Aidan pushed the deflating bag down out of his face and glanced over at Brett.
The agent’s face was a mask of pain.
“Can you get your door open?” Denny asked.
“Yeah”
Aiden unbuckled his belt. The door was stuck, but with a nudge from his shoulders, he managed to get it open about halfway.
“Quick, run and stay low, get off the road and into the trees. I’ll be right behind you.”
“What about Mom?”
“Pete and Flagg will look after her,” Brett said, pushing Aidan out. “Go!”
Brett slid out of the door behind him, and they made a quick dash into the trees. Harsh, voices began shouting excitedly and Aidan flinched at the sound of a gunshot. Somehow, they made it into the tree line.
“It won’t take them long to find our trail in the snow,” Brett panted, encouraging Aiden with a push. “We need to get deeper into the trees where there’s no snow on the ground. Go.”
Aidan looked over his shoulder when they had climbed a hundred yards and stopped dead. Through the trees, he could see the Explorer back on the freeway. It had spun around and was facing the direction it had come from. The third SUV was parked close by, and there were black figures running everywhere.
Flashes and the sound of gunfire filled the night. Aidan watched in horror as the Explorer shook from the bullets shredding its tires. He started to stand. Brett grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back down.
“We can’t do anything for them,” the agent said in a quiet, forceful tone. “Now move!”
Aidan nodded numbly and began following the agent deeper into the woods. They moved as quietly as they could.
A flashlight beam lit the bushes behind them. Somebody shouted. The words sounded Chinese. More beams joined the first. Brett picked up the pace, moving them along as fast as he could without drawing attention by crashing through the brush.
Thankfully, the clouds overhead had dissipated enough to allow some filtered light from the three-quarter moon through. Denny avoided the open patches of snow, sticking to the clear areas near the bases of the trees. Aidan noticed that the agent was subtly angling them to the left as they moved further away from the road.
The sounds of pursuit faded.
“If the others bailed as we did, this angle might put us on a course to intersect their path,” Brett whispered when they stopped for a quick breather. Agent Denny pulled the lapels of his suit jacket closed. “Damn it; I wish I had a heavier coat. It’s back in the trunk.”
The agent’s face was pinched, and he looked like he was suffering the cold much more than Aidan. Even though the snow was still falling, to the boy, it didn’t feel so cold. The flakes were large and wet.
“Do you want to wear mine for a while?” he asked, pinching the material of his heavy quilted jacket.
“No, you keep it, your comfort is more important than mine, and as long as we’re on the move, I doubt I’m going to freeze to death.”
“Come on; we’ll keep working our way in this direction. From the top of that rise, we might be able to get a better view of the road.”
Brett took off again with Aidan keeping pace behind him. So far, the trees and shrubs that thrived in the area had provided good cover, but as they started up the rise, they had to hunker low as they advanced, sometimes moving quickly over unscreened patches. The going was slower and Aidan knew that any pursuers would be gaining ground on them.
They managed to make it to the top of the rise without incident and Brett motioned for Aidan to join him behind the trunk of a large oak tree. Stepping up next to the agent, he looked back down from the rise. They had a clear view of the freeway. The Explorer was surrounded by men in black suits now, and there were three bodies on the ground. One lay on the road by the driver’s side door two others in front. The boy’s heart thumped with concern for his mother.
While the scene was illuminated by the headlights of the two Escalades, the distance was too great to make out who was on the ground. As they watched, a larger truck, pulled up behind the black SUVs and three more men in black got out.
One of the newcomers seemed to be in charge. The other men snapped up straighter as he approached. Someone handed the leader something, and he raised it to his mouth.
A tinny voice emanated from the scene below.
“I know you’re out there,” said the leader, through a bullhorn. He had only a hint of a Chinese accent. “Give yourselves up and come out or we we’ll be forced to kill our prisoners.”
Aidan sighed with relief that his mother was still alive, but the feeling was short-lived.
The leader of the men below motioned, and the men by the SUV pulled two people out into the open. They took them around to the front of the SUV where they were illuminated by the lights. From their shapes, he could tell it was Flagg and his mother. Both had their hands on their heads.
Pete was obviously one of the bodies on the road.
A man in a black holding a rifle positioned himself behind them and barked an order. They kneeled.
“You have until I count to three to reveal yourselves, or one dies,” the man with the megaphone said. “Do the right thing and come forward. There is no need for more death tonight!”
“What do we do?” Aidan asked Brett.
“We stay here and keep our heads down. We can’t give ourselves up or let them know where we are, no matter what.”
“Okay,” Aidan said, his voice quavered.
“No matter what, you understand?”
“Yes.”
But Aidan didn’t really understand. Surely Brett could not mean that they’d stand by and watch his mother be shot?
“One… …”
Aidan felt a coldness spread throughout his guts.
“Two…”
“Get the fuck out of here Denny!” Flagg yelled and drove himself up and back into the man holding the rifle. The top of his skull crunched the man’s nose, and they fell heavily to the ground. Flagg grabbed for the rifle with one hand, and they began to fight for control as he punched the other man with his free fist.
The commander dropped his megaphone, grabbed a gun from another of his cohort and stepped up to the two men twisting on the ground.
