Mitch Kearns Combat Tracker Series Boxed Set, Volumes 1-3: Dead in Their Tracks, Counter-Strike, The Kill List

by JT Sawyer

  Mitch deftly removed one of the improvised wooden shanks and flung it at her face then darted back into the woods.

  She laughed, a savage grin creeping over her bloody lips as she palmed the pistol. “You can run, it doesn’t matter to me. I’ve still got a few hours.” Julie removed a handheld GPS tracking device from her other pocket and studied the green blips. All five of the other signals were stationary, spread along the canyon over several miles. The one nearest her was on the move, arcing out to her right away from her static location.

  “Gonna come up and surprise me from behind—good for you, Mitch.”

  She veered away from the cabin and hid amongst some gray boulders down near the canyon floor, keeping her eye trained on the green blip on her screen.

  Mitch did a hundred-yard bound into the forest then made an abrupt right turn, pausing before a waist-high spruce stump. Once he was sure Julie wasn’t following him, he zig-zagged through the brush until he had made a wide arc out from the cabin. Removing the tiny electronic tracker that Lisa had helped remove earlier, he placed it on a moss-encrusted section of bark that had peeled off the trunk of a dead pine. He removed his wool coat and propped it up with a few branches near the rear of the tree. Then he retraced his steps back to the main trail and cut off on a sharp angle to the opposite side of the cabin from which he had first approached.

  Mitch crept through the brush, the damp ground masking his footsteps. Arriving at the edge of the forest where it meshed with the rock foundation near the cabin, he crouched low and saw a man descending the trail a hundred yards behind the cabin. He had an M4 slung across his chest and was peering at a GPS device. Must be another member of Julie’s little brigade. The foliage along the path was thick and Mitch knew he’d have a better chance of surprising the man on the trail than he would at sneaking up behind Julie. With the pathway snaking around the base of the cliff, he lost sight of the armed figure temporarily. He crouched low and sprinted to the first bend in the path and hid in a low tangle of willow saplings. A minute later, he heard footsteps approaching. As the lanky figure passed in front of him, Mitch dove forward in a tackle, sending him over the incline into a pile of rock scree. The impact on the man’s forehead stunned him long enough for Mitch to jump on top of his chest and slam a vicious right hook into his face, rendering him unconscious.

  He removed the rifle and then looked over the face of the man. He quickly unslung the rope from his shoulder and tied a series of clove hitches around the man’s hands and ankles, securing him to a tree. I knew this would come in handy somehow, just never figured it would be for hog-tying a mercenary.

  He picked up the GPS device and studied the screen. He saw a green blip down in the canyon moving slowly towards a stationary signal. Mitch ran along the trail, bolting past the cabin and continuing back down the path he’d arrived at earlier. A few minutes later, he caught sight of Julie stalking up to where his coat was braced against the pine tree.

  He crept up closer until he was fifty feet behind her. When she was close enough to the tree to discern the deception, Julie lowered her pistol and stood still.

  “Checkmate,” said Mitch. “And I’ve got your man’s rifle in my hands. Looks like he won’t be needing it.”

  Julie slowly turned to face him, the Bersa resting alongside her leg. “You gonna shoot me in the shoulder like you did Anton so I can have my day in court too?”

  “Not sure—I’ve got every reason to drive a round through your skull for what you did out here.”

  She stared at him, taking a few steps closer. “There’s only one way this can end but I don’t think you could shoot a person in cold blood—you’re still too much of a lawman.”

  “You’d be surprised at what I’m capable of. You think you know me from some personnel records you looked up or the past day of surviving out here?”

  She dropped the pistol on the dirt then raised her hands up. “Go on, kill me or turn me in—the choice is yours. I’ll go to jail but I’m not like my cousin Anton. I’ll escape—I have contingencies already in place. And then a year or two from now, I’ll come for you and finish what you couldn’t.” She moved her clasped hands behind her head. “Go ahead, Agent Kearns. Take me in. You’ll be a celebrity all over again. The man who was too good to gun down an unarmed killer.”

  Mitch steadied the rifle sights on her forehead, his trigger finger hovering in place. He thought of Dev and their life together, then about the innocent people who had just died. And he knew all too well how the dysfunctional justice system worked. Julie would probably be tied up in court proceedings for months with a crazed media sensationalizing her every move. He lowered the muzzle slightly and took a deep breath, his eyes fixed on her.

  “There’s no good in either decision but there’s only one I can live with.” He raised up the rifle and fired off two rounds into her head.

  Mitch slowly walked down to where she lay, studying either side of the canyon for movement and then staring down at her empty face before stepping back. He slung his rifle and peered up at the clouds beyond the dense canopy, then let out a long breath. He wondered how all this could have happened—so many lives lost and all because of the events that transpired around Anton Kruger nearly a year ago. He just wanted to run—to leave the wilderness. The very place that had always been a haven for him had become a nightmarish prison.

