Xander King BoxSet

by Bradley Wright

  He had processed the information he had heard in the basement of the church. He just couldn’t believe it. They had used Bowker to draw Brancati in close. It was the only way to get to him, making him think that together they would be taking Freeman’s turf from him. All the while, Allison and Jerry were working with Freeman to make sure Brancati was out of the picture. Brancati clearly had not known that Allison and Jonathon Freeman were related. Pretty smart on their part. But they hadn’t planned on the attention from the inadvertent hostage situation, and they certainly hadn’t planned on Xander getting the jump on them. The thing that took Xander by surprise the most was that Freeman was her brother. Had this always been their plan? Allison didn’t seem the type whatsoever. She had always had an edge, but he considered it a healthy one. And sexy. He had always thought of her as driven, smart, and capable. He just never thought capable could include all of this.

  “Allison, what are you doing? You’re better than this,” Xander told her.

  “Don’t, Xander. You misjudged me, and it is going to cost you your life.”

  Xander’s confusion morphed into anger.

  “Cost me my life? How do you figure? It is you who has misjudged me.”

  Xander let go of her hands, and she turned to face him.

  He continued, “I can’t believe, after you knew I took out the four men outside your neighborhood, that you still went forward with trying to draw me in by calling me. Were you trying to get caught? I’m going to let you go, but only because I know I will find you. But if you let your brother and Jerry take that innocent woman with you, I will hunt you down and make you pay for ever calling me, before this night is over.”

  “I’m shaking in my boots,” Allison said. A smirk grew across her face. She turned and jogged toward the entrance of the tunnel, then disappeared through the doorway.

  Before Xander could speak, Sam spoke up as she stared at her phone. “I messaged Kyle a moment ago when Jerry mentioned the SWAT team. I remembered reading an article a couple of months ago when they brought on a new team leader saying he was a navy man. I asked Kyle to try to get hold of him—”

  Xander’s phone began to ring.

  “I don’t know the number.”

  Sam said, “Answer it, hopefully it’s him.”

  Xander did as Sam asked and put the call on speaker. “Hello.”

  “Xander King?” a man’s voice asked.

  “You’ve got him.”

  “Mr. King, this is Tim Lawson, SWAT team leader in Lexington. It’s a real honor, sir. I heard a lot of stories about you in the navy.”

  “Thank you, the honor is mine, but let’s get to it, Tim. I seem to have stepped in some shit here.”

  “Right, I talked to a Kyle Hamilton just a minute ago. Said if I was at St. Paul’s that I might want to talk to you.”

  “Do you see Jerry up there?”

  “Sheriff Thompson? Uh, yeah, he just took off in a police cruiser. Told me to make sure and check the basement.”

  “I don’t have time to explain, soldier, but I need you to trust me now. Can you do that?” Xander asked him.

  “Y—Yes, sir?”

  His voice wavered with a weary tone.

  “Good, get me a four-wheel drive at the entrance of the opera house across the street. Get a mobile device and tap into the GPS equipped on that police cruiser that Jerry just left in, and have the device ready for me in the vehicle. I know it doesn’t sound right, but you can’t trust your sheriff,” Xander explained.

  “Funny, he just said the same thing about you. Said we’d find you in the basement and to arrest you when we did.”

  “And?” Xander asked.

  “Well, frankly, I never liked that son of a bitch. That, coupled with the fact that I heard he’s under investigation by internal affairs, doesn’t make me trust him much at all. I’ve heard what you’ve done for this country, and I’ll always put my trust in a fellow frogman. I’ll be waiting with your truck at the opera house.”

  “Good man.” Xander clicked off the call.

  “The legend of Xander King strikes again,” Sam joked.

  “Whatever works.” Xander winked. “Let’s finish this.”

  “Lead the way, oh great one,” Sam jabbed.

  “No respect.”

