Only two Frenchmen remained alive; the bulk of the team devastated in one unfortunate incident. Drake saw one of them crawling away from the raging fire, his arm singed, and the other staggering over. Somehow, the second managed to cling to a weapon and help his comrade away at the same time.
Drake swallowed his rage and kept a tight hold on his focus. Their only method of extraction was down, destroyed. Hayden still held the box, but now the Russians were rushing at them, intentions absolutely apparent. The man with the RPG was still aiming at the wreckage as if considering a second strike.
Drake rose and the team rose with him. Moving away from the Russians and toward the fire, they laid down a net of cover that forced their enemies to lie low. Drake and Dahl both struck men in their vests, sending them sprawling. The seething flames reached for them as they came closer, sharp pops and heavy creaks bursting from within. Drake felt the wash of it across his face and then ducked around the blind side. The remaining French were already far away, struggling with their wounds and losses, and clearly out of the conflict for now.
Drake spun on one knee, keying the comms.
“Chopper down,” he said to confirm with Lauren, then: “We need another mode of evac right now.”
The reply was subdued. “On it.”
The team continued to back away, putting some distance between the flaming obstacle and the oncoming enemy. Incredibly, and callously, the Russian with the RPG loosed another missile at the already demolished chopper, sending further gouts of flame and shrapnel into the air.
Drake felt a chunk of metal glance off his shoulder and spun around with the impact. Dahl glanced over but the Yorkshireman nodded—I’m okay.
Alicia pointed them toward the far fence. “That road’s the only option. Hoof it, people!”
Hayden steadied the box and ran. Smyth and Kinimaka stayed at the back, keeping the fire between themselves and the Russians. Drake scanned the ground ahead, always ready for more surprises and expecting the worst. The Chinese were somewhere, and the Israelis, Swedes and Brits were in the wind.
Their speed distanced them from the pursuing Russians and they arrived at the fence with time to spare. Alicia and Mai cut a way through and then they were standing on the other side, next to a two-lane stretch of blacktop that vanished both ways into a seeming wilderness. Lauren hadn’t come back to them as yet, but they left her to her devices, knowing DC would be helping.
Drake wasn’t filled with a huge amount of confidence. He didn’t blame Lauren—the New Yorker was treading fresh waters, but nothing so far on this mission told him the men and women sitting safe and warm in the Capitol fully had their backs.
Alicia set out at a jog. It was an increasingly odd scenario. Drake knew the Russians had to have some kind of backup. Maybe it was on its way.
“Look there,” Kenzie spoke up.
Approximately half a mile ahead, a black SUV had stopped to pick up the struggling Frenchmen. As they watched it made a fast one-eighty in the road, loaded the two operatives and then screeched away.
“Poor bastards,” Dahl said.
“We should worry about ourselves,” Smyth said. “Or we’re gonna end up the ‘poor bastards’ too.”
“Grumpy has a point,” Alicia said, scanning all directions. “Seriously, we have nowhere to go.”
“Bury the box.” Kinimaka indicated a stand of trees close to the road. “Come back for it later. Or ask Lauren to send another team.”
Drake looked at Dahl. “Shouldn’t be too difficult, eh?”
“Too risky,” Hayden said. “They could find it. Intercept the message. Besides, we need this information. The other teams might already be headed for the third Horseman.”
Drake blinked. He hadn’t thought of that. A knot of stress began to pulse right in the middle of his forehead.
“Never thought I’d be stranded in friggin’ China,” Alicia complained.
“It is one of the four corners of the earth,” Dahl told her. “So take comfort in that.”
“Oh, thanks dude. Thanks for that. Maybe I’ll buy a condo.”
The Russians had already reached the road. Drake could see one of them shouting into a radio. His eyes then moved past the Russians and tried to focus on something moving in the distance.
“Could be their transport,” Dahl said, running and staring backward at the same time.
Yorgi laughed, eagle-eyed. “I hope so. And ten years ago you might have been correct.”
