BooksBarbecue
Back The Neighborhood
Chapters (59)
  1. Part I Reconnaissance
  2. Chapter One
  3. Chapter Two
  4. Chapter Three
  5. Part II Incursion
  6. Chapter Four
  7. Chapter Five
  8. Chapter Six
  9. Chapter Seven
  10. Chapter Eight
  11. Chapter Nine
  12. Chapter Ten
  13. Part III Under Siege
  14. Chapter Eleven
  15. Chapter Twelve
  16. Chapter Thirteen
  17. Part IV Course Correction
  18. Chapter Fourteen
  19. Part V Balance of Power
  20. Chapter Fifteen
  21. Chapter Sixteen
  22. Chapter Seventeen
  23. Chapter Eighteen
  24. Chapter Nineteen
  25. Chapter Twenty
  26. Chapter Twenty-One
  27. Chapter Twenty-Two
  28. Chapter Twenty-Three
  29. Chapter Twenty-Four
  30. Chapter Twenty-Five
  31. Chapter Twenty-Six
  32. Chapter Twenty-Seven
  33. Chapter Twenty-Eight
  34. Chapter Twenty-Nine
  35. Part VI Spy versus Spy
  36. Chapter Thirty
  37. Chapter Thirty-One
  38. Chapter Thirty-Two
  39. Chapter Thirty-Three
  40. Part VII Winds of War and Flame
  41. Chapter Thirty-Four
  42. Chapter Thirty-Five
  43. Chapter Thirty-Six
  44. Chapter Thirty-Seven
  45. Chapter Thirty-Eight
  46. Chapter Thirty-Nine
  47. Chapter Forty
  48. Chapter Forty-One
  49. Part VIII Strong to the Finish
  50. Chapter Forty-Two
  51. Chapter Forty-Three
  52. Part IX Spy Games
  53. Chapter Forty-Four
  54. Chapter Forty-Five
  55. Chapter Forty-Six
  56. Part X What Goes Around
  57. Chapter Forty-Seven
  58. Chapter Forty-Eight
  59. About the Author

Barrett had had enough of this accursed suburban battleground. All their operators were dead or missing, and by the time the sun rose, he and Griffin would be the two most hunted men in North America. Griffin had arranged for safe passage to South America through Mexico, but Barrett was not looking forward to his face plastered across every TV station around the globe. The next few days were going to be a nightmare. But in order to begin the nightmare, they first had to escape their current predicament.

Moments later, the residents had been rescued. Griffin had ignored Barrett’s spoken regret, and said, “Let’s go. This gunshot wound is throbbing like hell.” The Explorer turned down Hidden Refuge Drive and made its final approach to the gate.

“What about the school?” Barrett asked. There were still several men and the large group of hostages in the gym, unaware of the violence and failure that had just transpired.

Griffin picked up the long-range handheld radio that Barrett had used to communicate with him back at the school. “I left mine back at the gym.” He pressed the talk button. “School base, this is Hunter Actual. The mission is an abort. I say again, the mission is an abort. Leave the hostages and get out of there as fast as you can. Execute the E&E plan, and we’ll link up in forty-eight hours,” he finished, referring to the escape and evade plan that he’d arranged for all of them.

There was a pause, and Griffin thought his message hadn’t been received, when the voice of Thomas, his point man for reconnaissance as an Amazon driver, finally responded. There was an air of relief in Thomas’s voice, which piqued Griffin’s curiosity but not enough to mention it. Griffin had more pressing matters at the moment. “Roger, Hunter Actual. Abort order acknowledged. We’ll close up shop and be gone in ten minutes.” A pause. “Good luck. Contact us when you’re at the safe house in two days. School base out.”

Griffin let the handset drop to the floor as the SUV triggered the motion sensor and the gate began to slide to the right. “Now, we can get the hell out of here.”