Splinter Self

by S L Shelton

“Did you hear me?” Nick asked.

  Wolf shook his head. “I’m sorry. No. I was watching Hawkins.”

  Nick chewed on his bottom lip, then sat next to him. “I said we should just bring a couple more SEALs and hit the building.”

  Just then, the door of the building opened and four men walked out. One lit a cigarette as another man spoke to their target—Glenn Gold, former Baynebridge bodyguard to Ned Richards.

  “Too late,” Wolf said, pointing down the hill. “They’re leaving.”

  Nick looked down the hill, grinding his molars.

  “Don’t worry, Nick. It’s just like the old days; tag, track, and takedown.”

  “We’re risking exposure.”

  Wolf looked down the hill and stood up as Hawkins moved back up the hill toward them—Wolf could sense him coming before he was in sight.

  “We’ll follow Gold like we planned. When we have an opportunity, we’ll either take Glenn or find a way to break his phone encryption,” Wolf said calmly. “Either way, we’ll find out where Richards is hiding.”

  Nick shook his head as Hawkins approached. “This is stupid... I thought you had a plan.”

  Wolf ignored Nick and smiled at Hawkins as he emerged from the brush. “Any trouble?”

  Hawkins shook his head as he caught his breath. “The tracer and the lunch box are in place.”

  Wolf patted him on the back and turned toward their vehicle. “Good. Let’s go. They’re leaving.”

  As they drove down the dirt road on the back side of the hill, Wolf opened his laptop and activated the tracer tag that Hawkins had placed on Gold’s vehicle.

  “I’ve got a good signal,” Wolf said, watching the yellow circle pulse on the map filling the screen.

  “He spent the night there,” Hawkins said. “It’s Gold plus a three-man security detail…all Baynebridge.”

  “Wow, three bodyguards. Glenn must be feeling insecure.”

  Hawkins chuckled. “I don’t blame him. Those guys suck. One of them was asleep on watch inside an hour.”

  They followed for several minutes, and Wolf kept an eye on the pulsing marker representing Glenn’s vehicle. “Not to belabor the point, Hawkins, but the reason we put the tracker on Gold’s car was so we wouldn’t have to stay in his rearview mirror,” Wolf said flashing one of Scott Wolfe’s trademark ironic grins.

  “You should’ve let me drive,” Nick said loud enough for Hawkins to hear.

  “I need you to detonate the pinch,” Wolf replied, referring to the Bennett Pinch Coil he had built and Hawkins had mounted under the engine of Glenn Gold’s Suburban—Hawkins had taken to calling it the lunch box.

  “It’s a button,” Nick muttered. “I can drive and push a damned button.”

  “Hush,” Wolf said.

  Nick glared at him but remained quiet. To Nick’s credit, he was taking it well that Scott was in charge. A hard pill to swallow for sure, but the alternative had been to stay behind.

  Wolf closed his eyes for a moment and listened to the sound of the engine as he rerouted neural signals around the bullet still lodged in Scott Wolfe’s brain. Had it not been for the head wound, Wolf would have had Scott’s body at nearly one hundred percent efficiency again—but then again, had it not been for the head wound, he wouldn’t have control of Scott’s body.

  “You know, this isn’t exactly the best time to be training new operators,” Nick said quietly.

  “Hawkins, do you need to be trained?” Wolf asked without opening his eyes.

  “The US Navy trained me, sir,” Hawkins replied with stiff pride. “Don’t need no middle-aged rogue spooks to tell me how to do my job.”

  Nick scoffed. “Middle-aged,” he muttered.

  Wolf looked at Nick. “If you and I are going to be the only ones running these Ops, then why are we feeding all those SEALs… We can’t be everywhere at the same time.”

  “Not to mention we went AWOL under indictment to save your asses,” Hawkins said, sneering. “—Sir.”

  Wolf chuckled. “See, Nick? You hurt his feelings.”

  “Let me know when you find your testicles, princess,” Nick replied, looking at Hawkins in the rearview.

  Hawkins glanced back but remained quiet, grinning.

  Wolf closed his eyes again and silently ran simulation scenarios of Gold’s impending takedown. After a moment, the vibration of the floorboard told Wolf that Hawkins was going too fast again.

  “You’re too close, Hawkins,” Wolf said. “Back it down.”

