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Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset - Military Thrillers

Page 55

by C. G. Cooper


  Travis redialed the Cal’s phone. Cal picked up on the third ring.

  “Trav?” Cal sounded out of breath.

  Travis cut right to the chase. “Cal, are you guys on those snowmobiles?”

  “Say again? I can barely hear you. My signal sucks down here.”

  Travis spoke more slowly. “I said, are you on those snowmobiles?”

  “No. We just saw them leave from Ponder’s place. Ten to fifteen of them, right?”

  “So you saw both groups leave?”

  “Both groups?”

  “Yeah. It looks like the group of thirteen might be trying to catch up with another three,” described Travis.

  “No. We only saw the one group. Shit, Trav. You don’t think they’re taking Neil out do you?”

  “I don’t know, Cuz.”

  “Wait, are you looking down via satellite?”

  “Uh-uh. We’re circling overhead in a C-130.”

  “No shit?”

  “No shit.”

  “Well that changes the game. We’re getting close to Ponder’s hideout. Do you have enough guys to handle the vehicles while we check out the compound?”

  “I think that can be arranged.” Travis looked at Dunn who hurried to the troop space to prep their men. “How are you boys doing?”

  “I’m a little dinged up but okay.”

  “You wanna tell me about it now?”

  “No. Let me get off the phone so we can start moving. With any luck, Ponder took a few guys with him. Maybe we’ll just have to mop things up and leave the real fun to you guys. Are you jumping in?”

  “Yeah.”

  Cal laughed. “You sure your old ass is still up for it? I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your expanding waistline.”

  “Fuck you, Cal,” Travis said, not without affection. If anything, Travis Haden was more fit than he had been with the SEAL teams. “You call me when you get done, okay?”

  “Yes, Dad. Stokes, out.”

  Travis looked down at the sat phone. Despite the risk, he realized that he’d really missed the fun of being in the field. He turned back to Cowboy. “I’ll head back to get suited up.” Travis joined his men, a little more swagger in his step than he’d had for years. To battle.

  +++

  Cal was now able to communicate with Trent and Brian’s team. They’d made better time and were even now approaching the main entrance to Ponder’s stronghold. Cal was close enough, and the weather had cleared so he could just make out their forms slowly maneuvering into position. He watched the breach team approach the large steel doors.

  He was able to raise Brian on his satellite phone.

  “The breach team is checking out the front door,” Brian described.

  “Yeah, I’m watching right now. No bad guys on the way in?”

  “Nope. You?”

  “No bad guys. I think they’re headed down the mountain chasing someone else.”

  “How do you know that?” Brian asked.

  “Trav’s playing guardian angel in a C-130 overhead.”

  “Holy shit!”

  “Yep.”

  “Hey, I think I see you guys. Wave to me.”

  Cal waved to the other group and Brian waved back. Just as Cal went to sign off from the call, Brian’s waving form disappeared in an enormous explosion.

  The sound and shockwave swept over his team as Cal screamed for his friends.

  +++

  “What the fuck was that?” Lt. Granes asked out loud. He’d been monitoring the progress not only of the two groups of snowmobiles but also of Cal’s two teams.

  “What?” asked Cowboy.

  “I think there was just a huge explosion right where the good guys were going.”

  “Don’t just sit there, Granes. Go get Haden!”

  Lt. Granes hurried to find Travis.

  Seconds later, Travis, fully outfitted for the jump, rushed awkwardly into the cockpit.

  “What’s going on?” he asked.

  “Granes says there was an explosion on your objective. Did your cousin bring a whole lot of C4 with him?”

  “No. Let me try to get him on the line. How long until we drop?”

  “Under two minutes.”

  “Okay.”

  Travis dialed Cal’s number. There was no answer. He tried again. Nothing.

  “Shit. I can’t get him.”

  “Maybe it’s just the weather again,” Cowboy offered.

  “I hope so.”

  Travis knew there wasn’t anything he could do about Cal’s team. He had to focus on stopping the snowmobiles.

  +++

  Glancing at his wristwatch, Ponder smiled. One of the precautions he’d taken while building his compound was to rig it with enough explosives to knock down a skyscraper. He’d learned the trick from a drug kingpin in Mexico City. The man had described how each one of his safe houses, warehouses and labs was rigged for complete destruction. When the drug lord told Ponder how much it cost, he was pleasantly surprised and filed it away until his own construction began. He’d done the explosives installation himself with the help of some tips he found online on various demolition how-to sites. The cost was minimal and it gave Ponder an added layer of security should his enemies or the authorities show up.

  It’d been an easy choice to set the timer. His cover was blown either way. Nick Ponder would never be coming back to Battleship Mountain. The small pack strapped to his back contained the currency and valuables that Benjamin had given him earlier. It would be enough to help him should the need arise. Ponder grinned again, hoping that some of his enemies had been consumed in the blast. The sadistic mercenary only wished he could’ve watched.

  +++

  At least four of his men were dead including Brian Ramirez. MSgt Trent was badly wounded and unconscious. Gaucho was doing his best to stem the Marine’s blood flow. More men were strewn about tending to their wounds.