“Three!”
The muzzle flared as he began firing. Flagg and the man under him twitched in agony as the leader sprayed both men with the automatic weapon, fanning it back and forth even after they both stopped moving. Aidan pounded his fist against the trunk of the oak. He felt like he was going to be sick.
“Last warning,” the commander said through his megaphone. “Come out now.”
“We have to do something,” Aidan said, looking over at Brett. The agent had his back turned to the road and was leaning against the tree with his eyes closed.
Brett opened his eyes. They glinted with unshed tears.
“Do you think that I don’t want to do something? There’s nothing that we can do. Nothing.”
“They’re going to kill my mom,” Aidan said. His hand slipped into the pocket of his coat, and he grabbed the pistol there. “We have to fight.”
“We would be killed,” Brett said, shaking his head. “This isn’t a movie Aidan; we are outnumbered and outgunned. Do you really think these pistols will be enough to take on a dozen guys with AKs? Besides, my main responsibility is to keep you safe, no matter the cost.”
“But my…”
“No buts,” Brett said, grabbing his arm. “Come on; we need to move.”
Aidan didn’t move; he pulled away with every intention of heading back down the rise.
“Okay!” yelled the enemy leader. “No more games! Say good night Mrs. First Lady!”
His gun barked again and Evelyn Riley, the First lady of the United States, crumpled to the roadway.
“No!” screamed Aidan.
Before Denny had a chance to react, the kid ripped free of his grip and brought the Sig up. He fired four rounds at the Chinese soldiers before Brett managed to
tackle him to the cold ground. Aidan, sobbing and enraged, struggled to get free. Brett held him down.
“They’re over eighty yards away Son. You’ll never hit them with a pistol at that range.”
“Get off,” Aidan cried, tears running down his face. “I don’t care anymore; I’m going to kill them or die trying. I’m going to…”
The stinging slap of Brett’s left hand silenced him as effectively as a mute button.
“Shut up and pull yourself together. Now,” he said in a steely voice. “We are getting the fuck out of here. Stay low and follow me, or so help me I’ll knock you out and carry you.”
He climbed off Aidan and pulled the weeping teenager to his feet by the front of his coat.
“Over the hill and down the other side, hopefully, we can find a house and commandeer a vehicle before they catch us.”
They heard the eager, deep throated barking of dogs from the freeway.
“Shit!” said Denny harshly. “Don’t worry about being quiet. Run!”
5
Brett Denny ran down the other side of the rise and Aidan followed. His moment of passion had passed, and now he felt… nothing… like he was empty inside. He ran because Brett told him to run. He kept pace with the agent as they ran down the hill as fast as they could in the darkness and snow.
They reached the bottom of the hill and angled to stick to the lower ground. Aidan thought he could hear running water ahead. He glanced back at Brett and noticed that the secret service agent had fallen behind. Aidan paused behind three large Red Cedars that formed a bit of a screen for their back trail.
“What’s wrong?” He asked as Denny reached him.
“I didn’t want to worry you before,” Brett said, his face pinched and pale. “I think I might have fractured a rib or two when those assholes rammed us. I just need a breather, you go on ahead, and I’ll catch up.”
“We can’t stop now, either of us,” Aidan said. “If we get separated, it’ll be harder, right?”
As unconcerned and indeed excited as he’d been at the beginning of the night. The attack on them and the cold-blooded murder of his mother and the two agents had shocked him to his core. Now the baying of the dogs behind them downright scared him. He didn’t want to go anywhere on his own.
“Okay,” said Denny, seeing that the kid was in shock. “Let’s keep going, but slower. Head toward the sound of that running water.”
They continued running. Aidan led. Brett seemed to be breathing easier now that they had slowed, but someplace behind them, closer now, a dog barked. They picked up the pace again.
The trees were thicker the lower down the slope they went, with lots of cedar and pine mixed in. It created lots of areas with little or no snow on the forest floor. It made the going easier, but no doubt the dogs would follow their scent easier too.
The came to a steep embankment that led down to a wide but shallow creek. It babbled noisily along a rocky bed. There was a clearing on the far side but there no signs of human habitation anywhere.
“Should we cross here?” Aidan asked.
He looked at Brett when he didn’t answer. The Secret Service agent was slumped against the trunk of a pine tree and slid down onto his rear as Aidan rushed over to him.
“Shit! Are you sure it’s just a couple of cracked ribs?”
“I don’t know, but it’s getting worse. Aidan, you’re going to have to go on without me.”
“But…”
“No buts. Give me your jacket. I’ll head back along the bank in the other direction, dragging it behind me. Hopefully, it will fool the dogs into thinking that we both went that way; I want you to wade down the center of the creek in the opposite direction. Head downstream until you are well into the area with woods on both sides of the creek and then get out. Find a house as quick as you can and ask someone for help. You’re going to need to get warm and dry as soon as possible when you’re out of the water.”
“What about you?”
“If all goes according to plan, I hope to make sure that there are fewer dogs and men chasing you,” Brett said. “Then I’ll slip away and make my way to Camp David. When you find help, have them call this number.”
