Inside Job
Honor #4
Kenneth Guthrie
Smashwords Edition
Lunatic Ink Publishing
Copyright 2012 Lunatic Ink Publishing (Founded by Kenneth Guthrie)
The small room was jam packed with men readying themselves for the next mission. Jack and Sam’s intel had set of a chain of events that had led to them being thrown back into the thick of the fight without even a short break to recover.
“You are ordered to kill General Amand. You must not fail in this mission.”
Those words sat strongly in Jack’s mind. The documents they had found in the back of the car they had stolen told them the man would be in Kleve near the border of Holland and Germany for a week or two on military business before heading back to Berlin. There would be a small window of time for Jack and Sam to get in and assassinate him.
Jack carefully checked to ensure that the bolt on his Enfield was sliding back properly. Normally, he would replace the gun’s parts between mission, but this time they didn’t have any parts, so he was going to have to rely on the gun’s workmanship to last through this mission and get them out the other side safely.
“Are you two ready?”
The same contact that had taken them through their recent mission to kill the scientist developing a new tank was their go between for this mission as well.
“As ready as I’m ever going to be. You ready, Sam?”
The man put his gun cleaning kit away.
“Aren’t I always?”
Jack picked up his pack and gestured for the spy to lead the way. They were off to kill a general.
*****
Broken houses lined the street. Allied bombing had been heavy in Kleve of late and the area had few citizens, except for the Jews, who had been brought here to assist the army in maintaining the border between Holland and Germany.
It was not a pretty sight. Their German minders were not a pleasant bunch. Faces as broken as the houses on the side of the round were in abundance. Jack could even see children, weighed down by the weight of boxes much too big for their little bodies at work from the peephole at the back of the truck.
“We are coming up on it now,” the driver said.
Jack pressed his eye closer to the peephole. A big mansion that looked relatively untouched compared to the other buildings on the street came into view.
Sam whistled beside him.
“That’s a lot of troops.”
Jack stayed silent and continued watching. Maybe they would be able to take a shot from a neighboring roof? They passed by the house and kept on moving. He had seen enough.
“Take us back to the safe house.”
He leaned up against the back of the truck. There had been snipers on the roofs. They were not going to be able to take a shot on the general with that sort of protection from the outside.
“Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
Sam smiled.
“It’s been awhile since we went inside a building to kill someone. A bit of a change of pace would be nice.”
Jack laughed. His friend’s enthusiasm was endless.
The sewer water stank. Jack had a rag tied across his lower face, but it did little to get rid of the smell.
“Goddamn German’s shit stinks pretty bad, doesn’t it?”
Jack chuckled. The city up top had smelled worse in some places.
"It's here."
Their guide for this underground adventure pointed up to a grate in the floor. Sam came forward and inspected it carefully. You could never be too careful with German residences in these parts. Owners had a habit of setting nasty traps that could maim or even kill unwanted visitors if those visitors weren't careful.
Sam brought out a small knife and dug into an area of concrete that turned out to be only a well hidden clay panel. He removed it carefully and used the knife to strip away some wires.
"Don't be so worried." Jack clapped their guide in the shoulder. "Sam is a bit of an expert in these matters."
The man didn't look too convinced. He didn't know that Sam had been in bomb disposal for a bit before he met Jack. Sam was more than capable of diffusing such a simple set up.
Sam bit his thumb and the guide dived to the wall. Sam looked back.
"Sorry, I'm a bit out of practice."