  Cal shook his head in denial as he searched the rubble. The explosion had effectively halved his force and collapsed the entire complex. There was nothing to find. The only reason they’d found anyone was that the blast had blown them all away from the entrance.

  +++

  Travis was shuffling to the open rear end of the C-130 when his phone buzzed. He looked down and saw that Cal was calling. Shit. He knew Cal would have to wait. Travis’s force had its own mission.

  He lowered his night vision goggles and jumped into the darkness.

  +++

  Benjamin had timed the extraction perfectly. On their journey up, his men had staged additional gear as a precaution. They’d just reached the weapons cache and were taking ambush positions. Their kill zone set, Benjamin waited for Ponder to fall into his trap.

  +++

  Todd Dunn had been the first man out of the aircraft. He and his troops were now floating down through the early morning darkness.

  The plan was to land in front of the smaller group of snowmobiles and set up a hasty ambush. Travis hoped that a couple well-placed shots could disable the lead vehicle long enough for them to find out who they were dealing with.

  He gazed down through the blackness with his NVGs. It looks like they’ve stopped, Dunn noted. At least that’ll make our timing easier.

  The rest of the SSI operators were cuing off of his descent. It would’ve been harder to ensure a smooth insertion with moving hostiles. This way they might have a little more time to stage themselves on the ground.

  Thank God the damn weather died down, Dunn thought. The last thing we need is casualties before we fight.

  He watched as the scene unfolded below. It looked like the group was getting off of their vehicles. What the hell?

  Turning back to the business of insertion, Dunn checked his GPS one last time and prepped for landing.

  +++

  They’d just rounded a bend when Ponder saw the telltale flash of incoming projectiles. He barely had time to swerve left before a small rocket crashed into the snowmobile next to him. Ponder struggled to
stay on his own vehicle but was finally thrown off when he slammed into a large boulder. His body somehow flew over the rock instead of hitting it. The last thing he heard before he slammed into the creek bed was the repeated explosions of more rockets annihilating his forces.

  +++

  Benjamin smiled grimly as his assassins sent round after round from their shoulder-fired weapons. They’d been a last minute purchase from a Russian arms dealer before leaving Pakistan. Rather than having to rely on accurate aim, the smaller projectiles were, in fact, mini-missiles with heat-seeking capability. The Russian had said that even his dead grandmother could’ve pulled the trigger and demolished an enemy target. He had not exaggerated. Benjamin made a mental note to thank the Russian and put in a larger order for their next operation.

  He signaled for his men to stop firing. Cradling his AK-47, Benjamin approached the wreckage. After quickly dispatching the few wounded survivors, he turned back and ordered his men to get back on their vehicles.

  Benjamin took one last look at the carnage and smiled. Stupid Americans.

  +++

  Ponder peeked out from his hiding spot. He winced from the pain of his dislocated shoulder. There were no tears shed as Ponder watched Benjamin kill his men, only seething anger. I don’t care how or when, but I’m gonna kill that fucker.

  He slunk back further and waited for his enemy to leave.

  Chapter 39

  Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming

  1:53am, September 29th

  Cowboy had readily agreed to stay on-station for as long as he could. His ability to view the battlefield from the air gave the SSI warriors a distinct advantage. He keyed up Travis to give him the latest intel.

  “What have you got?” Travis asked.

  “Looks like the smaller group just took out the bigger group. Granes said one of the fuckers actually walked around cleaning up the survivors of the ambush. I think we can safely assume that they’re bad guys too.”

  Travis grunted. At least there would be less of an enemy to confront.

  “Are they on their way?”

  “Yeah. They’re heading straight for you.”

  “Roger, out.”

  Cowboy shook his head. The last thing he’d expected to see on his training tour was a full-out battle on American soil. I might have to stick around these SSI boys, mused the mustachioed pilot.

  +++

  The snowmobiles were just coming into view.

  “Take out the lead vehicle,” Travis whispered to the sniper lying next to him.

  The expert killer took one last breath and pulled the trigger of his Barrett M107.50 Caliber rifle. Travelling at over 2,800 feet per second, the bullet pierced the lead vehicle’s engine and the vehicle sputtered to a stop. A second later, the small convoy stopped right where Travis had wanted. The SSI operators quickly surrounded the three vehicles.

  “Drop your weapons!” Dunn commanded.

  None of the masked riders complied.

  “I said drop your weapons!”

  Without warning, one of the snowmobiles gunned its engine and sped off around the others. Travis noted that it was the only one towing some sort of elongated sled. As if on cue, the rest of the riders moved to fire their weapons at Travis’s men. The SSI team didn’t hesitate. Before the Pakistanis could fire, each man already had in excess of twenty rounds in them.

  Travis turned to the sniper who’d stayed next to him in the fray.

  “You think you can take out that snowmobile that took off?” asked Travis

  “I’ll try.”

  Through his Leupold scope, the sniper tried to find his target in the darkness. In daylight or properly set up, it might’ve been an easy shot. With darkness limiting his scope’s night vision enhanced range, he would be much less accurate. To make matters worse, whoever was driving the thing knew how to maneuver to avoid being shot.

  Travis’s sniper exhaled and pulled the trigger.

