Oric lay on the hospital bed with his eyes closed. The chief was about to leave when Oric called him back.
“What is it, Djuricic?”
Startled, the chief reentered the room and mustered a smile. “We’ve found their abandoned car. It’s at an old airport east of here. The pilot reported they stole a twin-engine plane. I’ve got two choppers in the air looking for them right now.”
The general moaned as he tried to sit up. He pushed the bed’s control button, allowing it to raise him to a sitting position.
“They’ll never catch them with a chopper,” he said. “Alert the Bulgarian Army. Tell them to be on the lookout for any flights coming into their territory.”
The chief saluted. “Yes, sir.” He turned to leave.
“Oh, and Djuricic?”
The chief turned back to face the general.
“When I get out of here, we’re going to talk about your actions tonight. Is that clear?”
The chief gulped hard. “Yes, sir.”
Chapter 9
“I should have killed him,” Alina said over the drone of the engines.
“What?” Goran took off one side of his headgear. He had been busy checking his gauges—especially the altimeter. He tried to keep the plane low to avoid the Bulgarian radar.
“I said I should have killed Oric when I had the chance.”
Goran shook his head and replaced the headset. “You did the right thing letting him go. The Alina I met a few days ago would have killed him back at the hotel, and then where would we be? They wouldn’t have let us go, that’s for sure.”
“Maybe.”
Alina turned to watch the forest trees slide by beneath her. It was dark, but she could make them out by the pale light of the moon. Light shimmered off the occasional lake that dotted the area. It was a terrible place to be if the engines quit.
“We’re almost in Bulgarian airspace,” Goran said. “Even General Oric has no jurisdiction here. He can’t follow us. All we have to worry about is what to tell Immigration when we land.”
“How about the truth? Tell them we’re running for our lives. Maybe they give political asylum to cowards.”
Goran laughed.
“What are you laughing at? I was serious.”
“For one, you’re not a coward. You were just being smart. You showed great restraint back there. Consider it as if we’re just waiting for the right moment. Second, I don’t think Bulgarians are big at political anything. They don’t want any trouble. They’re going to turn us over to the Serbs the first chance they get.”
Alina turned back to the window. “You’re probably right.” She looked back at him. “Can this plane get us to Turkey?”
He shook his head. “Even if it could, I don’t think —”
A military jet roared overhead. The turbulence rocked the small plane, forcing Goran to grab hold of the yoke with both hands. With some difficulty, he managed to stabilize their flight.
“What was that?” Alina asked, her eyes wide.
“It was a MiG fighter. Looks like the Bulgarian Army knows we’re here. That was just a warning.”
“A warning? He almost knocked us out of the sky, and you call that a warning?”
Goran gave her a solemn look and started climbing. That last pass had almost thrown them into the trees. He needed room to maneuver.
“Oh,” she said gazing through the windscreen. “I see what you mean.”
She caught sight of the MiG up and to the left. Its air-to-air rockets silhouetted against the moon.
“What does he want?” Alina asked.
“He probably is just telling us to turn back, but we both know we can’t do that.” Goran’s face grew grim. “We’ll just have to take our chances. Maybe it’s like you said. Maybe they’ll let us stay.”
“I don’t plan to live in Bulgaria. I’ve got to get to Istanbul. That’s where Itsakovic is.”
“That’s going to be tough. Watch out!”
The MiG did another high-speed fly by, the turbulence lifting the small plane before slamming it into a short nosedive.
“I think he means business,” Goran said, fighting the controls.
The radio squawked to life. A man shouted something in Bulgarian, but neither one understood what he said.
“He doesn’t sound very inviting,” Alina commented. “I take back what I said about political asylum. I think if we don’t land, they’ll shoot us out of the sky.”
“We can’t land. There’re too many trees down there.” He looked at her solemnly. “It doesn’t look good.”
The man on the radio repeated his unknown demands. Goran turned the radio off and craned his neck left to look out the side window. Alina did the same on her side. It was difficult to see, but she could just make out the orange flame of the jet’s thrusters behind them.
“He’s coming back again. Get ready,” Goran said.
“Get ready for what?”
What looked like flaming orange tennis balls streaked past their plane, curving and disappearing into the distance. This was followed by yet another deafening pass of the jet.
“What was that?” Alina said.
“Tracer rounds. He just gave us our final warning.”
“Well, since you can’t outrun him, can you out maneuver him?”
“Maybe for a little while, but don’t forget those rockets. Some of them are heat seeking. We have a slight edge in that we have a small heat signature, much lower than a jet. Still, if it hits us, it will blow us out of the sky and leave nothing for the forensic team to clean up.”
“You’re not making me feel better.”
“Wasn’t trying to. Just telling you like it is.”
The jet came by on yet another pass. Bright orange tracer rounds arced toward them, leading the way. This time, it was no warning. The rounds came too close.
Goran veered hard left beneath the bright stream. The bullets, probably depleted Uranium, skirted their right wing tip. Had they hit it, the wing would have been shredded.