  Xander shook his head and sprinted for the tunnel. He knew this would have been a lot more difficult if Tim hadn’t been a navy man. And it was a good thing Sam had been thinking on her feet. As always, she had proven invaluable to him. And Kyle was starting to come along as well. Xander wasn’t happy about having his best friend join his quest for vengeance, but Kyle had insisted. Much to the dismay of Sam; she didn’t want to have to count on someone with no formal training. Xander understood. He never liked working with unknowns. But he had been bringing Kyle along slowly, in hopes that he and Sam would rub off on him. It seemed to be working.

  As Xander ran past the man he had knocked unconscious earlier and on up the stairs, he rounded the corner and made his way toward the exit of the opera house. Through the glass windows he could see the exhaust of a black Hummer H2 blowing hot white clouds into the cold air.

  That didn’t take long.

  As he and Sam came down the stairs, a linebacker of a man stepped out of the SUV.

  “Hoorah!” he shouted as his boots hit the snow-covered blacktop.

  “Hoorah,” Xander chanted back.

  “This is my truck, so you break it, you buy it.”

  Instead of a handshake, Tim handed Xander an iPhone. “Here is the tracker for Sheriff Thompson’s cruiser. One of my men just radioed me and said he followed after the sheriff to make sure he didn’t need any help. Said he then saw Jonathan fucking Freeman get in the cruiser with him. And get this, he had a gun to a woman’s head. I don’t know what the hell is going on, but looks like you were right, Mr. King. I wasn’t going to let you go after him, but after talking to my deputy, you seem to know more about this than we do. I’m assuming that’s because the sheriff doesn’t want us to know.”

  Xander nodded. “Is your man still following Jerry?”

  “He was, but he radioed me from a ditch off Versailles. Said the sheriff ran him off the road. You believe that, his own man? I hope you understand that I have to come with you, Mr. King.”

  “I do, but I really need you to work on getting some men out to the airport. You mind sticking around here and making some calls to make certain that no one is allowed to leave the airport? That’d be a bigger help than you coming with me.”

  “You think that’s where he’s headed? The airport? I don’t understand what’s going on. Maybe we should—”

  Xander interrupted. “Not sure if that is where he’s going, but I can’t wait around here to find out. He and Freeman are in this drug business together. If I don’t catch up to them, who knows what will happen to that poor woman they took at gunpoint.”

  Tim took a deep breath, still unsure.

  Xander nodded toward the Hummer. “I’ll make you a deal, Tim. You let me go save this woman’s life, and I’ll let you have the sheriff. Take him in yourself.”

  Tim looked back at Sam, then moved out of Xander’s way. “I’d tell you to be careful, but if just half the stories I heard about you in the SEALs are true, I’d say it’s Jerry Thompson who better be careful.”

  Sam started around the back of the Hummer, a look of disgust on her face. “Oh, good god. I assure you, Tim, Xander’s shit stinks the same as all the rest of us.”

  Xander smiled and whispered to Tim, as he climbed behind the wheel of the Hummer, “She’s just jealous.”

  “Just get that traitor son of a bitch,” said Tim.

  Xander gave him a salute and slammed the Hummer door shut.

  He would love nothing more.

  12

  Closing In

  The snowflakes seemed to have grown larger since he and Sam had first entered the opera house. It was beginning to stick to everything it touched. Xander twisted the knob, and the windshield
wipers cleared space enough for him to see. The heater inside the Hummer had been left on, and it wrapped around them like a warm blanket. He pulled the knob on the gear shift down to drive and mashed the gas pedal to the floor. The throaty exhaust of the beast of a truck gurgled, and they launched forward onto South Broadway. In just two blocks they slid right onto High Street, which in just a few minutes turned into Versailles, the road where the deputy said Jerry had run him off the road. Xander knew the road well. Not only did it lead right to his horse farm, but it also led directly to the airport at the corner of Man O’ War. Barring Jerry having some sort of accident, there would be no way they could catch them before they made it to the airport—assuming, of course, that was where they were going. Xander assumed Jerry would have some sort of backup plan for getting out of Lexington. Sam must have been thinking along the same lines.