Drake squinted. “Hey, it’s a bus.”
“Keep running,” Hayden said. “Try not to look interested.”
Alicia laughed. “Now you’ve done it. I can’t stop looking. You ever do that? You know you shouldn’t stare at someone and find you can’t bloody look away?”
“I get it all the time,” Dahl said. “Naturally.”
“Well, a skin-covered muppet is a rare sight,” Drake put in.
The bus was bright yellow and modern, and sped past the Russians without slowing. Drake considered its speed, its driver and the passengers, but knew they had no choice. They were a good few miles from any large city. As the bus approached and the Russians stared, the SPEAR team blocked the road.
“Slow down,” Alicia mouthed.
Smyth barked out a laugh. “This ain’t Kansas. He ain’t gonna understand you.”
“Universal language then.” Alicia held up her weapon despite Hayden’s glare.
“Quick,” Dahl said. “Before he jumps on the radio.”
The bus slowed and swerved a little, wide front end moving to the offside. Already the Russians were running. Drake nudged the door, motioning for the driver to open it up. The man’s face was scared, eyes wide and flitting between the soldiers and his passengers. Drake waited for the door to open and then stepped up, holding out a hand.
“We just want a ride,” he said as comfortingly as he could.
The team filed down the center of the bus. Dahl jumped up last and tapped the driver on the arm.
“Go!” He pointed down the road.
The Russians were no more than a hundred yards behind, weapons raised as the driver mashed his foot to the floor. Clearly, he’d been watching his side mirrors. The bus lurched into action, the passengers jerking backward. Drake held on. Alicia strode down to the rear of the bus to gauge the pursuit.
“They’re gaining,”
Drake waved at Dahl. “Tell Keanu to get a bloody move on!”
The Swede looked a little confused, but spoke to the bus driver. The vehicle picked up speed slowly. Drake saw Alicia wince and then turn quickly, shouting at the bus passengers.
“Get down! Now!”
Fearing the RPG, Drake dropped too. Luckily, only bullets spattered the back of the vehicle, all wedging into the chassis. He sighed with relief. Clearly, the Russians had been warned against civilian casualties. That was something at least.
Again, the political machinations behind each elite team’s agenda came to mind. No way was every team state-sponsored; nor were some leaders even aware of what was happening. Again, his mind went to the French—and the soldiers that had died.
Doing their job.
The bus pulled away from the Russians, speeding down the road, its entire frame juddering. Drake relaxed a little, knowing they were headed back toward Ejin Horo by the direction they were taking. The driver negotiated a wide sweeping bend. Drake turned as Alicia let out a low squawk from the back seat.
And saw a black chopper that belonged to the Russians swooping down to pick them up.
Hayden’s voice filled the comms. “They won’t attack.”
Drake pursed his lips. “Fluid op. Orders change.”
“And they might still force the bus off the road,” Dahl replied. “How long to the city?”
“Eight minutes,” Lauren responded.
“Way too long.” Dahl strode down the aisle toward the back of the speeding coach and began explaining to passengers that they should move toward the front. A few moments passed and then h
e joined Alicia.
“Hey Torsty. And I always thought back seats were just for kissing.”
The Swede made a choking sound. “Are you trying to make me travel sick? I know where those lips have been.”
Alicia blew him a kiss. “You don’t know everywhere they’ve been.”
Dahl suppressed a smile and made the sign of the cross. The Russian chopper touched down briefly whilst the soldiers climbed on board, hovering over the tarmac. The bus put some distance and the bend between them, and Alicia and Dahl scanned the air.
Drake kept an eye up front for the escaping Frenchmen, but was in two minds if they’d attempt an assault. They were undermanned and struggling with losses. They were re-evaluating. It made more sense that they’d jump straight onto the third clue.
Still, he watched.
Lauren’s voice came over the comms. “Six minutes. You guys have time to talk?”
“About what?” Smyth growled, but refrained from adding anything inflammatory.
