s proxy had suggested. If their mission changed and they needed the firepower to dislodge the hostiles from the camp, he could send a team back to grab them.

“Let’s stick with what we know,” said Felix.

“Thirty seconds!” said the pilot.

Thirty seconds until they hit the ground running—literally. The landing zone and SITE ZERO were nearly equidistant from the ambush site—a race he had no intention of losing if the hostile team retreated faster than Pichugin’s planners had anticipated. Second place was an unceremonious death in the Ozark Mountains.

CHAPTER 46

CHAPTER 46

Devin checked the cabin door, surprised to discover that the doorknob turned. They’d moved through twelve sets of cabins while working their way toward the center of camp, finding all of them securely locked. He’d taken a step closer to the door to push it inward when a hand clamped down on his arm. Mike shook his head and motioned for him to stand back, which suddenly struck Devin as a more sensible course of action. Was he really moments from pushing in the only open door they’d found out of the thirty-odd they’d checked? Marnie must have been shaking her head.

Mike crouched and pointed his rifle at the door. “Rich. We found an unlocked door.”

“Be right there.”

Devin backed up next to Marnie, who knelt in the recently cut weeds several feet behind Mike, her rifle pointed down the long, empty gap between rows that extended all the way to the center of the camp. Unlike the dirt path, several trees grew right up in the middle of the gap, mostly obscuring their view of the buildings. Devin raised his rifle and covered their flank, not that they expected any trouble from the forest.

Rich patted his shoulder as he passed by, quickly joining Mike near the door. The two of them conversed for a moment before Rich very gently turned the knob and opened the door far enough for Mike to take a quick peek inside. He nodded at Rick before disappearing into the cabin, his head poking out a few seconds later.