  “You think they are smart enough to have a way out at the airport,” she asked.

  It was a good question. Nothing they had done up to that point had been a particularly smart way of going about things. “I’m not sure they are at all, but where else could they be going?”

  Sam studied the iPhone that was tracking Jerry’s cruiser. “If it were me trying to escape, I would assume the airport would certainly be locked down and that I wouldn’t be able to fly out. But judging by the way things happened at the church, I feel like they are dumb enough to think themselves untouchable.”

  “You’re probably right. But if it were me,” Xander answered, “I wouldn’t care if I could get clearance from the airport tower to take off or not. My plane would be leaving regardless.” He was forced to hit the brakes to make sure the red light he was about to run wouldn’t end in a crash. As he did so, the Hummer slid on a patch of ice and the brake pedal began to pump automatically underneath his foot. When he didn’t see any vehicles turning onto the dark road in front of him, he moved his foot back to the gas and the back end of the Hummer fishtailed a bit before regaining purchase and once again propelling them forward.

  “Try not getting us killed before we find them, would you?” Sam said.

  Before Xander could quip back at Sam, on Xander’s right a dark mass shot toward their vehicle out of a side road. Xander swerved left just in time to avoid it slamming into the side of them, but by the time he pulled back onto the road from the median, narrowly avoiding a street sign, it had already sidled back up to them.

  “Looks like we’ve got company!” Sam shouted.

  WHAM!

  The driver of the military-style Alpha Hummer H1 swerved into their smaller H2 and forced them back into the median. Xander gripped the steering wheel with both hands and guided right through the median and into the opposite lanes of traffic. Fortunately there wasn’t another soul on the road. The H1 swerved through the median and charged straight for them.

  “Xander!” Sam shouted.

  “I got it!” he shouted back. As he slammed on the brakes, the back end of the H1 narrowly passed by the nose of their H2. When their Hummer began to slide sideways on the ice-covered road, Xander just went with it and let it carry them back across the median, back to the lanes they were supposed to be traveling. He then hit the gas, which gave them a bit of a head start before the H1 came into his rearview about fifty yards behind them.

  “What is Jerry doing?”

  “His car has stopped!” Sam answered.

  “They made it to the airport already?”

  “No, it looks as if they are about a mile away from it.”

  “But the car isn’t moving?” Xander said.

  “No, not moving. They must have run off the road.”

  “Then we still have a chance. If they make it to the airport, there’s no telling when they’ll be found.”

  Sam grabbed the radio mounted in the Hummer. “This is Xander and Sam looking for Tim Lawson.” She let go of the button on the receiver. There was silence for a moment; all they could hear was the roar of the H2’s engine as they sped through the snow toward the airport. Sam looked at Xander. Xander nodded.

  “Once again, this is Sam Harrison and Xander King looking for Tim Lawson. Do you read me?”

  Xander swerved around a turn, almost losing control. The headlights of the H1 still danced in the rearview mirror behind them, but it hadn’t managed to gain any ground.

  “Come on . . . ,” Sam said impatiently.

  They were only about three miles from the airport now. Only a mile from where the GPS showed Jerry’s cruiser was stopped along the road. Xander didn’t think Jerry would be able to disable the tracker in the car while moving, so he hoped he would see the car on the side of the road soon. He really wanted to know what he was getting them into before they came up on Jerry’s car, however. Xander checked the rearview again; the H1 was still trailing them. He didn’t get a good look inside of it before they slammed into them earlier, but he thought he had seen at least one more man in the Humvee. Taking advantage of the silence coming from the radio, he played the scenario forward in his mind. Once they arrived at the cruiser, they would be outnumbered. Allison, Freeman, and Jerry would have a solid head start as well. However, he liked his chances of catching them on foot if it came to that. It had been proven long ago that Freeman and Jerry weren’t much when it came to running. His biggest fear was for the woman they had taken hostage. If they did have to go the last mile or so to the airport on foot, they wouldn’t take her with them. She would slow them down far too much. He hoped, for her sake and their own, that they were decent enough to leave her behind. Alive.

