by Brent Towns
“And you issued a termination order against him.”
“Yeah, but I can’t figure out how you knew that,” Horn allowed. “Then the rest of your team showed up in Europe. By then, Marek had sent his son to Latvia. I can only gather that your people went after the lab and came across the kid by mistake.”
Jones looked over at Clavell. “Is that enough for you?”
The speaker nodded. “It is. For now. We’ll get him back to Washington, and the FBI can take over.”
“What about my deal?”
“You’ll have to work that out with them. Just be thankful that Hank didn’t shoot you.”
“There’s something else. Forth knows that you know, and he was planning something for you.”
“I’ll take care of that,” Clavell told him.
“What about the men who came after me?” Jones said. “Did we get them all?”
Horn shook his head. “There is a man the CIA uses. I’ll give you his name.”
“Make sure you do. Let’s get out of here.”
Jardin Botanique
Geneva
The temperature in the greenhouse was equivalent of that of a South American jungle. Hot, humid, and the scent of damp earth hung heavily in the air. Arenas was crouched amongst the green leafy plants of the exhibit while he waited for the all clear. He’d been monitoring the chatter on his comms and knew that there were now two teams of shooters out there instead of just one.
Beside him, Falk sat patiently, showing no sign of fear. Under his arm was tucked the ledger.
The greenhouse was deserted and had been since the arrival of Arenas and Falk. One look at the weapon the Mexican was carrying, and people seemed to melt into thin air. He heard the door to the greenhouse open and knew that it could only be the ones they were hiding from. He flicked the fire selector on the MP5SD around onto burst. Then he waited.
The sound of muffled footfalls told Arenas they were close. He peered through the foliage and caught sight of two men. Arenas eased himself back and used hand signals to motion for Falk to get down.
He was about to raise his MP5 into the firing position when the growth around him disintegrated in a hail of gunfire.
“Puta!” Arenas cursed out loud and dropped to the moist ground beneath him.
Falk shouted as he did the same, and at first, the Mexican thought the man had been shot. His head whipped around, and he caught sight of the drug manufacturer trying to scramble away through the undergrowth. Arenas reached out and through brute strength dragged him back.
Falk turned and stared at him, eyes wide. The Mexican glared at him and growled, “Stay the fuck there, asshole.”
Then Arenas turned and disappeared through the shredded greenery.
Kane and Brick edged their way through the plants and shrubs which were densely grouped together. The rattle of gunfire sounded from the direction of the greenhouse, and then more erupted from somewhere behind them.
“Sounds like this thing is really starting to kick off,” Brick said.
Kane nodded. “Reaper Two? Reaper One, copy?”
“Copy, Reaper One.”
“Sitrep, over?”
“Four tangos down, over.”
“Copy. Reaper One out,” Kane said. Then, “Reaper Three, sitrep?”
Nothing.
“Reaper Three, sitrep?”
The channel opened, and through the sound of gunfire, Kane could hear Arenas’ voice. “Give me a minute, Reaper.”
“Hang on, Carlos, we’re coming to you,” Kane snapped. He glanced at Brick and said, “Come on, let’s go.”
They broke cover and began to sprint in the direction of the greenhouse. It was a stupid move, and against everything, the former recon marine had been taught and practiced over many years. And they ran straight into trouble.
“Hold it right there, asshole!” Horton snapped. “Didn’t being a recon marine teach you anything?”
Kane and Brick halted and turned to see Horton, Nicole, and another operator standing on the path. “Guess we missed them,” Brick said.
Arenas ducked back behind a large brown rock as bullets hammered into it, sending shards slicing through the air. Another burst cut through the foliage and a branch dropped to the Mexican’s left. He muttered something in Spanish as he slapped home a magazine and loaded a round into the chamber.
Leaning around the rock, he let loose with a sustained burst of fire and saw one of the shooters buckle at the knees. Ducking back, Arenas waited for the firing from the remaining shooter to cease before once more exposing himself.
This time, however, he appeared on the other side of the rock and took the shooter unawares. The MP5SD ripped slugs across the man’s torso, knocking him back. Taking a step forward, Arenas fired again, and this time the bullets tore a gaping wound in the killer’s throat.
Arenas whirled and pushed back into the man-made jungle where he found Falk, still laying where he’d been told to stay. The Mexican said, “Come on. It’s time to go.”
Kane stared at the three people standing before him. In the distance, he could hear the police sirens growing louder as they came closer. Bull Horton had a satisfied expression on his face which Kane took to mean that they were both about to die. Beside the Blackbird commander stood Nicole, armed and silent.
“I see we meet again,” Kane said to her. “I guess it was bound to happen. Laying down with dogs and all that.”
“Not the way I wanted it,” she said.
Kane shifted his gaze to Horton. “I see you’re down a few men, Bull.”
“All good they were too.”
“Now they’re dead,” Brick joined in. “I guess you picked the wrong team to go after.”
“I’m about to correct that.”
“Even if you do,” Kane said, “there’s still more than enough out there to take you down. Watch out for the woman. She’ll kill you quick.”
A cold smile touched Horton’s lips. “You won’t see it.”
