These Three Were A Long Way From Home. A Less Rude Host Would Have Served A Better Breakfast. I'm So Ashamed

Home Of Thomas Allston

A split second before both trailer doors were kicked open; I heard a squeak as a boot hit a piece of loose deck wood. 

That was all the time I needed.

The first man came in the far door on the end of the trailer. He looked straight forward and did not look into the corner or down on the floor where I waited. This amateur close-quarters combat mistake cost him his life. I aimed and placed two where no body armor existed.

I'll spare you all the quips and puns about his new height and hairstyle.

As he dropped, I didn't see anyone coming in behind him, so I twisted and raised my head to face the other door.

Number two came inside with enough time to see me on the floor. He was a lousy shot. His two taps were over my head, but my two rounds found space in his mind. Nobody else rushed through either door. 

 Eve! I gave a quick thought about Eve and her part of the operation.

I had to back her up now. 

She walked out with Tango, wearing my coat and baseball cap. 

I listened and then heard a single shot.

I jumped over the second body, then flew out on the deck and rolled in case overwatch got a speck on me.

I ran toward the fence bordering my house from the neighbors and then vaulted it, pulling myself up and over with one arm. I landed on the other side with my gun drawn.

A wounded man lay on the ground next to the tree. Eve stood over him with the spare Glock pistol aimed at his head.

It looked like she had kicked his rifle away from him, but I saw a holstered sidearm. I put my knee into the small of his back and removed the firearm, letting the clip hit the ground, and then I pulled back the slide to exit the chambered round. 

Eve cried and laughed at the same time. 

"I got him, Allston; our plan worked!"  "I got him!" 

"I shot him before he could shoot you, and he was gonna shoot you!" 

"You owe me, Mister, at least two margaritas." 

Tango started patrolling the yard, going to where each man had been.

"Eve, the place is about to become filled with police. We have some work to do, and you won't be going to work today."

I heard a response team's siren so that the good guys would be here any second. 

"Place your weapon on the ground and do exactly what they say when they arrive." 

All of our weapons were on the ground, and our hands were in the air as the first police car came up the driveway.

I mentally counted seven rounds fired., with two dead and one wounded scumbag.

I looked down at him. Breathing hard, with a leg wound that would allow him to live. 

I looked again and saw what I had seen hundreds of times in Iraq and Afghanistan. A military-age male in fatigues and body armor, with some serious firepower. 

He was a long way from home.

First, we had a dead Russian at Sophie's house, and now three Afghanis or Iraqis?

What the hell is going on?

"I'm not going to lie, Allston. I'm scared, but that felt good." Eve said with enthusiasm while she laughed.

"Three Margaritas"