“That was close,” he said as he pulled back on the throttles.
“What are you doing?” Alina almost screamed.
“If we slow down, and if we can see him, we might be able to evade him a while longer—but it’s still only a matter of time.”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean he’s going to start using those missiles soon. If he can lock us up with radar, we’re doomed. I admit I’m not that educated on MiGs, but I don’t think they have a look down, shoot down capability.”
“What does that mean?”
“It means he has to be on our tail to shoot us down, but at the speed he has to fly he can’t stay behind us long. That’s our advantage. That’s another reason why I’m slowing down.”
The fighter made a looping turn in front of them, then came straight at them, head on, cannons blazing.
Goran drove the steering column down, sending the plane careening toward the ground—but under the hail of bullets. And then the MiG was gone, roaring behind them into the night.
“Why does he keep shooting if he knows we don’t have a place to land?”
Goran stopped to think. “You got me on that one. The only thing I can think of...”
“What? What is it you thought of?”
He looked at her. “Oric.”
Goran once again turned to look behind him. The MiG was just finishing its loop and coming in line behind them.
“Hold on!” he said.
He jerked the yoke left and then pulled up. He followed this with an opposite turn, juking right and down. Alina felt like she was on a demented roller coaster.
The ruse worked. The MiG flew by without a shot.
“Look on the map. See if you can find out where we are.”
Alina snapped on a light, but it was hard to read. Goran was making such drastic turns to stay out of the MiG’s gun sights she could barely keep her seat.
“Near as I can tell, we are almost to Breznik.”
“How do you know?”
She pointed down. “Not as many trees now. And see those lights up ahead? Breznik is the only town in the area.”
Goran nodded, pulling the plane straight up and pushing the throttles forward. “Good job. Now see if this thing has parachutes.”
Alina unstrapped her harness and fumbled under her seat. Finding nothing, she reached into the back. Goran made another violent move that thrust Alina to the ceiling, then slammed her to the deck again.
“Sorry,” he said. “Find anything?”
“Found one.” She looked at him in dejection. “Just one.”
He nodded, looking out the window as he spoke. “It will have to do. I don’t think I can hold him off any longer.”
Alina followed his gaze, straining her neck to look over his shoulder. Suddenly, a bright flame streaked from underneath the MiG’s wing.
“Hold onto something! We’ve got incoming.”
Goran watched behind him. He only had one chance at this. He had to make it count. The missile was traveling at twice the speed of sound in the middle of the night, which made it almost impossible to dodge it. He needed luck.
On instinct, he revved the left engine and pulled up into a hard right.
The missile flew underneath them.
Sweat glistened on Goran’s brow. “That was close. We’re not going to get lucky again.”
They watched the jet fly by only to make another looping turn to get behind them once more.
“Put that parachute on!” he yelled.
“I’m not going without you.”
He revved both engines full throttle, gaining altitude. “You’ve got to. That way, one of us can make it. One of us can finish the job and that someone is you, Alina. You’ve got to make that jump.”
“No. No, I won’t do it!”
“Alina, don’t argue! Just put the thing on.”
She sniffed while struggling into the leg and shoulder straps. Then she buckled everything in front.
The MiG was almost in position again.
“We don’t have much time.” Another streak of flame zipped by. “Look out!”
He unbuckled his harness with the quick release button on his chest and leaped at Alina. Their combined weight broke open her door, and they fell into the night.
The missile hit the small plane, exploding it into a thousand flaming fragments.
Frantically, Goran tried to wrap both legs and arms around Alina, who in turn was doing the same to him. It was hard to do with 100-kilometer winds buffeting their every move.
“Pull it!” he yelled over the wind noise.
Alina pulled the ripcord. The chute unfolded then caught the air, jerking them hard. Goran lost his grip, and would have fallen had not Alina grabbed his wrist at the last second.
“Hang on!” she shouted. “Grab my wrist. Grab my wrist!”
Goran reached up and grabbed her arm with both hands. He looked down.
“Don’t look down,” Alina said. “We’ve got about 500 meters to go. Can you hold on that long?”
“I’ll hold onto you forever, if you’ll let me. But right now, just get me on the ground!”
“Three hundred meters,” she called out. “How are you doing?
Goran just nodded, watching the onrushing ground.
“Two hundred meters...one hundred. Almost there.” She then counted down by ten, then by five-meter increments. At twenty meters, Goran let go and tried to tuck and roll. He hit the ground hard, but managed to absorb most of the shock with his back as he rolled head over heels.
Alina fared much better. Though she had never parachuted before, she knew to keep her feet together. She landed in open terrain, and the chute quickly enveloped her. She scrambled to her feet, pulling and tugging at the thin nylon material. She was lost inside.
“Goran? Goran, are you all right?” she yelled from underneath.
He called back. “Yeah. Just twisted my knee a bit. Hold on. I’ll help you.”
Working together, Goran finally broke Alina free of the chute. She ripped off the harness, then desperately hugged and kissed him. Goran kissed her back, but not as much as her rapid loving assault.
