The Fourth Option
by Matt Hilton
Contents
34
Overview
Hunter and Rink find the Virginia estate far less secure than expected, quietly overpower the remaining obstacles upstairs, and seize the middle-aged man they came to abduct. Once the house erupts in alarm, Mercer races in with the van and Rink beats back returning guards long enough for the team to escape. The infiltration turns into a successful extraction, giving Hunter's side a living captive with potential value.
Summary
Rink silently joins Hunter inside the estate and reports that he has already neutralized two guards, bringing the total down while two more guards remain away by the fishing pond. Both men are uneasy because the infiltration has gone too smoothly, but with the ground floor apparently clear, Hunter hides a sleeping guard in a closet and the pair decide to press on before the missing guards return.
Hunter and Rink move upstairs toward the far bedroom while the sounds from the house make clear that most of the occupants are partying or having sex rather than watching for trouble. To avoid looking suspicious if seen through the glass walls, both men lower their hoods and keep their weapons low. As Rink clears the nearby rooms, Hunter encounters a drunken man leaving a bedroom, closes in before the man understands the danger, and quickly chokes him unconscious.
Expecting resistance, Hunter and Rink enter the master bedroom, where they find the middle-aged man they came to capture with a young woman. The captive tries to reach a pistol in the bedside drawer, but Hunter stamps the drawer shut on the man's wrist, presses a suppressor to his skull, disarms him, and forces him into his trousers. While Rink intimidates the young woman into silence, Hunter plasticuffs the man, makes clear that his survival depends on cooperating, and starts moving him out of the room.
Rink calls Mercer to bring up the van, but the withdrawal turns noisy as the young woman left behind and the partner of the drunken partygoer begin screaming. A guard Hunter had hidden downstairs also starts yelling for help, so Hunter and Rink abandon stealth and rush their prisoner out through the main door. Mercer arrives in the panel van just as the two guards from the pond come running back; Rink uses the van for cover, wounds one guard, and forces the other to dive for safety.
Hunter throws the captive into the van and keeps him away from the gear while Mercer accelerates out of the estate. More guards spill from the bunkhouse, and Rink fires from the moving vehicle to keep them back, but the opposition does not risk heavy return fire because their employer is inside the van. By the end of the escape, Hunter sees that the prisoner is angry and frightened, but also relieved to be alive, which is exactly the balance Hunter wants.
Who Appears
- HunterLeads the upstairs assault, disables a partygoer, subdues the target, and helps force the extraction.
- RinkSupports Hunter, clears rooms, controls the woman, calls Mercer in, and holds off guards.
- Unidentified captiveMiddle-aged man seized in the master bedroom after reaching for a hidden bedside pistol.
- Jason MercerDrives the panel van to the house and speeds the team away during the alarm.
- Young woman in the master bedroomCaught with the target, silenced by Rink, then left behind as the abduction proceeds.
- Drunken partygoerLeaves a bedroom upstairs and is quickly choked unconscious by Hunter.
- Two pond guardsReturn during the escape; one is shot in the thigh and the other dives for cover.