  He turned and walked back to the cabin, realizing he still had a long walk out to the rim and then even further to reach a road or some sign of civilization, assuming there weren’t more thugs waiting up top. All he could think about was getting back to Dev. As he neared the water trough, which was overflowing, he knelt down and splashed the cold spring water on his face then gulped down several handfuls. When he was done, Mitch strode over to where he had tied up the surly henchman and double-checked the lashings on the still-unconscious man.

  Chapter 25

  Dev was surprised enough at Brenner staggering towards her that her vision lingered too long on him. When she turned, Roth had sprung up and was extracting his holstered Glock. Dev dropped and aimed the M4 at his chest and then saw three rounds had already perforated his neck and face. Roth dropped like a fractured kite in the wind. Her finger was hovering over the trigger and she realized the shots had come from Brenner.

  Dev eased herself back up, doing a quick 360-degree scan of her surroundings for any other hostiles, then ran out to help Brenner, who had collapsed in the grass.

  She rushed to his side and helped him to his feet, getting him back to the treeline near the two dead men. Dev gently leaned him against a stump and checked his shoulder wound. “This is me thanking you for that fine Israeli bandage,” he said with a partial grin which was followed by a wince.

  “Not bad, taking a headshot at twenty yards out with an injury—I’m sure grateful.”

  “Well, we country cops aren’t all bad, you know.” He removed the walkie-talkie from his belt and gave a brief synopsis to the pilot then ordered him to call in a tactical team to their location.

  When he was done, he leaned his head back and stared at the feathery cirrus clouds. Dev rewrapped the gauze and placed a sling around his injured arm. Then she retrieved the other men’s weapons and magazines, spreading them out around Brenner.

  “Did you know about Roth—that he had the plates all this time?”

  “I knew something was wrong when we showed up at Mulhere’s place and he refused to call in backup. Roth had always been a slippery fish in all my dealings with him but I just chalked it up to him being a good ole boy, wanting to do things his way.”

  He licked his dry lips and took a breath, grimacing from his wound. She handed him a water bottle from her shoulder bag then took a swig from her own.

  “When I got back to my office this morning before heading to meet you both at the airfield, there was a call from the salvage yard across from the federal vehicle impoundment lot—looks like somebody hacked into their surveillance footage, downloading digital images from nearl
y a year ago.”

  Dev stopped in mid-sip. “Really? That’s quite fortuitous, wouldn’t you say.”

  Brenner tilted his head back, his eyes barely remaining open. “The footage they sent me was grainy. I studied it on the helo ride out here. But it sure looked like Roth to me, rummaging through Kruger’s car—go figure. I wasn’t sure, to be honest, until just a few minutes ago when I watched him draw his rifle on you.” He splashed some water over his flushed face. “I just never would’ve figured him to go this far.”

  “Riches can make even the devil turn a grindstone,” she said. Dev felt her phone vibrate and she retrieved it from her jacket. The text indicated that there were only two GPS signals still moving. She felt her face grow taut. “I gotta get below and see what’s going on. There isn’t much time.” She inserted a fresh magazine into Roth’s M4 rifle and then rested it across Brenner’s legs.

  Dev stood up and scanned the route to the edge of the canyon. “I’ll be back soon with good news, I hope,” she said, trying to stay positive though her heart was racing.

  “Whoever you got helping you on the other end with all this tech stuff can come work for me anytime.”

  “Sorry, he’s a keeper.” She ran off, darting through the aspens for a hundred yards then swinging over to the trail that led down into the canyon.

  Chapter 26

  Mitch looked up towards the circuitous trail that led to the top and knew it would be an endurance march. His energy was drained and he hadn’t eaten much.

  “Damn, if this gets any worse, I’m gonna start complaining,” he said wryly to himself. He took another gulp of water and then began the arduous trek. Nearing the second switchback, he spied movement coming from the trail above. As he went to unsling his rifle, he paused in mid-movement and stood stunned. “Dev, what the hell? Am I dreaming?” Mitch blinked hard a few times then felt a sudden surge of energy rush through his being. He began walking then trotting and finally sprinting up the trail. She had seen him coming and her movement forward matched his.

  He nearly plowed her over as they rushed into each other’s arms. “Damn, girl—are you really here? Please tell me this isn’t a hallucination of some kind.”

  “You’re alive—thank God.” Tears streamed down her cheeks as she kissed him, both of them shoving away the horrors of uncertainty that they’d known. She ran her fingers through his hair then hugged him again. Mitch held her close and then kissed her as the sun beat down upon them.

  ***

  When the full force of the sheriff’s department arrived two hours later, Mitch and Dev were sitting topside in the helicopter with Brenner. The wounded sheriff had been temporarily patched up by the pilot. They all sat discussing the details of what had unfolded as myriad officers and forensics teams swarmed into the area. Mitch had left the unconscious mercenary hog-tied to a tree near the cabin and he was the first one to be walked out in handcuffs.

  “Wonder if that fella is gonna meet the same fate as Anton Kruger,” said Brenner as he watched the bruised henchman walk past.

  “Let’s hope so,” said Dev. “That’s the type of justice that should be meted out in this country. You’d have fewer problems.”