Sirens grew louder as the police cars neared.
“You’d better hurry up then, asshole. I’m sick of waiting.”
“Hold it!” Brick snapped.
Everyone stared in his direction. Horton frowned. “Why?”
Brick said, “This is your last chance to get out of this alive, Horton. If you try to kill us, then you’ll die. All three of you.”
The Blackbird commander snorted derisively. “Fuck off.”
The ex-SEAL shrugged. “You were warned.”
Horton moved to fire, and as he did, the sound of suppressed gunfire slapped at the air. Horton and the last remaining Blackbird operator jerked wildly, and bullets hammered into them. Beside the dancing pair, Nicole spasmed as she took her own rounds and slumped to the ground.
It was over in seconds. The three lay side-by-side and Kane hurried forward to check them. From behind a round shrub, two figures appeared. Traynor and Reynolds. The DEA man said, “Glad we made it in time, I was beginning to think we wouldn’t, the way Brooke drives.”
“Oh, shut up, you’re in one piece.”
He smiled. “Are you all OK?”
Brick nodded. “Just.”
Kane looked up and said, “Get the others to regroup on us. We need to get the hell out of here before the police are breathing down our necks. Brick, stay on me. Gather what spare ammo these guys have. This isn’t over.”
“Copy.”
Kane knelt beside Nicole. The woman was still alive but not for much longer. Blood flowed from the bullet holes in her torso and from the corner of her mouth. She was having trouble breathing, and from the rattle deep in her chest, he guessed her lungs were filling with blood. Her eyes fixed on him, and he said, “Sorry about this but it was bound to end badly.”
She gave him a weak smile, revealing blood-stained teeth.
“Where is he? Where’s Newcomb?”
Nicole shook her head and struggled to raise her hand. It tracked toward the inside of her coat. However, the agent’s hand fell
short, weak from blood loss. She looked at Kane with pleading eyes. “Inside …pocket.”
Kane reached in and found what she was looking for. He placed it in her hand and then asked again, “Where’s Newcomb?”
“House …river,” Nicole managed and then died. Her hand fell to her side, and she dropped what she’d been holding.
It was a blood-stained picture of a little girl. “Fuck it,” Kane muttered.
The team leader came to his feet and took a couple of spare mags that Brick offered him. The ex-Seal said, “What now, Reaper?”
Kane’s gaze hardened. “We finish this fucking thing. Come on.”
“I’m with you,” Brick said.
As they hurried away from the scene of the shooting, Kane said into his comms, “Bravo Four, copy?”
“Copy, Reaper One.”
“Newcomb is set up in a house on the river somewhere. I need you to pin down his location somehow. Can you do it?”
“I can try.”
“That’s all I ask. Send me his location when you do.”
“Copy.”
“Reaper One, this is Bravo, copy?”
“Go ahead, Bravo.”
“What are your intentions, Reaper?” Thurston asked.
“I’m going after Newcomb,” Kane informed her. “Apart from the ones that the police got, Blackbird Team is down, so are those who belong to Marek. Also, you can add Nicole to that list.”
Kane paused and then added, “She had a little girl.”
All Thurston said was, “Good luck, Reaper.”
“Ma’am.”
They regrouped with the rest of the team and Falk, then made their way toward the vehicle driven there by Brooke. They hid their weapons in the back and put Falk in there with them. When he started to protest, Kane gave him a withering glare which soon shut him up.
The team were about to climb in when Swift came back over the comms. “I found your man, Reaper. I’ll send the address through to you.”
“Thanks, Slick. I owe you a beer.”
Kane looked at Cara and said, “Let’s go kill this asshole.”
Chapter 20
Geneva, Switzerland
“Sir! We’ve lost contact with Blackbird Team. I can’t raise them at all.”
Newcomb frowned. “What about Nicole?”
“She’s not answering either.”
“Shit,” Newcomb swore. “How long since you last had contact with them?”
“Thirty minutes.”
The CIA man just about exploded. “And you’re only just bringing this to my attention now? How fucking stupid are you! Put everyone we have left, on alert and start packing up. Christ!”
Suddenly an alarm sounded from a laptop and another tech turned, a perplexed look on his face. “They’ve found us.”
“Who?”
“Them,” he said pointing at his screen.
Newcomb went around to look and saw what the tech saw. He took out his personal firearm and said, “Evacuate, now. Tell the others we’ve got trouble.”
By others, Newcomb meant the handful of CIA operatives that he’d brought with him to act as security for their operations center. There were only four of them because that was all he’d thought he’d require. Hell, he hadn’t expected them to get past Horton. What a fuck up.
The double-story house was old and rundown. The garden was overgrown, and the grass in the yard was almost knee high. Tiles were coming off the pitched roof, and one of the gates hung off its hinges. But what gave away the presence of something else were the small CCTV cameras sited in areas where they could cover all approaches. When Kane saw the first one, he said to his team, “Once we pass this point, they’ll know we’re coming. Anything with a weapon is fair game. Press forward and get it done. If you see Newcomb, don’t hesitate. Put him down. Axe and I will take the front, Cara, you take Brick around the back. Carlos, watch our man here. Pete and Brooke, watch the perimeter.”
