Mamoon stared up into the sky and wondered if this was what Sameer felt when he died. Was his death quicker? What of Tariq? Did the boy know that he was about to die when he began to choke? Did he suddenly feel very cold?
Mamoon closed his eyes and felt peace for the first time in what seemed like a very long time.
Camp Deric, South of Dallas, TX
GREGG SAT BACK and stared at the screen. “I’ve got the feeds ready. We need to set the perimeter alarms.”
“Jim and Steve are on it.” Deric settled in next to him. “They’re starting on the south side and working their way up here.”
“Laser trip wires?” Deric glanced at his PDA and nodded. “You should get their signal any moment.” He tapped something on the pad and handed it to Gregg. “The frequencies.”
Jay pushed away from his computer and nodded to Gregg. “When you got a moment, I have the data bomb ready to go. You need to double check everything.”
Bridger blew his breath out hard and stared at the bullet proof windows mounted to the southern end of the bunker. “How big a caliber will that stop?”
Deric shrugged. “In theory, up to a .338 Lapua magnum, but I’ve never bothered to test it.”
Bridger’s brow creased. “Why not?”
Deric chuckled, “Those windows are over a grand a piece. I wasn’t about to start shooting at them just to see what might make it through. I trusted the lab reports.”
Bobby groaned and began to pace. “I don’t like this. Not at all.”
Jim appeared in the doorway. “Laser trips are set.”
Steve pushed past him and handed the data pad to Deric. “You might double check the distance on some of those. We may have surpassed their working distance.” He shrugged. “I wanted to get as wide a coverage area as I could.”
“Understood.” Deric tapped at his PDA and nodded. “They’re all green.” He handed the pad back to Gregg. “Key in.”
Gregg pulled up the sensors on his computer and leaned back. “We are live, fellas. Anything bigger than a dragonfly tries to get close and we’ll know it.”
Viktor’s face appeared on Gregg’s computer. “Hello? Are you there?” the Russian’s voice yelled.
“Viktor, where are you?” Jay yelled at the screen.
“I have led the men back to Fort Worth. I lost them in a bar and doubled back to their car. You have a drone following you.”
“I fucking knew it.” Jay slammed the table top. “Danger close, boys. They could already be out there.”
“I am sorry to be bringing you such bad news, but I felt that you needed to know.” Viktor’s face suddenly disappeared from the screen and his phone clattered to the ground. Black trousers could be seen in flashes as two men attempted to subdue the mad Russian. “Kill them all!” Viktor shouted. “No mercy! We are Baba Yaga!”
The screen went dead and Jay stood, his shoulders squared. “Lock and load, ladies.”
Gregg whistled low. “It’s clobbering time.”
Dallas, TX
ALI BIN-HAMZA shook his head slowly as the car slowed near the airport hangar. “This is not good. Look.” He pointed to the dark sedan parked behind a small aircraft. Two men sat inside. One man was staring at the hangar with binoculars. “They are being watched.”
“No, Ali. They are not there.” The babyfaced man held his phone up. “One of the trackers broke into their frequency. They are at some survival camp south of here.”
“How far?” Ali barked, his eyes narrowing.
The babyfaced man shook his head. “Not far. Maybe…forty minutes?”
Ali slapped at the driver. “Go! We must get there before the authorities do.”
31
Camp Deric, South of Dallas, TX
ROGER ALL BUT pushed al-Abadi into the tunnel. “Whatever you hear, don’t come out.”
“But this is a tomb!” The smaller man shook and stared at Roger with wide eyes. “You cannot leave me in here. It could collapse. It could—”
“Shut up and keep low.” He hooked his thumb over his shoulder. “Those guys are the professionals. They can’t have you running around screaming and being a distraction.” He stood taller and glared at him. “That’s my job.”
He pushed the door shut and leaned against it, praying that this would all soon be over and there would actually be a life that he could get back to.
“Here.” Roger opened his eyes and Bridger was handing him an M4. “You remember how to use one of these, don’t you?”
Roger cursed under his breath and snatched the rifle from his grip. “Of course I do.” He slammed a magazine home and racked a round in it. “Where will I be stationed?”
“Machine shop.” Bridger turned and marched toward the front of the bunker.
“Wait…that’s clear on the other side.”
“Yup.” Bridger grabbed a MOLLE vest and began loading the pouches.
“I really think I should be with you.”
Bridger shook his head. “That won’t be the safest place.” He leaned forward and glanced through the blast windows. He couldn’t see the drone, but he knew it was up there. Probably keeping an eye on the entire place at a safe distance.
“What the hell am I supposed to do at the machine shop?”
Bridger turned and gave him a steely eyed stare. “Each of these bunkers are connected. Those are simple steel doors…they’re not blast doors. If they breach any of the bunkers, then they’ll have access to all of them. We can’t risk allowing them into any one of them.” He slammed a round home on a ten millimeter pistol and shoved it into the chest mounted holster. “ANY OF THEM.”
Roger nodded slowly. “I’m guarding the entire bunker by myself?”
Jim walked by carrying an RPG. “I’ll be there with you.” He set the RPG on the table and began loading his own MOLLE vest. “It’ll be fun.” He shot Roger