  “This guy probably makes Anton look like a fumbling child,” said Mitch. “Plus, I’m sure he’s got a lot of information on Roan Kruger’s former operations and safehouses. My guess is he’ll end up at the Supermax Prison south of Denver. They have the pleasure of holding international terrorists and similar bottom feeders.”

  Mitch stepped outside of the helicopter and watched the crews of recovery personnel beginning their descent into the canyon to begin locating the bodies using the GPS trackers. Brenner had called Declan White to delay the flooding of the dam indefinitely because the entire region was now deemed a crime scene. The Marshals office in Denver would be sending down their personnel to investigate Ed Roth. Mitch was sure he’d be hearing from some of his old colleagues at the FBI who would have their own paperwork for him to deal with regarding the re-opening of the Kruger case. When he wasn’t still in shock over the grueling survival ordeal and the loss of so many lives, he was faced with the realization that he’d be consigned to the Durango area for some time, answering questions from the numerous inter-agency debriefs he knew would follow. I did resign last fall, didn’t I?

  As the pilot and Brenner kept discussing the scope of the murders, Mitch rested his hand on Dev’s shoulder, trying to remember how the image of her face was what propelled each foot forward.

  Chapter 27

  Two days later, Mitch stood on the second-story balcony of his hotel room on the outskirts of downtown Durango. For a long while, he found himself lost in the flow of people on the sidewalks below as they went about doing mundane things like shopping, chatting, and sipping on their designer beers. It all seemed surreal. He looked down at the bruises and abrasions on his hands, trying to form a fist but feeling too sore to exert the effort.

  He thought that getting out of the FBI last fall would put an end to his involvement with solving crimes and hunting down killers. Instead, he felt like he was thrust back into the spotlight of the bureau and was going to be spending the next few weeks being interviewed further by the authorities along with dodging a flurry of reporters trolling for soundbites.

  Mitch looked up from the street, glancing beyond the buildings to the distant mountains. His mind raced back to Animas Canyon and the faces of the others that he had outlived. A shiver ran down his spine recalling how close he’d come to dying on more than one occasion. He felt his ribs constrict as he tried to breathe. Then he heard the door behind him opening and the pleasant voice of Dev announcing her entry.

  She put a plastic bag of carryout food on the dining table and walked over to him. Dev placed her hands on the bronze porch railing and pressed her shoulder against his. He slid his hand over the top of hers and kept staring at the mountains near where Mulhere lived. “That’s Barbara’s legacy, I guess. Her spirit will live on in this place. Lisa’s too. Somehow, I’ll figure out a way to see Barbara’s plans for a memorial through to the end.”

  He turned and put his arm around Dev’s waist, hugging her and then running his hand through her dark hair. “You know, during all those times when the world was conspiring to swallow me up, I kept thinking about you—how lucky I am to have met you and have you in my life.” He pulled her close and kissed her as he ran his hands along her back. “I’ve never loved anyone the way I love you, Dev. You are what is best in life and I don’t want to be apart from you anymore.”

  She smiled, throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him back. “Well, I do happen to know of a company back home that needs highly skilled operatives. As long as we can stay in places like this when we travel, I won’t let you out of my sights.”

  He nodded his head and chuckled. “My good lady, for the time being, you don’t have to talk me into having a roof over my head and room service.”

  “Well, it’s a good thing that Brenner checked us in here under a false name or the reporters would be sleeping in the hallway outside our door.”

  “Reporters—I can do without any more of those creatures in my life.”

  “You know Brenner said that his office has already been contacted by over sixty media outlets from around the world, all wanting to hear your side of the story. He said there’s even talk of some Hollywood writers interested in movie rights, if you can believe that.”

  “That’ll never happen—there’s nobody good-looking enough to play me.”

  She tugged on his jeans belt loops, pulling him towards the porch light. “Is that so? My, you are right. How did I overlook that feature in you?” Dev laughed and led him by the hand over to the round table with their food.

  “I’ve got cashew chicken with fried rice just the way you like it—and best of all there are no dishes to do afterwards.”

  He sat down and leaned back. “I’m so tired, you may have to lift my fork for me.” Mitch unwrapped a fortune cookie while Dev
unpacked the rest of the food. “No sense in waiting to see what my future holds,” he said, cracking the sides open and removing the white strip of paper. His eyes widened and then he smirked, handing Dev the message.

  She looked at it and laughed, shaking her head. Dev walked over to him and sat on his lap. “If that’s what’s in store for you, then count me in.”

  Thank you for reading this boxed set! I hope you enjoyed the adventure.

  Volumes 4-7 in the series are now available on Amazon Kindle.

  You can follow JT on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/JTSawyerbooks or subscribe to his email newsletter for notices on future releases.

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  About the Author: JT Sawyer is the pen name for Tony Nester who makes his living teaching survival courses for the military special operations community, Department of Homeland Security, US Marshals, FAA, and other federal agencies throughout the US. He has over 27 years of experience testing long-term survival skills in the desert, mountains, and forest. JT also served as a consultant for the film Into the Wild.