Reign of Evil

Walker felt something growing inside of him. He recognized it as hope—hope that avenging Jen’s death would be much closer with the coming of SEAL Team 666. “Are they invited?”

“Yes.”

“Officially.”

“If your man in the Senate wants to confirm, he can contact the office of Lord Robinson.”

Walker grinned from ear to ear. “Hell yeah! I need to make a call.” He made to get up, but Ian had put a hand on his shoulder.

“Call’s already been made, son. I spoke to Ms. Alexis Billings. She’s aware of everything I just said.”

Walker pushed his empty glass forward. “How about another drink?”

Ian grabbed the bottle. “How about drinks for all of us.”

CHAPTER 18

TWIN PEAKS, CALIFORNIA. NIGHT.

Navy Senior Chief Genaro “The Genie” Stewart escorted SEAL Team 666’s go bags, additional weapons, and the Belgian Malinois, Hoover, in the MH-53J special operations variant Pave Low helicopter. Built like a defensive end, he passed out the gear with a no-nonsense attitude. YaYa knew him from previous missions before he’d joined Triple Six. A SEAL from Team 7, Genie wasn’t read on to Triple Six’s mission, but at Holmes’s request through NAVSPECWAR for sniper support, Genie was coming along. He’d already suited up in black fatigues and body armor and stood by while the others got into theirs.

One by one, the SEALs from Triple Six introduced themselves. Not that they had to. They were from a special brotherhood. But knowing the man next to you enhanced the connection. When it was YaYa’s turn, Genie gave him a hug. “Been what… since the P.I.?”

YaYa grinned and shook his head. “Three years. Has it been that long?”

Genie pointed. “Heard about the arm.”

Although he’d left the rest unsaid, YaYa had experienced it enough to know how to answer the unanswered questions. “It’s strong. The boys and girls at DARPA really know their business.”

“With all the casualties from Iraq and Afghanistan, they’ve had plenty of practice.”

The sobering statement cut short any further conversation.

Finally, everyone was up-armored, wore MBITRs, had sound-suppressed 9s strapped to their right thighs, knives strapped to their left thighs, and checked their sound-suppressed HK416s. Outside their armor, they wore black Rhodesian military vests because of the multiple pockets for storing extra ammunition and other useful items. Pro-Tec skate helmets painted black did little to protect their heads but allowed for the mounting of a curiously alien-looking set of night-vision goggles with four lenses. Called QUADEYE, four 16mm lenses reduced the need to pan left and right by re-creating peripheral vision and incorporating the multiple feeds into a Heads-Up Display (HUD) similar to those used by combat helicopter pilots.

The team’s only odd uniform concession had been to wear ballistic masks that looked like hockey masks, covering their faces but leaving holes for the eyes and slits for their mouths and noses. Not only did the masks keep their faces from being recorded; they also gave the team the appearance of a Jason Voorhees look-alike contest.

Holmes’s mask was black with a white slash across it.

Laws wore a mask with a green camouflage pattern.

YaYa wore a solid white mask in honor of Fratolilio, the SEAL he’d replaced who’d been killed by the chimera in Macau.

And Yank’s mask, from the tried-and-true tradition to fuck with the new guy, was so pink that it was fuchsia.

Genie, not being a member of Triple Six, didn’t have a mask but was given a plain gray ballistic mask to wear in the event he was needed inside.

Their CQB stack included Hoover, who was in the fifth-man position. She wore tactical body armor that protected her sides and chest. Her eyes were protected by specially designed canine ballistic goggles.

After a short drive, they left the vehicle and traveled the last mile through a stretch of wood.

Genie set up in a tree on the side of the house with the most windows. He carried the SEAL-issue SR-25 Stoner sniper rifle with a Leupold Mark 4 scope. He had a view of the front and back entrances and, after Yank secreted a camera on the far side of the house, also had a view of the area he couldn’t physically see.

The choice had been either to walk up and knock on the door, then force their way inside, or to break the door down and clear rooms until they found their quarry.

When Genie notified them that their quarry was in the first-floor drawing room, their decision was made for them. The sniper had a clear shot and was ordered to take it if things went south.

They removed their night-vision devices and cached them at the base of Genie’s tree. Yank and Laws were ordered to take the rear entrance, while Holmes, YaYa, and Hoover took the front door.

With their HKs sunk into the meat of their shoulders and the weapons at low ready, Holmes depressed the doorbell.

“Target not moving,” came Genie’s voice.

They waited about ten seconds and Holmes depressed the doorbell again.