Chapter 1940 - 1423: Departure! Mosul! (Part 2)

He pointed at the last two team members. "Falcon and Merlin are responsible for rear security and the exfil route. Once we've got the package, we split into two prepped civilian vehicles and pull out, heading to the designated helicopter pickup point."

"Time window?" Mountain Eagle asked.

"The target is expected to pass through the area at 1400. We need to be at the ambush site before 1000 and complete all deployments. By 1200 everyone must be in concealed positions." Scarface checked his watch. "It's 0630 now. We move in one hour."

"Weather forecast says we may get a sandstorm around noon." Crow pulled up the meteorological data. "Visibility could drop below 100 meters."

"That works in our favor." Falcon Eagle said. "The dust will mask muzzle flash and sound, and it'll interfere with their drone reconnaissance."

Scarface nodded. "But it'll hit our sight picture too. Vulture, the IED has to use a dual-trigger setup—pressure switch plus remote, double fail-safe."

"Already on it." Vulture held up something that looked like an ordinary rock. "Ceramic shell, C4 and ball bearings inside. Enough to flip an armored vehicle."

"Comm check." Scarface ordered.

The team members tested their encrypted radios one by one.

Each headset came back with a clear confirmation.

"One last thing." Scarface swept his gaze over the team, his voice icy. "Walker's orders are to guarantee the target's death. No survivors, no evidence. Once the op is over, police up every casing—don't leave a trace. Clear?"

"Clear!" The five answered in unison.

"Good. Now run through the gear checklist."

Metal clanks and the sound of bolts being racked echoed through the warehouse.

Six seasoned killers carried out their final prep like precision instruments, every motion drilled thousands of times, now pure reflex.

Falcon Eagle carefully wiped down her Mk13 sniper rifle.

She was the only woman on the team, and the only sniper.

This rifle had been with her through her days at the Marine Corps Scout Sniper School, and through seventeen covert missions.

She mounted a Leupold Mark 4 8.5–25×50mm optic, dialing in windage and elevation.

Today's engagement distance was estimated at around 450 meters, with a light southeast wind and low humidity.

Almost ideal sniping conditions.

"Nervous?" Crow walked over and handed her a pack of energy gel.

Falcon Eagle shook her head. "Just another job."

"This 'Song Heping' isn't simple. I've checked his background—ex-PLA Special Forces, once on our national security service's KB Member wanted list, with a bounty only twenty million US Dollars shy of Laden's. Rumor is he's a legend in Illiguo, can sway the political landscape." Crow's voice carried a note of doubt. "Why does Walker insist he has to die?"

"Don't ask what you shouldn't." Scarface cut them off coldly. "We execute orders, we don't question them. Remember, the less you know, the better you sleep."

Crow shrugged and went back to his gear station.

Scarface watched his team, a sliver of unease in his chest.

Something about this op felt off.

Walker was pushing too hard; everything seemed rushed.

It left him with a vague sense of anxiety.

But the arrow was already on the string.

Walker had wired each of them a fifty-thousand US Dollar retainer, with another hundred thousand on completion.

Enough money for them to live comfortably on some tropical island for a long time.

"Scarface, we've got something." Falcon, on perimeter watch, suddenly reported quietly over the radio. "There's a gray Toyota parked at the corner, hasn't moved for twenty minutes. Windows have dark tint, can't see inside."

Scarface stepped straight to the surveillance monitors.

Six covert cameras were mounted around the warehouse, covering every approach.

He pulled up the feed for that position.

Sure enough, an unremarkable gray Toyota Corolla sat by a convenience store two blocks out.

Cars like that were everywhere in Baghdad, but sitting unmoved for twenty minutes in this neighborhood was not normal.

"Plate?" Scarface asked.

"Can't see it. Someone deliberately smeared mud over it." Falcon replied.

"Could be coincidence," Crow said. "Could also be an Iraq security police plainclothes car."

"Cops don't run this professional." Scarface frowned. "Prep to exfil. Execute contingency plan Bravo."

Contingency Plan Bravo meant abandoning this safe house and shifting to the backup rally point.

The team moved fast but orderly, packing critical gear and destroying sensitive documents.

Five minutes later, the gray Toyota suddenly started up and slowly drove out of view.

"False alarm?" Falcon asked, unsure.

"Stay sharp." Scarface didn't relax. "We stick to the original op, but change the route—run three loops around the city. Only when we're sure we're clean do we head to the ambush site."

His gut was screaming.

Something was wrong.

But the mission had to go; there was no time to re-plan.

Song Heping's main base was in Mosul and Hulmatu. Once he was back there, trying to assassinate him would be next to impossible.

At 0730, two inconspicuous white Toyota Hilux pickups rolled out of the warehouse and merged into Baghdad's early-morning traffic.

The people in the trucks looked like ordinary construction workers or Merchants; no one would notice the lethal hardware hidden beneath their seats and in the truck beds.

The Hunter had already set out, unaware he was walking into another Hunter's trap.

As the "Frost Raven" team left the warehouse, three kilometers away, on the top floor of a nondescript apartment building, inside the temporary command post of the Central Intelligence Agency "Sentry" Special Operations Group, everything was under control.

"Targets have departed—two white pickups, plates Baghdad-7429 and 7430."