“Oh, I’m so glad you’re alive. When you made me put that parachute on, I thought you were going to die.”
“So did I,” he admitted. “Jumping out with you was a last second thing. Frankly, I didn’t think I could maintain a grip when the chute hit, but I figured there was a chance. And any chance is better than no chance at all. Still, I wouldn’t have made it if you hadn’t caught me. My God, you’re strong!”
Alina smiled. “Worked out a lot on the farm where I grew up.”
They sat down to catch their breath. Burning debris covered the landscape. They looked up as the MiG made a last pass over the area.
“Where to now, Genius?” Alina lowered her gaze on him.
Goran pointed to his right. “We go east. There’s a big city called Sofia about thirty kilometers from here. We can regroup there. Figure out our next move.”
“That’s a long walk. It will take us all night.”
“That’s why we’ve got to keep moving. You must be tired. I know I am, but that MiG pilot had to have seen the chute—at least we have to assume he did. That means there will be soldiers crawling all over this place in a few hours. The more distance we can put between them and us, the better.”
They rose to their feet. Goran winced.
“How’s the knee?” she said.
“Hurts, but it’s okay. Walking will do it good.”
“Well, if you can walk, then you can run.”
Alina nudged him forward and they set off on a trot.
Chapter 10
Back at the hospital, General Oric sat in a wheel chair, his right arm in a sling. He reached for the telephone and punched in the numbers with his left hand.
“Hello?” a man’s voice said.
“It’s me, Ivo. We’ve got problems.”
“You know how to handle problems. Deal with it.”
“This one is different.”
“What sort of problem can you have that you would need to call me?”
“The kind that can bring us down, that’s what. There’s a girl we once knew who’s come back from the dead. I fear she knows everything—who we are and what we are doing.”
“How can that be possible? Who is she?”
“Remember that farm ten years ago?”
“Yes.”
“That’s her.”
“No. That’s impossible. I killed her. I saw her die.”
“You saw her go unconscious. I swear to you she’s still alive and very much out for revenge. She’s already killed Mirko and Edib and now she just came gunning for me. If she knows who I am, it’s a sure bet she knows the rest. That means you’re not safe.”
“I’m fine where I am. No way can she find me here.”
“I wouldn’t underestimate her. I did, and it put me in the hospital. She’s in Bulgaria now, and unless I miss my guess, she’s heading south to you.”
“I’m not worried,” the man on the other end said. “Like I said, there’s no way she can find me.”
“It’s not so much your safety I’m most concerned about, it’s our drug operation. She could jeopardize the whole thing.”
“How could she know about that?”
“Mirko.”
A pause on the line. “Mirko wouldn’t have talked.”
“She found Edib and me. He must have said something. We have to assume the worst. Start making preparations. I need time to find her and kill her.”
“I don’t see how can one little girl can destroy what it took us ten years to build. We have too many men.”
“She’s not a little girl any more. She’s grown up. She’s strong as an ox and fast, very fast. Tonight, she killed four police officers and put a half dozen more in the hospital.”
Silence followed on the other end of the phone.
“I say we suspend our
drug currier service for the time being. Keep a low profile,” Oric said.
“No. There’s no proof she knows anything about that. And if she comes here, I’ll take care of her.”
“I hope you do, but don’t underestimate her. She’s very resourceful, and smart. She got herself out of a very tight situation tonight. We had her surrounded, and yet she still managed to get away.”
“And just how did that happen?”
Oric chose not to tell him the whole story. “She shot me. There was nothing I could do.”
“Well, what are you doing now?”
“I called our man in the Bulgarian Army. Alina and her friend took off in a plane. The Bulgarians sent a MiG after them. No word if they found them yet.”
“A MiG? I would think they’re good as dead.”
“Yes, but that’s if they found them. It’s three in the morning here. Very dark over mountainous terrain. They could be anywhere inside the border.”
The man went silent.
“You still there?” Oric said.
“Yes, I’m here. I still say we carry on with our plans. We’ve got nothing to worry about.”
“If you say so. You’re the boss. I just thought I’d let you know of the situation.”
“I’m glad you did. Call me back with any updates.”
The line went dead. Oric hung up the phone in deep thought until his nurse entered the room.
“You want your shot of morphine now, General?”
He shook his head. “I need a clear mind for today. Have Chief Djuricic come in here.”
She nodded and in a few minutes, the chief came in, hat in hand.
“You wanted to see me, sir?” he said.
“How would you like to redeem yourself, Djuricic?”
The chief brightened. “Oh, very much so, sir. What is it you would have me do?”
“I need you to take control of my men and organize a search grid. I’ve already notified my captain that you will be heading things up.”
The chief nodded rapidly. “Thank you, sir. I won’t let you down this time.”
Oric wrote down a phone number on a pad of paper and handed it to him.
“Here. Call this man. He’s in the Bulgarian Army. Ask him for an update on whether their jet managed to find them. Based on what he says, that should give you a clue as to where to begin.”
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