He put his hand under his coat and pulled a business card from his pocket. Aidan took the card. It was plain white and contained a single free call number he didn’t recognize.
“You’re lying, aren’t you?” Aidan said. “About meeting me in Camp David.”
“Yes,” Brett admitted.
Aidan nodded, his face pale and worried.
“You have to stand up now, Aidan,” Brett said. “You have a pistol and the training to use it but keep it in your belt until you absolutely need it. Find help, but don’t tell anybody you’re the President’s son. After you’re warm and safe call that number. Until then you’re just a lost kid in need of help, understand?”
“Okay,” Aidan said.
The baying of the dogs was getting louder by the minute.
“Thanks for everything, Brett.” Aidan pulled the Sig Sauer out of the pocket of his ski-coat and tucked it into his belt. He removed the coat and tossed it to the agent, then looked at the creek. “This is going to be cold, isn’t it?”
“Damn cold,” Brett said, struggling to his own feet. “Good luck, Aidan.”
They shook hands briefly, and Agent Denny moved off, holding the ski-jacket by one arm so that it was dragging on the ground behind him.
Aidan went down to the water’s edge and looked back once just before the secret service agent disappeared. He never saw him again.
***
The water was so cold that it burned. The icy current was swift, and he had to watch his footing carefully as he made his way downstream from where Brett had left him. He was thankful that the water only reached half way to his knees, even so, the possibility of hypothermia if he stayed in the water too long was very real.
He figured three hundred yards would be far enough in the stream. Shivering uncontrollably, he’d gone maybe half that distance when the tone of the dogs barking in the distance changed. It became much more agitated, and shortly after he heard pained yelping, and a barrage of gunshots before silence fell over the forest again.
Aidan had counted three distinct exchanges of gunfire. He paused for a moment with the cold water swirling around his calves and wondered if Brett had gotten away.
The dogs were quiet for a while, and when they started barking again, they were further away, and it sounded like there weren’t as many. He smiled at the thought Brett might have taken a few of them out of the equation. Maybe his plan had worked?
Three minutes later, he decided he was far enough downstream and headed for the shore on numb legs. Rocky banks, about waist high, rose on either side of the creek. Aidan scrambled up on the same side he’d entered from. His feet were numb, he literally could not feel them, and that was making walking difficult. When he reached the top of the bank the only thing he wanted to do, was sit down and rest for a while.
He didn’t let himself think about it too long though. He knew that stopping now was the worst thing he could do, no matter how appealing it seemed. Even without a Chinese special ops team hunting him, on a night when temperatures were hovering right around freezing, to stop and rest with wet pants and shoes and no jacket was a death sentence.
He remembered a story he’d read by Jack London called To Build a Fire and hoped his story would end better than that of the nameless man who had frozen to death in that tale.
Forcing himself to keep walking, Aidan hoped that the movement would eventually warm him. He angled away from the creek hoping the path he was taking would also avoid the road. The latter was a shot in the dark because the creek had twisted a few times while he was wading along it. He couldn’t even be a hundred percent certain which direction the freeway was.
The walking seemed to work, and soon his feet and legs went from having no feeling at all, to a painful burning sensation. Not perfect, but at least he knew they were the
re without having actually to look.
After another five minutes, he came to a clearing with the remains of an old fire in the center. It was dusted with snow, but unmistakable. On the opposite side of the clearing, a dirt path snaked its way into the woods.
Aidan circumnavigated the clearing, sticking close to the tree line and stopped where the path opened out. Paths always led some place, and that meant it might lead to people. He was about to step out of the trees to follow it when he heard a cough from the other side of the clearing.
Aidan froze and slowly looked to his right. His worst fear was realized. A Chinese soldier in the clearing. He was near a tree and looked like he was zipping himself back up after taking a leak.
The soldier hadn’t spotted him... yet. Aidan slowly took a step backwards hoping to get deeper into the shadow. Unfortunately for him, his right foot came down on a stick. It snapped with a loud crack. The soldier turned his way bringing up his AK47 before Aidan could reach for the Sig.
“Hands in the air or I’ll shoot!” he said in heavily accented English.
Aidan briefly thought about pulling his gun anyway. But given the circumstance, there was no way he could even go out in a blaze of glory - just a hail of unanswered bullets.
“Come out with your hands up,” the Chinese soldier ordered.
Aidan did as he was told, and the soldier came forward. He held the gun on Aidan and reached into his jacket before pulling out a small object that he put to his lips. The whistle was loud and piercing, and in response, the dogs in the distance barked with renewed enthusiasm.
“We wait here, nice and quiet,” the soldier said after he tucked the whistle away. He came forward and relieved Aidan of his Sig and dropped it on the ground.
The boy felt angry and helpless. If they killed his mom, what was to stop them just killing him. He began to regret not reaching for his gun.
The dogs were getting closer now, and he wondered why this guy was out on his own.
Must be a tracker.
“What are you going to do with me?” He asked.
The Chinese man smiled. Then his head exploded. The loud boom of a gun echoed around the clearing and Aidan, stunned, watched the headless body topple over.
Fight Like Hell [America Falls Series | Books 1-6] Page 86