Firestorm: Book III of the Wildfire Saga Read Online Free PDF Page A

back.   Cooper waited in silence and saw the guard appear over the lip.   The man stood at ease, carrying a Sig SG 550 in a single point sling.   He wore a white ski mask and fur-lined parka and stood at ease in the position of a man who sensed no immediate threats.   His hand rested on the grip of the rifle but his finger was nowhere near the trigger.   The other hand lay on top of the 550’s barrel.
    The guard stared out over the vastness of the Alpine Valley for a few moments.   Apparently seeing nothing of interest, a large puff of breath appeared and the man turned back toward the chalet.   That was all the opportunity Cooper needed.  
    He pulled his legs under him and launched himself straight up into the air over the protestations of his knee.   He extended just high enough to grab a handful of coat at the back of the man's neck.
    Cooper let gravity do the rest.   As his body fell back and down, he held on to the guard who tumbled with him right over the edge.   Cooper heard a startled gasp, but no gunshot.
    He felt the sickening feeling of zero gravity as he fell.   He imagined tumbling down the mountainside to his death, but a split second later, Cooper saw the lip of the crest rush up to meet him.   He let go of the flailing guard and used his right hand, clutching his climbing pick, to slash into the crest.
    The pick caught between a few large rocks.   Cooper flung his left hand into the loose snow as his body swung down and slammed into the face of the embankment, but slid no further.   The guard was not so lucky.
    Cooper switched to Charlie’s POV and watched the guard tumble toward Jax.   The big SEAL was ready and before the guard realized he'd stop moving, he found a knife buried in his throat.   It was over in less than three seconds.  
    Jax removed the twitching corpse's weapon and tossed the rifle to Charlie.   He pulled a piece of cord from his chest rig and hastily tied the body to one of the larger boulders.
    Cooper nodded in agreement.   No sense in letting the body tumble down the side of the mountain and possibly trigger some seismic sensor they couldn’t see.   God forbid the damn thing caused an avalanche.
    "Nice work," Cooper said.   He switched back to normal view and pulled himself up to the lip just enough for his external helmet camera to peer over the crest and scan for more guards.   “All units Striker—move up.”
    In the distance he saw the silhouette of the chalet, outlined by several large exterior lights.   He zoomed in and the shapes of a few more guards patrolling the exterior came into focus.   Turning his head, Cooper scanned to the right and noticed several large boulders ready to provide decent cover while they worked their way forward.
    "Switchplate, how you comin’?”
    " Breaching the crest now.   Ready on your signal, " grunted the other SEAL.   He was breathing hard—the other side of the mountain had much less forgiving terrain.
    "Get into position, we’re ready to move.   Ten seconds."
    “Roger that.”
    Cooper launched himself up over the cliff and got to his feet.   It felt good to use his legs to stand instead of his hands to climb.   He freed his rifle from its position on his back and sprinted for the boulders.   "On me!" he ordered.   Cooper reached the boulder and put himself behind cover, raising his rifle and scanning straight ahead for guards as the rest of his squad stacked up behind him.
    “Switchplate, you ready for the drone?"   Cooper stared over the barrel of his rifle, watching for any movement.   The chalet appeared deserted.   Charlie tapped him on the shoulder, signaling the squad was ready to roll.
    "Activating interference sweep now."
    "Got a good RF signal," said Charlie.   “They’re blind.   Drone’s shut down all communications.   We’re good to go."
    Doubt stirred in Cooper's gut.   He hated relying on Predators—he'd never trusted planes that flew without pilots when his ass was on the line,