Chapter 19 - CLEARING THE LEDGE
Before Kane could even process the impossible shot, Claire’s hands were already moving in a blur of practiced violence.
She slammed the bolt up, dragged it backward to violently eject the massive, smoking brass shell casing, shoved it forward to chamber a fresh round, and locked the handle down with a heavy, metallic clatter.
"Spotter is scrambling for the secondary rifle," Claire said coldly, her eye never leaving the glass. "He's retreating toward the cave entrance."
"Range is changing—he's moving back into the defilade!" Ellis shouted. "Distance fifteen hundred and sixty! He's almost in the mouth of the cave!"
"He won't make it," Claire replied.
She didn't touch the turrets this time. She adjusted her point of aim using the mil-dots etched into the glass, leading the running target by three feet to compensate for his sprinting momentum and the howling crosswind.
*BANG.*
The second shot tore through the canyon with thunderous finality. Another shockwave rolled through the shale, stinging Kane’s face with hot grit.
Two seconds later, the fleeing spotter violently folded in half at the very entrance of the cave, dropped as if struck by an invisible freight train, and lay completely motionless in the shadows.
"Both hostile marksmen are down!" Ellis yelled into his microphone. "Convoy team, suppress the lower flank! Your overwatch is clear! Move to the extraction point now!"
Below them, the surviving security operators realized the deadly sniper fire had suddenly ceased. Emboldened, they surged forward from behind the smoking Suburban, laying down a furious wall of suppressive fire that forced the flanking insurgent infantry to scatter in panic and retreat down the dry wash.
Within minutes, the distant whir of approaching fast-attack extraction vehicles could be heard bouncing along the canyon floor, rushing in to scoop up Deputy Assistant Secretary Albright and the wounded men before the enemy could regroup.
Kane sat back on the dirt, completely stunned. His uniform was torn at the knees, coated in thick gray dust, and soaked in sweat. He looked down at the two smoking, heavy brass casings resting on the rocks next to Claire's elbow.
Two shots. Over fifteen hundred meters across an unpredictable mountain chasm. Two confirmed kills against entrenched targets in less than six seconds.
"My God," Kane whispered, his voice trembling with genuine awe. "You didn't just save them... you dismantled an entire sniper hide from a mile away."
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Claire didn't smile. She didn't pump her fist or celebrate. She calmly reached down, popped the magazine release, cleared the live round from the chamber, and placed the massive rifle back into its foam cutouts.
"The rifle needs to be cleaned again," she said softly, wiping a speck of sand from the bolt. "You get a lot of grit in the locking lugs out here."
