Another Way to Kill

by Brian Drake

  “We’re watching for your friends, those loyal people you speak so highly of. They are not here. They have abandoned you. You are all alone, Mr. Stone. Give me what I want. I offered a fair price. Now I will trade your life for your business. Deal?”

  Stone brushed back his hair with a shaking hand. “No.”

  Coda sighed. He placed the tray on the ground. “That will be your last meal. Now I must make plans on how best to kill the rest of your people.”

  The cartel boss marched out and the guards remained. Eventually Stone began to eat, but he could hardly lift the fork to his mouth. He made it happen, but slowly, and painfully. His whole body agonized with each movement.

  Of course, he knew he hadn’t been abandoned. Dane would show up alone, if nothing else. He just had to hold on a little longer. A rescue during transit was a sure bet—if Dane knew about it. That was the only catch.

  DANE AND McConn brought lunch back to the safe house and found Nina in front of McConn’s monitors.

  “So?” she said.

  Dane handed her a large burrito. McConn cleared space on the table. He sat there while Dane sat next to Nina in front of the TVs. They ate on their laps.

  Dane and McConn brought her up-to-date.

  “I saw something that will help,” Nina said. She used a joystick to move a camera and then zoomed in to a shot that showed an adobe shed set away from the main house.

  “Coda brought a tray of food in there,” Nina said. “He left alone. The two guards left later with the empty tray.”

  “How many troops at the estate, Todd?”

  “About twenty,” McConn said.

  Dane cursed. “And going up and down that mountain will be tough. The cable car is a death trap.”

  “They’ll have to bring Dev down in that cable car to the parking lot,” Nina said. “They can’t get down the mountain very fast, especially if we take out the control cables.”

  “Unless they have another way down that we don’t know about,” Dane said.

  “Then we’ll have to take our chances on the travel route,” Nina said.

  Dane sighed. “I think you’re right. Well, we’ve been in worse spots. Good burrito, though.”

  Nina and Todd agreed.

  CODA SAT behind his desk lighting a pipe. The window off to his left, the glass extra thick to shield him from sniper fire, looked out on the mountain, cable car, and part of the city beyond. If he had looked closely enough, he might have seen the roof of Dane’s safe house.

  Coda puffed on the pipe and dropped the match in an ashtray. He raised his head as the office door opened and his lieutenant, Sergio Varga, entered.

  “What is it?”

  “A report from an army patrol just came across my desk, Ramon.”

  “And?”

  “Last night they found a stray parachute outside the city. Prior to that, a spotter saw a landing beacon. That’s what made them go look.”

  “What did they find?”

  “Just the parachute.”

  Coda nodded and let out a stream of smoke scented with rum. “Could be Stone’s friends.”

  “One, at least.”

  “Either we aren’t looking hard enough, or they are just now arriving,” Coda said. “Send more men to check around. Even the small neighborhoods. They could be anywhere.”

  “HERE’S WHAT we have,” McConn said. He opened a large sea bag and began laying weapons on the living room carpet.

  Dane already had his personal pistol, the Detonics Scoremaster .45 auto, and Nina her 9-millimeter Smith & Wesson. The heavy weapons from the sea bag were welcome additions.

  McConn set out three AK-47s, along with the RPG-7 shoulder-fired grenade launcher. They spent a half hour loading magazines to the tune of kids playing soccer outside, their laughter audible through the open windows.

  Devlin Stone and Todd McConn had once been under Dane’s command in the 30-30 Battalion, the mercenary company Dane had operated for a few years after leaving the CIA. All three had become close friends. McConn had continued working freelance. Dane now worked only for himself, righting wrongs as he found them, funded by a diamond cache in Africa he had once been hired to protect. After exposing the human trafficking ring operated by the original owner, Dane shot the man and took off with as much of the loot as he could carry.

  Once the weapons were loaded, they put them back in the sea bag. McConn carried the bag down to the SUV and placed it in the back, covering it with a blanket.

  As he shut the tailgate, a black GM SUV stopped at the end of the street and two men climbed out.