  “Yeah, yeah.” The SUV slowed again, separating them from their target vehicle by another quarter of a mile.

  “What if Gold doesn’t know where Richards is?” Nick asked. Nick was a little too anxious to find Richards now that he knew the plan. Granted, he had good reason to be hungry for a takedown. Had it not been for Nick’s fast thinking and a lucky blast door closing, both he and John Temple would be dead now as well.

  Wolf shrugged. “Then I guess you can have him.”

  Nick smiled. “He better hope he knows or it will be a real short conversation.”

  “As long as we find Richards.”

  Nick glared at Wolf. “I haven’t forgotten how this works…I’m not the one with a bullet in my head.”

  Hawkins glanced up in the rearview to see how Wolf would respond. Wolf smiled without acknowledging the jab. Again with the subtle undermining. Maybe, Nick wasn’t as comfortable with the power shift as he seemed.

  “If they stay on this road, you can back away another half mile,” Wolf said to Hawkins. “They won’t be able to turn off for another ten miles.”

  “But we won’t be able to see them,” Hawkins said.

  “I’ve got them on the map…if we have to detonate, we don’t want to get caught in the EMP. It’ll kill our engine.”

  “And our communications,” Nick added.

  Wolf nodded to the back of the SUV, “We have spares in the back.”

  Nick looked back at the equipment cases strapped to the floor behind them. The electromagnetic shielding on the military grade COM chests would protect the contents from anything aside from a ground zero electromagnetic pulse.

  “You want me to call John and give him an update?” Nick asked.

  Wolf shook his head without taking his eyes from the laptop screen. “Nothing to tell him yet.”

  Nick nodded and then sighed. When Wolf didn’t look at him, he sighed again.

  “Jesus, Nick…what?!”

  “Nothing,” Nick muttered.

  “Spit it out.”

  “I still think we should tell John what we’re doing.”

  “We’re all entitled to our own opinions.”

  Wolf saw the back of Hawkins’s ear twitch; an involuntary physical response to eavesdropping.

  “Would John let you and me be together on this Op?”

  Nick shook his head. “No.”

  “Would you want to miss out on it?”

  “No. That’s beside the point.”

  “Tell me you think we shouldn’t take Gold right now.”

  Silence. Nick chewed at the corner of his lip, agitation creeping across his face.

  “Seriously… tell Hawkins to pull over and we’ll stop, call John and see what he has to say.”

  Nick shook his head. “Asshole.”

  “Bite me, Horiatis. You know I’m right. You just don’t want to admit that John’s gone cautious on us.”

  Hawkins’s eyes flashed up to the rearview to see Nick’s expression—precisely as Wolf expected. What he saw was acceptance, reluctant or not. Nick had just handed Wolf full control of the SEALs by hesitating to notify John Temple. That was the second time this morning that Nick had acknowledged Scott’s command in the presence of SEALs. And best of all, Nick didn’t even realize Wolf had baited him into it—both times.

  “Still, this plan seems thrown together,” Nick said.

  “Hawkins, how many guys are in the SUV in front of us?” Wolf asked, leaning forward.

  “Four incl
uding Gold.”

  “And were you able to ID the three with Gold?” Wolf asked.

  “Two Baynebridge tactical and one former Baynebridge tactical who’s now Gold’s assistant.”

  Wolf nodded and looked at Nick.

  “And how did you know they are and were Baynebridge tactical, Hawkins?”

  “I get it,” Nick said.

  “They were part of Richards’s security team that came into Langley the night that the NCS levels were bombed,” Hawkins replied, looking in the rearview at Wolf.

  “And why are we following them now, on this BFE country road when DHS headquarters is nowhere near?”

  “Jesus Christ, Scott! I fucking get it.” Nick’s face flushed red.

  Hawkins looked up in the rearview again, a broad grin stretching his cheeks. “The DHS leadership is bugging out and moving their people to more secure locations.”

  Wolf wasn’t done annihilating Nick’s opposition.

  “And where are they going?” Wolf asked glaring at Nick.

  Nick’s lip curled, and his eyes narrowed to slits, but he wouldn’t meet Wolf’s stare.

  “Don’t know,” Hawkins replied. “They didn’t brief me before pulling out.”

  Wolf sat back in his seat. “Thanks, Hawkins. Outstanding attention to detail.”

  “Hooyah,” Hawkins muttered, grinning.