“Roger that.”
The team moved swiftly through the gates and separated into their pairs on the other side. Kane and Axe hurried toward the front door. He paused at the foot of the steps. “Reaper Two, sitrep?”
“Give me twenty seconds, Reaper.”
“Cover our six, Axe,” Kane said and mentally counted the time off. By the time he reached fifteen, Cara came back over the comms. “Reaper Two in position.”
Kane paused another heartbeat and said, “Execute! Execute! Execute!”
He kicked open the front door and stepped around to the left just as a wild, hailstorm of 5.56 rounds filled the void. Axe had stepped to the right, so he too was out of the firing line.
The muzzle of the shooter’s weapon shifted, and the wall around Axe seemed to explode outwards in a phalanx of wood splinters. “Motherfucker!”
Kane leaned around the doorjamb and fired the acquired CQBR. Unlike their normally suppressed HK416s, the CQBR roared to life. Bullets streaked across the space to find a home in the man’s chest. He dropped to the floor and Kane breached.
The team leader swept the room, looking for more threats. Behind him, Axe swept left and rear to make sure no one was closing from behind. Kane pushed forward and heard the flat slaps of a suppressed firearm coming from along the hallway that led toward the rear of the building. They were followed by the crash of an unsuppressed weapon, additional suppressed, and then a shout of pain when at least one round burned home.
The next thing, Cara and Brick appeared coming along the hallway toward them. Using hand signals, Kane directed them to move onto the stairs and clear the second floor. He and Axe would clear the first.
They crossed the dirt-strewn floor to the first door which was slightly ajar. They burst through the opening and swept the room. It was empty, so they moved on to the next one. It too was empty apart from cluttered, dusty furniture. The next room, however, had signs it had been used. Unlike the others, this room was cleaner and still had all its electronic gadgets inside. A knot of electrical cables ran across the floor and into the wall. Kane glanced at the nearest monitor and saw that it was hooked to the CCTV cameras, showing multiple angles of the house’s exterior as well as the perimeter.
Then Kane saw it. One of the cameras was showing a darkened area which looked like another hallway. Axe said, “They left in a hurry. Must’ve got out once they saw us outside the perimeter.”
“Yes, and I know where they’ve gone,” Kane told him. Then he said into his comms, “Reaper Two, copy?”
“Copy.”
“We’re clear down here. How’s it looking up there?”
“Nothing but dust, dirt, and pigeon shit.”
“Copy. Meet me at the bottom of the stairs.”
“Roger.”
“On me, Axe.”
“Coming, Reaper.”
Kane headed for the door. “Zero? Copy?”
“Copy, Reaper One.”
“The bird has flown, Zero. Have Slick run a search of the perimeter to see what he can pick up. They went underground. For a rundown dump, I’d say the CIA have used it before.”
“Roger, I’ll get him onto it. Zero, out.”
The others joined them at the foot of the stairs, and Kane said, “They’ve gone underground. We need to find out where they went. Everyone pick a door and be careful of what might be behind it.
They split up, and it was Brick who found what they were looking for. The doorway led to a staircase which dropped away into a lit passage. Brick took point, followed by Kane, then Cara, and the last man down was Axe. The lit passage ran west for around twenty meters before turning north.
“Bravo Four, copy?”
Static.
“Bravo Four, copy?”
Nothing.
“Bravo One, copy?”
Nothing still.
“Damned comms are out,” Kane cursed. “Brick, keep moving.”
They pushed along the underground passage for another fifty meters before it turned once more, opening out into a larger room filled with cra
tes. “What do we have here?” Brick said with a low whistle.
Kane said, “Axe, Cara, crack a few of these things to see what’s in them. Brick, on me.”
The two of them walked along another tunnel until it stopped at the foot of a ladder. At the top of it was a two-door opening with only one hatch open. Kane led the way up the ladder, and when he emerged, he was in a stand of trees, about ten meters away from the river, its steep embankment dropping five meters to the water. Kane said, “I bet that’s how they got the crates in.”
“It’s probably how they escaped too,” Axe added.
“Bravo Four? Reaper One. Copy?”
“Copy, Reaper One.”
“Any luck?”
“Not a damned thing.”
“The tunnel came out on the river. I think that was the way they escaped. We found some crates in a storage room. Reaper Two and Four are checking them over as we speak.”
“Copy. I’ll tell Zero.”
“Come on, Axe. Let’s see what the others found.”
They went back down the ladder and into the tunnel. From there they trekked to the crate storage room. “What have you got?”
“You won’t believe this shit,” Cara said. “We’ve got money and weapons. A quick calculation in my head puts it at somewhere between five and ten million dollars.”
“CIA stash?” Kane proposed.
“Could be. Whose ever it is, they’re not going to be happy about losing it.”
“I’ll call it in, and Thurston can deal with it. Get the team mobile. It’s time we left.”
Team Bravo Warehouse
Geneva, Switzerland
“We’re out of here within the hour,” Thurston told the team gathered before her.
“Where to, ma’am?” Brick asked.
“Home. We’re wrapping things up.”
“There’s still things to be done here,” Kane pointed out.