  The kids noticed them too and began chanting, “El cartel está aquí!” The cartel is here. The cartel is here. The kids scattered for homes, and mothers called to stragglers.

  The cartel goons started calling out to some of the mothers, “Donde están los gringos?” but the women closed doors in their faces. One straggling brat kid who probably wanted to join the cartel someday pointed toward the safe house.

  “Por allá, de allá!”

  McConn rushed up the steps. He met Dane and Nina in the living room, and they already had their pistols ready.

  “We heard the kids,” Dane said.

  “Two men, no visible weapons, end of the block.”

  “Get the rest of the gear and I’ll cover the front,” Dane said.

  Nina and McConn grabbed two more sea bags containing clothes and other gear and hustled to the Chevy. Dane stepped out onto the outer deck, staying low in the doorway, the stainless Detonics .45 in his right hand.

  The two cartel hoods stayed close to the house fronts, one of them holding a pistol.

  Dane let them get a little closer.

  “Hey, muchachos!” Dane said.

  They stopped short. Dane extended the .45 and fired twice. The front thug fell back into his partner, the second falling onto the sidewalk but rolling into the street. Dane fired again and missed, the slug whining off the asphalt. The thug raised his own gun and Dane fired again. The slugs punched through the gunman’s chest and pinned him to the street.

  The Chevy SUV screeched out of the garage. Dane swung his legs over the deck railing and leaped onto the roof of the vehicle. Nina pushed open a back door and Dane swung inside.

  McConn drove a little faster than normal but still kept the speed low as he went down the hill and made a left turn.

  “This is an old man’s getaway,” Dane said.

  “Change of plans?” Nina said.

  “We can hit the house while they’re looking for us,” McConn said. “They’ll send everybody out.” Another turn. He sped up a little more on the main drag.

  Dane considered the idea. The estate had the perfect spot to land a chopper, they knew where Stone was, and McConn had a point.

  “I like it,” Dane said. “Let’s go look at the cable car.”

  THEY FOUND a hiding spot in the brush surrounding the cable car station, having taken turns changing into combat gear in the back of the Chevy. They stayed behind the thick forest as the cable car rumbled down the line and stopped at the glass-enclosed switch house where two men operated a control panel. The cable car doors slid open and more troops filed out. Each cartel trooper held an automatic weapon. They piled into waiting SUVs and drove off. Once the motors had faded, only two troopers remained at the switch house, the armored sedan the only car still parked.

  “Four guys per car,” Dane said, “three cars. Twelve guys on the street looking for us. How many did you say were at the estate?”

  “Twenty.”

  “So maybe seven guys left, give or take.”

  “Counting those two?”

  “Let’s say they’re extra.”

  Nina tied back her hair. “I’m tired of talking.”

  “Then will my lady do the honors?” Dane said.

  Nina placed her AK on the ground, took out her pistol and attached a silencer. She rested the barrel of the 9-millimeter on a log and waved Dane and McConn ahead.

  Dane and McConn move
d in as Nina fired twice. Glass shattered and the slugs punched through the heads of the troopers. Dane and McConn entered the switch house and threw levers to send the cable car up, McConn holding the brake lever as Dane and Nina jumped in. McConn let the brake go and leaped into the cable car as it began to ascend. The forest enveloped them and they kept eyes ahead. The top of Coda’s mansion appeared in view.

  Dane and Nina checked their AK-47s, and McConn readied the RPG-7 rocket launcher. He had a satchel of spare rockets on his back. The cable car swayed in the wind, tree branches brushing against the metal side. The topside switch house loomed before them and they dropped low. A trooper at the top gazed curiously at the returning cable car but made no move for his weapon. He approached to investigate and, when he came around the side, Dane blasted him into eternity, the AK popping loudly.

  Dane, Nina and McConn ran out through the switch house and onto the estate property. The dirt courtyard had a large tree in the center. Somebody on an upper level of the house shouted; Dane and Nina sprayed covering fire while McConn raised the RPG. The rocket flashed from the tube and exploded through the window. Flame flashed through the upper level, an alarm blaring. McConn reloaded as three troopers came around one corner.