  “I understand,” Nick said more calmly. “I get it.”

  “Are you sure? Because if you’re uncomfortable about our INTEL, we can pull over and do a full briefing.”

  Nick sat back, seething.

  “Of course, we might lose Gold in the process, but as long as we get to hear John’s take on it again, it’ll be totally worth it.”

  “Uh…guys. I don’t mean to interrupt the grown-ups during a serious conversation, but I think we’ve been made.”

  Wolf shifted his attention back to the laptop. “Hawkins, stop the car.”

  “What?!”

  “We’re too close. Stop—the—car.”

  Hawkins slammed on the brakes and pulled to the side of the road. A flashing icon appeared on the screen. “Outgoing call.”

  “Hit the pinch,” Wolf said to Nick. “Now.”

  Nick pulled the detonator remote from his pocket and hit the trigger switch. Ahead of them, all the lights on the Gold’s SUV flashed briefly before the vehicle skidded off the road and down an embankment. Worse, their own vehicle began to shudder and vibrate.

  “Shit! We were too close,” Nick said, reaching under his jacket for his pistol.

  Wolf reached under his own jacket for his Glock. “Jam it, Hawkins…we need to be over there, now.”

  The SUV lurched forward, its engine vibrating and knocking. Behind them, a thick greasy smoke jetted from the exhaust. They had been close enough to the electromagnetic pulse that it had damaged the ignition controller.

  “We’re lucky we can move at all,” Nick said. “I told you I should have been driving.”

  “Not helpful, Nick. Get ready to go.”

  Nick opened his door as Hawkins continued to drive their limping vehicle to the point where the targets went off the road.

  “There,” Hawkins said, pointing to the side of the road ahead of them. “They’re going into the woods.”

  “Ready,” Nick said.

  Wolf dropped the dead laptop to the floor and grabbed Nick by the belt. “Right behind you.”

  Hawkins drove the SUV down the embankment, slamming on the brakes but almost hitting the other vehicle. Shots buffeted the windshield as they skidded to a stop.

  “Get the two who went into the woods,” Wolf said as they jumped. “I’ve got these guys.”

  Nick and Wolf tumbled out and hit the ground running. Nick headed for the woods and Wolf rounded the crippled SUV to return fire. As Nick broke away, Wolf peppered the side of the Homeland vehicle with pistol fire, sending the two men to the ground, one with a hole in his head.

  “Gold’s in the woods,” Wolf yelled at Nick’s back seeing their target wasn’t with the two Baynebridge men.

  Hawkins got out firing two round bursts with his SIG 226.

  “I’ve got this. Go with Nick,” Wolf said and fired rapid bursts to give him cover.

  Hawkins, set out, drawing the final security man’s attention away. Wolf slapped in his final magazine and strode back around the crippled Homeland SUV, firing into the man’s chest and head. The slide on Wolf’s Glock locked back, empty. There was plenty of ammo in the SUV, but time had expired. He dropped his pistol and ran.

  If they were lucky, no call had gone out before Nick detonated the EMP. The road had been clear of other vehicles, and the bottom of the embankment was not visible from either lane. There were a lot of ifs driving them, but if their luck held, no one would know what had happened until after they had Glenn Gold.

  Wolf closed in on Hawkins who looked back, startled, just as Wolf passed him. The speed and silence of Wolf’s sprint would have seemed almost inhuman to the young SEAL—he would have been almost correct.

  Scott Wolfe’s body still hadn’t fully recovered, and the damp, early morning air burned his still recovering lungs. Five minutes into his sprint, each breath brought more rattling to his chest. But the pace of his pursuit wouldn’t allow for even a small cough to help clear it away—he needed to catch his prey before they could find a way to call out, and he couldn’t rely on Nick for the takedown. Nick wasn’t fully recovered either.

  Pain pulsed through his body, sparking mini red flares of torment through his brain. But Wolf was only borrowing this body, and pain wasn’t a deterrent as it would be for its proper owner. Scott Wolfe had been dumb enough to jump in front of a bullet to save Kathrin. It was his own fault—and he hadn’t even saved Kathrin.

  He increased his pace, rapidly closing the distance with Nick who was already breathing hard.

  “Remember we need him alive,” Nick gasped at Wolf’s back as he passed.