  Xander could be a very merciful man, but every man has his limits.

  13

  On the Run

  The radio broke Xander’s train of thought when it crackled, and Tim’s voice rang through loud and clear.

  “I’ve got you, Sam. Sorry for the delay, just got off the phone with the deputy. Approach with extreme caution. He managed to run Jerry’s cruiser off the road, but they put a bullet in his leg when he tried to give chase. And get this, he swears he saw the DA running with them. The District Attorney! You know anything about that? Over.”

  Sam squeezed the button on the mike. “Yes, she is actually the one who seems to be in charge. We can explain later. What about the female hostage?”

  “No sign of her. Just Freeman, Jerry, and the DA. I’ll let you know if I hear more.”

  “Roger that. Over.” Sam said.

  Xander nodded, impressed with Sam’s radio lingo. “I bet that’s the first time a Brit has spoken those words.”

  “Oh yes, Xander, because America is the only country with radios,” she answered sarcastically. She had a point.

  Sam then leaned forward in her seat and pointed. Xander followed her finger out the front windshield and saw blue and red lights flashing on the opposite side of the road. Two sets of them.

  Xander drove the Hummer into the median and began to cross over to the other lanes. Through the falling snow he could see that one cruiser had T-boned the other and both were off the side of the road in the grass. The cruiser that had been hit was also pinned against the bottom of an embankment. Steam, smoke, or both billowed up from the front end of the cruiser that had done the T-boning. Its front tires looked blown as well. The three of them would have been forced to make a run for it.

  “All right, Xander. Looks like you’re going to have to take them on foot.”

  “Both of us, you mean,” he answered.

  Before Sam could say anything else, they felt a violent crash at the back of their Hummer. The impact threw them both wildly back against their seats as it forced their Hummer forward, and Xander immediately tried to apply the brakes. But the H1 behind them had already picked up too much steam. As they were being pushed against their will toward the police cruisers, Sam turned and let off a few rounds in the direction of the Hummer behind them. Xander’s ears were ringing from the shots, and he began to pound on the horn, hoping the deputy injured on the scene would hear him and clear out. When their tires came out of the
grass of the median and hit pavement, it began to spin them to the left. The tires were squalling and just as they turned sideways enough to see into the H1 that was pushing them, their Hummer quit sliding and flipped onto its side. The airbags deployed and Xander nearly cracked his ribs when he slammed sideways into the center console. There was a crash of broken glass and the horrible screech of the Hummer against the blacktop as they were still being propelled toward the side of the road, and toward the police cars.

  “Sam!” Xander shouted over the sound of scraping metal and fiberglass. “Sam, are you okay?”

  “I’m all right! My shoulder is banged up, but I’m good. When this thing comes to a stop, we are going to have to move quick! I’ll take care of these assholes. You get after the three of them and make sure they don’t get away.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Sam!”

  Sparks were flying all around them, and the sound was almost unbearable. Like Freddy Kruger’s metal claws on a chalkboard.

  “I’ve handled far worse than these blokes, Xander. They are like half-trained monkeys!”

  She had another good point.

  Sam continued to shout as the blacktop of the road below her door turned into snowy grass. “You climb through the sunroof. The Hummer will provide cover until you’re out. Then I’ll cover you until you make it up over that hill!”

  As the massive SUV finally came to a stop, Xander hit the button to open the sunroof, grabbed the handheld radio, and put it in his coat pocket.

  “Oh, and Xander?” Sam said as he started out. “Promise you won’t run backward this time?”

  He glanced over and saw a smirk on her face just before he pushed himself out into the snow. He sure did love that woman. As crazy as it seemed, these sorts of moments had become second nature for them. It amazed him the kinds of things a person could get used to over time.

  The cold hit Xander hard and wiped the smile from his face. As he kneeled behind the Hummer, he pulled his Glock and did a quick search with his eyes for the downed officer. Sam pulled herself out of the sunroof and knelt beside him.