  Dane and Nina broke for the adobe shed, gunfire splitting the air around them. McConn fired the second rocket, the corner of the house exploding. Fire and debris wiped out the three gunmen, the explosion covering their screams. McConn fired a third rocket at the upper window of Coda’s office, but the blast only carved a chunk out of the thick glass. Chunks of the outer wall fell into the courtyard. McConn dropped the RPG and shouldered his AK. Time to finish this the old-fashioned way.

  SERGIO VARGA, Coda’s lieutenant, tossed his boss an Uzi from the wall safe. Coda took cover near his desk. When the RPG hit the window, the blast tore out a portion of the glass and ripped holes in the masonry. Fire from the rocket spread inside and licked at the ceiling. Smoke began filling the room.

  Automatic gunfire crackled below. Varga ran to the door and peeked out.

  “Clear!” he said. Coda joined him and they slipped into the hallway, avoiding the straight-ahead route to the stairs, where three of his troops waited, and instead taking the section of the hall that branched off to the right.

  McConn entered the foyer, dodging left as three more gunmen fired from the top of the stairs. He dived to the floor and slid across the smooth wood to a doorway, crawling into the library to lean out. The troopers started down. McConn held the AK tight as the recoil kicked against him, stitching the troopers through chests and throats, stray slugs tearing up the wall.

  McConn stepped over the bodies and took the steps two at a time. At the top landing, he dropped low and stayed close to the banister. Coda and another man broke to the right. McConn triggered a burst and the man with Coda screamed, crashing to the floor. McConn dived as Coda’s Uzi chewed up the banister. The shooting stopped and McConn ran after the cartel boss, clearing the turn as Coda hustled down some steps. Coda tried to turn and fire, but doing so on the steps caused him to lose his balance. His shots went wide. He landed on the ground hard.

  McConn ran down the steps. Coda screamed and crawled for the Uzi. McConn reached the gun first and kicked it across the floor. Coda looked wide-eyed at McConn.

  “So long, tubby,” McConn said, and filled Coda with lead, the bright flash from the muzzle filling the space. McConn reloaded and continued through the house.

  DANE AND NINA, ignoring the gunfire from the house, followed a path to the adobe shed. They heard the horses, their nervous breathing and snorting growing louder as they approached.

  “Don’t shoot the horses,” Dane said.

  They reached the entryway, Dane on one side and Nina on the other. A last scan showed no threats, but a lot of smoke filled the courtyard. Dane eased around the corner with the AK out in front, and Nina followed.

  Stone, on the wall, said, “Steve!”

  Dane rushed over while Nina swung her weapon left, then right, and turned to watch the way from which they had come.

  “I’m alone,” Stone said.

  “Who has the key?” Dane said.

  “You probably blew him up,” Stone said with a wince.

  “Is that a thank-you I heard?” Dane said.

  “Idiots.” Nina yanked a ring of skeleton keys from her web gear and tried three before she found one that unlocked Stone’s shackles. Stone collapsed again.

  “Can you run?” Dane said.

  “I need a minute.”

  “We don’t have a minute,” Dane said.

  “Incoming!” Nina said.

  Two gunmen converged on the shed.

  “Stay down, Dev!”

  Nina opened fire on one side of the entryway, and Dane took the other. They traded shots with the gunmen, bullets smacking the adobe around them. The horses made more noise and smashed against the gate holding them in their part of the shed. Dane let the AK hammer against his shoulder, cutting through the foliage the gunmen were hiding behind. Dane and Nina fired at movement in the brush, one scream accompanying the shots.

  “Here comes Todd!” Nina said.

  McConn ran out of the front of the house, spotted the last trooper firing on the shed and aimed the AK while running. His salvo punched through the man’s back. The cartel gunner cried out and fell. McConn reached the shed and frowned.

  “Am I doing all the work?”

  Dane and Nina supported Stone and carried him out. McConn took over while Dane pulled a satellite phone from his pack. He dialed quickly and spoke to the pilot of the chopper that had been pre-arranged by Stone’s people. Dane told him they were ready for pickup and put the phone away.