  Their prey were slowing—something Wolf would not do. He knew that Gold and his hired muscle had split up about a hundred yards back, but he could still hear both of them crashing through the woods ahead. He knew exactly where they were and how long it would take him to catch up to them if he didn’t slow.

  He opted to follow the deeper footprints when they branched out in front of him, adjusting his intercept calculations on the fly as he readjusted respiration for optimal performance.

  (Stride (self: 240 spm X 93.5 inch strides and steady) - (target: 191 spm (and falling) X 84 inch strides (and falling))) X distance, 725 meters = intercept time at…mark—It wouldn’t be long.

  Without a weapon, Wolf would have to improvise when he caught up to them. But that didn’t worry him either.

  By the time he laid eyes on his quarry, Wolf could hear behind him that Hawkins had caught up with Nick. A second later, he was able to identify his target by sight.

  Glenn! He had been right to follow the deeper tracks.

  In the woods to the right, he could hear the other Baynebridge man running a parallel course, but focused on intercepting Glenn.

  The first wild shot zipped past from Glenn’s pistol but came nowhere near striking Wolf. Three more rounds followed before the second Baynebridge man began firing as well. There was little chance of either of them hitting Wolf at that distance, much less while running, but it could possibly draw unwanted attention.

  Wolf ticked his speed a bit higher, risking cardiac arrest to close the distance sooner. The bullets continued to fly out in wild directions. After a few minutes, the last round hissed closer than the others, a mere twenty feet away. Several seconds later, Wolf passed Gold’s discarded weapon, its slide locked back, empty.

  “On me!” Glenn yelled into the woods.

  Apparently, Glenn was having second thoughts about splitting up with his security detail. It was too late.

  When Wolf was within ten feet of him, Glenn dropped to the ground and kicked up in a very tricky offensive move. Wolf leaped and sailed over him, mi
ssing the kick by several inches. He rolled to a stop in front of Glenn and jumped to his feet.

  Glenn scrambled to stand, panting heavily.

  Wolf circled slowly for a few seconds. “Go on…catch your breath,” he said, hoping to give Nick and Hawkins time to get closer and intercept the other bodyguard before he could crash the party.

  Glenn kept his left foot toward Wolf, turning slowly, with his hand hanging loosely at his side. Wolf smiled knowing that meant Glenn had a backup weapon tucked in an ankle holster on that side—a snub-nose revolver judging by the fall of his pant leg.

  When Glenn launched at him, Wolf could tell it was a feint, betrayed by the tucked elbow. He ignored the fake kick and instead jumped up, pounding Glenn’s jaw with a knee strike. Wolf’s powerful attack sent the bigger man tumbling to the ground.

  “On me!” Glenn yelled into the forest again as he clumsily fumbled with his ankle holster. A kick to the wrist sent the small revolver sailing out of his grasp.

  Wolf smiled. “Sloppy, Glenn…very sloppy.”

  The muscular former bodyguard rose again in a flurry of punches and an attempted stomp that failed to connect with anything. Wolf slammed his elbow into Glenn’s jaw and landed a spinning punch to the side of his head.

  Glenn began to fold—too fast, Wolf realized. Another feint.

  Wolf took the bait to see what Glenn had, charging back at him with a kick to the ribs. Glenn whipped his arm out and caught Wolf’s leg. He was a big guy and probably felt that if he got Wolf on the ground, he’d have him.

  Surprise! Wolf thought.

  Glenn drove him backward trying to put him on his back, but Wolf jumped with his free leg and kicked Glenn in the side of the head. The kick landed so hard that Glenn tumbled sideways.

  As he hit the ground, Wolf rolled forward and dropped his knee onto Glenn’s sternum. The breath left his lungs in a rush.

  “Where’s Richards hiding, big guy?” Wolf asked quietly, grinning.

  To the big man’s credit, he still managed to reach up and grab Wolf’s throat with his free hand. Behind him, Wolf could hear the other Baynebridge guard running toward him, and Nick and Hawkins were nowhere near yet.

  Time to draw this to a close, he thought.

  Wolf reached behind him for the knife in his belt and simultaneously ripped Glenn’s hand away from his throat. Turning as the second guard broke into the clearing, Wolfe flung his knife, sending it whistling through the air. It landed solidly, sinking to the hilt in the hollow of his throat. He fell face first into the dew-drenched, leaf-covered ground.