veered to the right; the vehicle behind it rammed into the rear, twisting and then stopping itself, the driver shot through the temple by Flash.
The rest of the team opened fire then, downing the five men packed into the rear of the trucks. The gunfight was over before any of the tangos had a chance to pick up their weapons.
“Let’s get the vehicles,” said Danny, starting to run.
Chapter 29
Zen rolled his wheelchair forward as soon as he saw Breanna walking toward the baggage area. It felt good to see her — all these years, and there was still a twinge of excitement after a long separation.
“Hey, if it isn’t the lonesome traveler,” he said loudly, getting her attention despite the crowd.
“Zen — what are you doing here?”
“I was looking for somebody to have a scandalous affair with.”
“Tired of being a senator?” She leaned down and kissed him.
“Actually, I think it would help my career.”
“Teri?” she said, asking about their daughter.
“I sold her to the nuns.”
“Stop,” she said, swatting at him playfully.
“Misses her mother terribly. I guess my cooking just isn’t good enough for her.”
“I’ll bet. And how are you?”
“Trying to duck the latest tempest in a teapot — there’s your bag.”
Breanna grabbed it off the carousel, and with a well-practiced flick of her wrist, extended the handle.
“Jay’s in a no-parking zone out front,” said Zen, spinning around to lead the way.
“Just because you have government plates doesn’t mean you can park where you like,” scolded Breanna playfully.
“Sure it does.”
She laughed. “So what controversy are you ducking?”
“Some big blowup about a CIA program. Something called Raven. Ernst has a bug up his ass about it.”
Breanna was silent. Zen glanced up at her. Her face had suddenly gone white.
“Bree?”
“Where did you park?”
“Is there something I should know about?” said Zen. “Do you have something to do with Raven?”
“Why?”
Crap, he thought. Breanna had to be the worst liar in the world.
“Bree—”
“Maybe I’ll grab a cab and head straight for the office,” said his wife.
“Whoa, hold on.” He grabbed the bag handle — it was the only thing he could reach as she started to pull away. “Truce, OK? No work discussion. None.”
“I have to get to the office.”
“We’ll drop you off.”
“That might not look right.”
“Breanna, what’s going on?”
They were stopped right in front of the doors. People swerved around them, a little more indulgent than they might have been as one of the obstacles was in a wheelchair.
“Jeff, I can’t discuss it. You know.”
“Come here,” he told her, motioning with his head to the side. “Come on.”
She went over, clearly reluctant.
“Listen,” he started, “just to fill you in — Ernst has heard all sorts of rumors about this CIA program. Supposedly it’s some sort of unauthorized assassination deal. You know Ernst, you give him a whiff of something to bash Ol’ Battle-axe with and he’s off to the races.”
Ol’ Battle-axe was one of Zen’s nicknames for the President. It was considerably more benign than many of his others.
“If you’re involved in this,” he added, “you really oughta tell me.”
“Raven is not an Office of Special Technology project.”
“You’re lawyering up.”
“Jeff — don’t push me.”
Zen put his elbow on the chair rail and leaned his forehead down. When he had urged her to take her job — and he
It was the sort of promise that always came back to kick him in the butt, time after time.
“I’m not going to push you,” he said. “Let’s grab something to eat. Just you and me.”
“I have to get back to the office,” she said, pushing away.
“I’m glad you’re back!” he said as she went off.
The sentiment was sincere, but so were the curses under his breath as he wheeled around and headed for his van.
Chapter 30
There were no parallel roads to the highway leading out of town, and the hills would make it hard to flank the house quickly. Danny decided it would be best to race past the house to the south where some of the brothers were and go directly to Li Han’s. MY-PID would track Li Han if he escaped; his lack of a vehicle meant he couldn’t get very far.
There was gunfire from the lower house as they passed, but neither of the trucks was struck. Two troopers jumped from the back as they passed, securing the road in case the men there decided to interfere. The rest of the team sped on to the target.
By now Danny had a bad feeling about the house and Li Han. MY-PID was powerful but not infallible. He hypothesized that there might be a tunnel deep enough and long enough for the bastard to have escaped.
No one fired as they pulled up and surrounded the place. They blew out the front door and went in with flash-bangs and guns ready.
Li Han was lying exactly in the middle of the floor, dead. The flight computer and missing circuitry for the Raven was nowhere to be found.
“Looks like somebody did your work for you,” Danny told Melissa when she rushed in.
Blowback
Chapter 1
