stered. Rifles unfired. The smell of war lingered in the air. Crimson poured from gaping wounds, flooding the forest’s floor. Death was everywhere.
And Webster couldn’t handle it.
When he realized what had happened, he dropped to his knees and vomited. It was the first time that he’d seen a corpse outside of a funeral home, so the sight of the baker’s dozen was too much for him to handle. He was the brains, not the brawn. He took no part in the actual torture and disposal of the bodies. All of that was outside of his realm.
“They killed them! They killed them all!” He staggered to his feet, wanting to confront Jackson, but was unwilling to walk among the gory remains of his fallen comrades. “Octavian was right! These guys are the best! Look what they did to your guards! Just look!!”
“Be quiet!” Jackson whispered sternly. “They might still be around.”
The thought hadn’t crossed Webster’s mind. The killers could be in the trees, watching him at that very moment. He gagged as more vomit rose from his belly.
Jackson rolled his eyes in disgust. He didn’t have time to babysit. He needed to focus all of his attention on the battle site. He needed to look for clues while the trail was still warm. “Don’t worry. I might not have their training, but I can be a warrior if I have to be.”
As Jackson finished speaking, his radio squawked, causing him to flinch in fear.
The incoming voice said, “This is Octavian. What’s going on out there?”
Jackson whispered. “Dead. Everyone’s dead. Payne and Jones killed them all. Theo and I showed up one minute behind the guards, and we found corpses. Thirteen fuckin’ corpses. Blood everywhere. No sign of the prisoners, but our guys are dead!”
“You’re sure.”
Jackson kicked one of the men in front of him. He didn’t move. “Yep.”
Holmes felt his pulse quicken and noticed the hairs on his arms stand at attention. Thirteen kills in less than ten minutes. My lord, these guys were good. “What did they use for weapons?”
“Guns,” Jackson answered. “I don’t know what kind, but they have rapid-fire capability. I don’t see any shells near the guards, so I guess they didn’t have time to fire back.”
“Where the hell did they get weapons like—”
Holmes stopped before he finished his statement. Nervously, he glanced at the cabin on the far end of the row. The door looked closed from a distance, but there was only one way to know for sure.
“Guards!” he shouted. Two men left the burning cabin and ran to his side. “Check the armory and tell me if anything’s missing!”
The men saluted crisply, then ran off.
As he watched them approach the storage shed, Holmes felt the tension rise in his body. If Payne and Jones had located the artillery, there was a good chance that they’d stolen enough equipment to wipe out the entire island. Instead of seizing the Plantation one guard at a time, they could do it one acre at a time.
Within seconds, the guards reached the cabin and studied the partially opened door. The armory had been violated. Drawing their weapons, the two men kicked the door aside and prepared to fire at the perpetrators. It was the last move they would ever make. Because of their inexperience, the men failed to notice the wire that had been tied to the base of the door. When they bumped the cord, it triggered a fragmentation grenade, which exploded in their faces. The fragger, designed to launch razorlike pieces of metal over an extended area of space without the impact of a large explosion, tattered the men with shrapnel, killing both men instantly.
Holmes grimaced as he heard the muffled blast, followed by the guards’ silence. The sounds proved what he already knew in his gut. The Plantation’s artillery had been compromised.
“Damn!” he muttered.
He wasn’t the least bit concerned about his men, but he was worried about the missing weapons. It was going to make his job much harder to accomplish.
He grabbed his radio once again. “Harris? Theo? Are you there?”
“What do you need?” Jackson whispered. He was walking through the trees with Webster, trying not to make a sound. “We’re on our way back now.”
“That’s probably a good idea. Not to alarm you, but Payne and Jones got into Terrell’s gear. There’s no telling what other surprises they have in store for us.”
“What do you mean by surprises?”
“I don’t know,” Holmes admitted. He still needed to get someone inside of the armory to check