Novel Square
Chapter 95
After Lars blew up the boat, the other mercenaries gave us a wide berth. The most we had to deal with was a few potshots that didn’t even come close to hitting us.
Within minutes, we entered the main bay surrounding Venice.Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org
The island of San Michele was so close to the city that its outline blended with Venice’s – all except the church’s bell tower, which towered above everything else.
As we raced towards the island, our boats split up.
Lars and I would go to the eastern side. There was a boat dock there where we would disembark.
Adriano would go around the island and get out on the west.
The third boat would split the difference and land on the south shore.
The plan was to storm the island and converge on the church in the north. Hopefully, we could split up Aurelio’s forces along the way and take them out in guerilla-style combat.
That was the plan, anyway.
Things didn’t go exactly to plan.
As our boat approached the eastern pier, I got ready.
First I slipped my left arm through the duct tape sleeve on the door. My improvised shield was heavy, but I was so pumped with adrenaline that I barely noticed.
Then I arranged everything else.
I held a Glock in my right hand. My left hand gripped three separate magazines for quick reloading. Another four magazines were stuck to the duct tape wrapped around my left arm, and my pockets were filled with more clips. A holster on my hip held another Glock just in case my main gun jammed.
I was ready.
It was too bad we couldn’t use the grenade launcher Lars had used to blow up the boat. We could have used it to target the church – but we couldn’t risk hurting Lucia.
So we’d have to go in and clear the place out, one by one.
Lars yelled instructions to our group. “Don’t worry about tying up the boat – just jump off and RUN for it. Get to cover as fast as you can. There’s a sniper up in that bell tower and he’ll be gunning for you.”
Lars steered the boat into a docking area cut into the shoreline. A pier ran around the rectangular perimeter. There was open ground for 40 feet, then a wall that separated the dock from the cemetery.
As the boat pulled up alongside the dock, I was the first to jump off the boat.
There was a distant Crack –
And something slammed HARD into my makeshift shield.