  “Hit,” he announced, continuing to look through his scope. Despite being hit, the vehicle was still moving. Just as he lined up for another shot, the enemy disappeared into the night.

  “What happened?” asked Travis.

  “I hit the damn thing, sir, but it’s still moving.”

  “It’s okay, O’Brian. We’ll have the C-130 keep tabs on it.”

  Travis went to key his headset when the sniper added, “I think I detached that sled it was pulling, sir.”

  Travis looked up. “Let’s go take a look.”

  He turned to find that Dunn was approaching. “O’Brian said he might’ve knocked that sled thing off. You wanna come take a look with me?”

  “Sure.”

  “Can we borrow that last snowmobile?”

  “Negative, Skipper. I just checked and it’s dead. We must’ve hit it when we took the bad guys out.”

  “Then I guess we’re huffin’ it. Let’s grab a couple guys and go.”

  Dunn nodded and went to fetch some men.

  I wonder where the hell Neil is, thought Travis, as he waited.

  +++

  Benjamin cursed his luck as he pushed the crippled snowmobile to its limit. Not only had he and his men been ambushed themselves, somehow whoever had attacked them had managed to shoot the hitch connecting the vehicle to the sled holding his masters’ prize.

  There was nothing he could do now. Benjamin put his head down and continued his reckless retreat down the mountain.

  +++

  They approached the long sled with weapons drawn.

  “What do you think’s in there?” asked Dunn.

  Travis shrugged and stepped up beside it. He examined the exterior and noted that there looked to be some kind of tank strapped to its side. Oxygen? he wondered.

  Once he determined that the contraption wasn’t booby trapped, he unhooked the metal latches holding the medal lid. A hiss escaped as the seal cracked open and warm air whooshed out into the winter cold. Travis carefully lifted the lid and peered in.

  “Holy shit! It’s Neil!”

  Chapter 40

  Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming

  3:35am, September 29th

  Cowboy reported that the only remaining snowmobile had disappeared. With the still unconscious Neil in their possession, Travis had turned his mind back to Cal’s team. He’d established variable communication with his cousin and received the news of the team’s casualties. Before the connection broke off, Dunn had their men fully ready to head up to Battleship Mountain. They would take turns pulling Neil’s sled with a hastily made set of double harnesses. No one complained as they marched through the deep snow.

  Upon arriving at Cal’s location, Travis took in the devastation. The destruction of Ponder’s hideway was complete.

  “How’s Trent?”

  “He’ll live,” answered Cal.

  Travis could see that his cousin was taking the loss of life hard. He knew the feeling. The former SEAL had lost a lot of friends since 9-11.

  “They all knew the danger, Cal.” Travis tried to put a comforting hand on his cousin’s shoulder, but Cal shrugged it off.

  “Did you find Ponder?” asked Cal.

  “No. We did a quick search of both groups but he wasn’t among the dead.”

  “So he got away,” Cal murmured to the mountain.

  “Looks like it.”

  “Good.”

  “What are you talking about?” asked Travis.

  “That means I can find him…and kill him.”

  Chapter 41

  Quetta, Balochistan Province, Pakistan

  11:49pm, October 2nd

  Nick Ponder stumbled into his shabby hotel suite, a Chinese hooker under one arm and a half a case of beer under the other. The suite was surprisingly spacious for the price and the location. He closed the door and shoved the beer into the hooker’s hands.

  “Why don’t you go throw those in the cooler I’ve got in the bedroom. I’m gonna go take a leak, and I’ll meet you in there in a minute.”

 
; “Any’ting you wan, big man,” answered the prostitute in heavily accented English.

  He patted her on the rear, then headed for the bathroom. After relieving himself and rinsing off in the shower, he padded toward the bedroom with a towel wrapped around his waist.

  Ponder stopped at the doorway. The light was off. He smiled lustily. Nothing against Chinks, but I’d rather have the lights off anyway, he thought.

  “You in there, honey?” Ponder asked almost sweetly. It had been a while since he’d gotten laid and his member was already rising to the challenge. There was no answer from the bedroom. Maybe this one liked to play games.

  He fumbled for the light switch so he wouldn’t trip over the mess he’d left in the room. Through his drunken haze, he remembered that the only light in the room came from a lamp on the bedside table.

  “Shit,” mumbled Ponder, as he tripped over one of his canvas bags on his way to find the lamp. Sure would’ve been easier if she’d left it on, dammit.

  Just as he reached under the lamp shade something came crashing down on the back of his head.

  +++

  Ponder’s head was pounding. He struggled to open his eyes through the searing pain. What the fuck happened? A moment later, he realized he couldn’t move his arms or legs. Panicking, he forced his eyes open. It took a second for his vision to focus.

  He was lying on his back looking up at the ceiling. Ponder looked left and right and saw that someone had strapped him to the bed.

  Someone dressed in traditional Pakistani robes walked into view. The person’s face was covered with material from a black headdress.

  “Who the fuck are you?” Ponder croaked.

  The robed figure unwrapped the headdress and stared down at him. Ponder looked back in complete shock.

  “You were expecting someone else?” Cal asked.

 

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