  “Who’s flying?” Stone said.

  “Sammy.”

  McConn and Nina moved forward with Stone between them while Dane covered the rear with the sweeping muzzle of his AK-47.

  The cable car shuddered to life and started down the hill.

  “They’re back!” Dane said.

  “Double-time, come on!” McConn said. They moved out at a quick pace and crossed the edge of the property for the deep forest ahead.

  CODA’S TROOPS unloaded from the cable car and stopped at the sight of the damaged house. The second-floor fire burned steadily, sending black and gray smoke skyward. Somebody entered the switch house to send the cable car back down for the next load while the rest of the squad started running for the landing area.

  MCONN HOISTED Stone over his shoulders in a traditional fireman’s carry so they could move faster. He ran in front of Dane and Nina, who watched the rear, as they tramped through the forest, weaving through the trees, fallen logs and natural debris, snapping twigs and branches and leaving heavy boot prints on the ground.

  McConn breathed hard under the extra weight, but Stone couldn’t walk or run.

  “Not much further,” Dane said.

  “I don’t hear the chopper,” Nina said.

  They plowed through the tree line to the clearing used for chopper landings and scoured the sky. No sign of any helicopter.

  “Did you call them?” McConn said.

  “You heard me call them,” Dane said.

  They cut left across the clearing to another tree line and found cover. Stone crawled to a spot near a tree and stayed flat. The others spread out.

  Dane took out the satellite phone again and called the chopper, but there was no answer.

  Nina’s AK chattered as the cartel troops reached the clearing. McConn sprayed a pattern of fire along with her.

  Dane dropped onto his belly. Return fire hammered their way, the thick brush making target identification tough for both sides. Not that Dane complained. He fired at movement, and a mist of blood signaled a hit. He fired again, saw nothing, and then a trooper stuck his rifle out too far. Dane gave him a burst. The trooper dropped backward. Dane sprayed a line of rounds at random, changed magazines and shouted, “I’m open to suggestions!”

  A salvo from McConn’s AK, cutting down
two cartel troopers trying to rush the clearing. As they fell, their compatriots shuffled positions, some exposing themselves. Dane fired with Nina and McConn, but the brush swallowed up the opposing force once again.

  “Try the chopper again!” Stone shouted. “He has to be there now!”

  Dane scooted back for more cover and called the pilot again. Still nothing.

  Nina shouted, “Last mag!” as she reloaded.

  Dane checked his mag pouch. Only one magazine left for him, too.

  “I’m out!” McConn shouted.

  The sat phone beeped. Dane tossed his mag to McConn and answered.

  “Where the hell have you been?”

  “The police have choppers, too, Dane, and they’re very curious about what’s hap—”

  “We’re under fire, get down here!”

  “Coming in from the south. Throw smoke so we don’t shoot you.”

  Dane moved close to the edge of the tree line. He tossed a smoke grenade that landed a few feet away. Red smoke hissed out and built a cloud in front of him and his team.

  Dane dropped back as Nina and McConn ceased fire. The cartel troops responded to the ceasefire by breaking through the tree line. As they ran, the whipping rotor blades of the helicopter grew in volume and the chopper appeared over the trees, swinging perpendicular to the cartel troops.

  A door gunner behind a .50-cal machine gun opened fire, hosing the line of troops. Some fell and others ran back for cover, only to get cut down on the second salvo.

  Dane and Nina broke cover to run for the chopper while McConn carried Stone. Stray fire nicked at their heels but the thumping .50 kept the enemy pinned down.

  Dane and Nina jumped aboard and helped McConn and Stone, and then the chopper lifted off. A few last bursts from the .50 offered their final goodbye to the cartel and Bogotá.

  As the chopper rose over the trees, Dane and the gunner slammed the side doors and flopped onto the bench seats lining the front and back of the cabin.

  “Where to now?” Stone asked.

  “Athena just off the coast,” Dane said. “Full steam to Crete.”