“The third Horseman is a mystery, someone the Order threw in there to muddy the waters. Famous Indians include Mahatma Gandhi, Idira Gandhi, Deepak Chopra, but how do you find the worst that ever lived? And was famous.” She sighed. “We’re still checking. The think tank back in DC is stumped so far though. I told them it might not be a bad thing.”
Drake breathed easier. “Aye, love. Not the worst thing that could have happened,” he said. “It should slow down the other nations.”
“It sure will. In other news, we think we’ve cracked the four corners of the earth.”
“You have?” Mai said. “That’s good news.”
Drake loved her typical understatement. “Steady on, Mai.”
“Yeah, don’t wanna blow your socks off with excitement,” Alicia added dryly.
Mai didn’t deign to respond. Lauren went on as if nothing had been said: “Wait a moment, guys. I’ve just been told the Chinese are back at it. That’s at least two choppers headed your way.”
“We’re in a Chinese bus,” Yorgi said. “Won’t we be safe from them, at least?”
“That’s a bit naïve,” Kenzie said. “Governments don’t care.”
“Despite the over-generalization,” Hayden added. “Kenzie is right. We can’t assume they won’t hit the bus.”
Prophetic words, Drake thought, as a black speck grew in the blue skies that stretched in front of the bus.
Alicia said, “The Russians are here.”
This just got a whole lot harder.
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Choppers swooped in from front and back. Drake watched the Chinese bird dive almost to the tarmac before leveling and coming straight at the bus.
“They’re forcing us to crash,” he said, then gestured at the scared-looking driver. “No, no. keep going!”
The bus’s engine roared, the tires thundered against the ground. Some people, clustered at the front, had already started to scream. Drake knew the Chinese wouldn’t deliberately crash the chopper, but it was hard to convey his knowledge to the passengers.
The driver closed his eyes hard. The bus veered.
Drake swore and pulled the man away from his perch, grabbing hold of the wheel. Smyth assisted and manhandled the man into the aisle. Drake jumped behind the wheel of the bus, foot on the gas pedal and hands firmly on the wheel, keeping it in a dead straight line.
The chopper’s nose pointed directly at them, the gap closing at a rapid rate.
Screams erupted from behind and to the sides. Smyth now had to hold the driver down. Drake held on.
The comms crackled. “C’mon, my rough-arsed Keanu,” Alicia breathed. “The Russkies are practically up our—”
“Bitch,” Kenzie snapped back. “Be quiet. Have you looked out the front?”
An Alicia squeal resonated around the inside of the bus.
“Thoughts?” Drake asked at the last second.
“This ain’t exactly a board meeting!”
Drake held fast to his faith, his experience and the steering wheel. Loud protests filled his ears. Bodies hit the floor of the bus. Even Smyth cringed. At the very last moment the Chinese chopper banked right and the Russian chopper pulled up, skids almost brushing the back end of the bus. Alicia whistled and Dahl cleared his throat.
“I do believe we won that round of chicken.”
Drake forged on, seeing another wide sweeping bend ahead. “And the bonus is—we’re not fried and crispy.”
“Quit it,” Kinimaka said. “I’m already hungry.”
Alicia coughed. “That is one crazy Chinese chopper.”
“They’re coming back,” Hayden said.
“You guys are approaching the city outskirts right now,” Lauren said. “But still three minutes from any decent population areas.”
Drake jumped on the comms. “C’mon, people! You have to make ’em fear it!”
Kenzie approached the rear set of doors, shouting, “Anyone on here got a katana?”
Blank looks met her words, two or three people offering up their seats. An old man, wide-eyed, extended a shaking hand holding a bag of sweets.
Kenzie sighed. Drake flipped a switch to open the doors. In a moment the Israeli had swung her body out, gripped the lip of a window, then the roof, and hauled herself onto the top of the bus. Drake kept it as steady as he could, avoiding a large pothole, breathing deeply as he understood his own responsibility arising from Kenzie’s action.
Then, in the rearview, he saw Dahl leap over to join her.
Oh shit.
Concentrating hard, he kept it steady.
*
Dahl swung himself up onto the top of the bus. Kenzie extended a hand but he nodded past her.
“Quick!”
The Russian chopper had banked above and was now swooping again, this time coming from a three-quarter front angle. He could see a man hanging out of each side, weapons aiming, probably targeting the wheels or even the driver.
Instantly, he whirled, seeking the Chinese helo. It wasn’t far away. Diving in from the left, it too had men pointing weapons out of the doors. The fact that the Chinese weren’t firing heavily on their own bus, whilst heartening at first, was tempered by the knowledge that they needed the box that Hayden held, and they needed it intact.
Kenzie steadied herself atop the bus, gauging for wind and movement, and spread her knees. Then she raised her weapon, focusing on the chopper. Dahl hoped she wouldn’t even try to take it down, just deter the shooters. The Russians had exhibited no such restraint, but Kenzie was desperate to change.
Dahl judged the incoming helicopter. Packed full, it was less than nimble, but lethal. The last thing he wanted was to cause any kind of accident, let alone one that might send it crashing into the bus.
The front wheels bounced over a pothole, eliciting a “sorry” from Drake. Dahl heard nothing more except the rushing air and the roar of the helicopter. A shot glanced off the metal close to his right foot. The Swede ignored it, aimed, and fired.
The bullet must have hit true, for a man dropped his gun and withdrew. Dahl didn’t let it upset his concentration though, just fired another shot through the open doorway. The chopper veered straight at him, coming fast, and this time Dahl knew it would be a bad idea to play chicken.
He flung himself to the roof of the bus.
The chopper screamed overhead, slicing through the space he’d just vacated. It didn’t have the maneuverability to swing around at Kenzie, but passed close enough to send her stumbling to the side.
Toward the edge of the bus’s roof!
Dahl slipped and slithered along, trying to reach her in time. Kenzie arrested her fall, but lost her grip on her weapon; still the momentum sent her tumbling off the speeding bus and toward the ungiving road far below.
The Chinese bird banked hard, coming around. The Russian shot overhead, a stray bullet puncturing the metal close to Dahl’s right thigh. Kenzie’s body slipped over the side of the bus and he thrust his entire frame into a last desperate le
ap, arm extended.
He managed to clamp his right hand around her flailing wrist; took firm hold and waited for the inevitable wrench.
It came, but he held on, stretched to the limit. The shiny, smooth metal worked against him, allowing his body to slide toward the edge, Kenzie’s weight dragging them both down.
Shouts came over the comms. The team could see Kenzie’s feet thrashing around outside one of the side windows. Dahl held on beyond endurance, but every moment that passed sent his body slipping closer and closer toward that hard edge.
Atop the bus there was no grip, and nothing to grip. He could hold on, he would never let go, but he couldn’t find any purchase to pull her up either. Drake’s voice came over the comms.
“Do you want me to stop?” Loud, unsure, a little anxious.
Dahl read the emotions well. If they stopped they’d be hit hard both by the Russians and the Chinese. No telling what the outcome would be.
Lauren’s voice interrupted. “Sorry, I just got word the Swedes are coming at you. It’s now a four-way spread, people.”
Dahl felt the weight stretching his muscles. Every time the bus bounced, another inch of him slipped toward the edge and Kenzie dropped a little further. He heard the Israeli’s voice from down below.
“Let go! I can make it!”
No way. They were traveling at sixty miles per hour. Kenzie knew he wouldn’t let go and didn’t want both of them to fall. Dahl felt even more respect for her. The heart he knew was deeply submerged had just risen a little closer to the surface.
The sound of her boots drumming against the windows caused his own heart to beat faster.
They slipped together; Kenzie down the side and Dahl across the top of the bus. He tried to grip a rough lip that ran down the edge but it was too tiny, and cut through his flesh. Not seeing any hope he hung on as long as he could, risking everything.
The Four Corners of the Earth (Matt Drake Book 16) Page 10
