A Cerridwen Press Publication
www.cerridwenpress.com
Boomer’s Fall
ISBN 9781419916458
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Boomer’s Fall Copyright© 2008 Robin Leigh Miller.
Edited by Helen Woodall.
Cover art by Croco.
Electronic book Publication May 2008
With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the publisher, Ellora’s Cave Publishing Inc., 1056 Home Avenue, Akron, OH 44310-3502.
Warning: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000. (http://www.fbi.gov/ipr/)
This book is a work of fiction and any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or places, events or locales is purely coincidental. The characters are productions of the authors’ imagination and used fictitiously.
Cerridwen Press is an imprint of Ellora’s Cave Publishing, Inc.®
Boomer’s Fall
Robin Leigh Miller
Dedication
Many thanks to my wonderful family. Your love, support and encouragement are greatly appreciated and needed. Boomer’s Fall is dedicated to my sister-in-law Pam who demanded more from her favorite characters. I hope you enjoy it Pam!
Trademarks Acknowledgement
The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of the following wordmarks mentioned in this work of fiction:
Jell-O: Kraft Foods Co.
Mustang: Ford Motor Company
Superwoman: Superwoman Pty Ltd Corp.
Taser: Taser International
Chapter One
Sam sat silent and still in the dark doorway waiting. Boomer, Ricochet and Kong were waiting as well, positioned around the outside of the three-story brick building. This was a big job. Even though it didn’t look like it from the outside, it was huge. Lives depended on them completing this mission.
Down on the first floor sat enough weapons-grade plutonium and uranium to blow up half the country. Radical terrorists had managed to smuggle it into the United States from Russia and now it was up for bid. Since the military didn’t want paperwork drifting around out there for its citizens to find, W&S Incorporated was called to right the situation.
The problem was intelligence didn’t give them much information on how many would show up to bid on it or who they were. The “who” didn’t really matter as far as Sam was concerned, it was how many the four of them were up against that bothered her.
When they arrived to set up six men were already stationed around the building. Since then another dozen had trickled in. From the briefing Uncle Walt had given them the bidding war wasn’t due to start for another half an hour. That was plenty of time for at least another fifty or so to show up.
More will come, came the soft whisper of her ever present spirit guide.
Sam closed her eyes and sighed as her heart sank. When she was a child the voice had saved her life. Terrorists came in the night to murder her family. Since then the voice had directed her on many pathways. Most importantly it was a teammate on her missions giving her advice and “orders”. Whether or not she followed them was up to her. Until recently that’s all she’d considered the voice as until it directed her right into the path of Mark Lowe a.k.a. Kong. She thanked her guide daily for that.
Any good news to tell me? she asked her spirit guide. Her answer was silence as it always was when she didn’t need to know anymore.
“Smoke, report.” Kong’s voice in her ear sent chills down her spine. It was funny how after months of being together he could still make her heart flutter. She opened her mouth to respond when she heard voices and heavy footsteps heading her way. The only thing she could do now was melt into the darkness and hope they passed on by without seeing her.
“Smoke, report.” This time Kong’s voice held an edge of irritation.
She reached up to click the mic to let him know she couldn’t speak.
No Samantha. They will hear. Stay quiet.
Never one to question a direct order from her guide she let her hand drop back to her weapon. She could hear them coming closer and prayed her pounding heart didn’t give away her position. They spoke Russian and from the sounds of their footfalls they were very large men. This moment was not the time to get into a scuffle with two bodyguards, not when the big fish were sitting downstairs.
“Ricochet, can you see her from your position?” Kong asked over the radio.
“Are you kiddin’ me? I couldn’t see her if she was lyin’ right in front of me. You know that. If she’s dug in no one’s gonna see her,” Ricochet informed him.
Sam had to smile at that. He was right. If she didn’t want to be seen she wasn’t seen. Her mind flashed back to the day on the training field when they first met. Ricochet, known to the world as Carl, was the first to be taken out by Black Smoke and hadn’t forgotten it. Now he was one of her best friends.
“Relax, Kong.” Boomer’s rich, deep voice rumbled over the radio. “These guys may be big but it just means they’ll fall harder when she kicks their ass.”
Boomer, otherwise known as Ben, would know. He didn’t go down as fast as Ricochet but he did go down. Sam’s heart warmed at the memories. Apparently first impressions did last forever. Boomer was a large, loveable guy who treated her like a sister, always looking out for her, defending her and even poking fun at her. In retrospect if she hadn’t met Mark she wondered if they would have hooked up.
“I don’t like it when a member of my team can’t respond. Means trouble. I don’t care how hard they can kick ass.”
Kong’s ass was the one that got kicked the hardest that day. When they weren’t on missions she called him Mark. He knew what she was capable of and yet there was still a hint of deep concern in his voice. She liked that, being cared for in such a deep way by someone other than her Uncle Walt. Things were rocky for the two of them at the beginning but now smooth waters prevailed.
“Boomer, you head on in to your entry point. We go on the assumption she’s buried too deep to respond.”
“Roger.”
“Rico, keep those eyes sharp.”
“Roger.”
Sam listened to her team on the radio, three men who had somehow become her world. God, she couldn’t wait for this mission to be over and the plutonium tucked safely in the hands of the military.
The two large Russians strolled on by her and back down the stairs. Sam took a deep breath and opened her mouth to speak into her radio.
Samantha you must stop Ben. Where he enters is not safe. Many men wait there.
Without hesitation Sam keyed her mic. “Boomer, stop now.”
One click sounded over the radio telling him he did as ordered.
“Smoke, report,” Kong growled into the radio.
“I’m on the second floor of the building. Couldn’t respond. Two bogies wandering the halls. Boomer you need to retreat now, your entry point is heavily covered.”
Everyone remained silent as they waited for Boomer to disappear back into the shadows. Sam took advantage of the silence and asked for information.
Tell me what’s downstairs. How many men? Where’s the plutonium?
A table sits in the middle of the room. Seated on one side is the seller, on the other the buyers. Many men surround them. Samantha, they are ready to kill if necessary.
She wasn’t surprised to hear it but it didn’t make things any easier.
What you seek is in a wooden crate off to the side.
�
��All clear,” Boomer said over the radio.
“We got new players enterin’ the game. Black SUV just pulled up ‘round back. Four targets exitin’ vehicle.”
How many people wanted this stuff, Sam thought to herself.
“Smoke, what can you tell us?” Kong asked.
“First floor is where it all goes down. There’s a table in the middle of the room, seller and bidders seated. Around them, the so-called bodyguards. Everyone has an itchy finger.”
“Great. How many men?”
Sam closed her eyes and asked. A few short seconds later she reported with a heavy heart. “Twenty-four.” They were severely outnumbered.
She no sooner said the words when she heard the Russians coming up the stairs again. “Got company.”
“Okay sit tight. Boomer, Ricochet, any ideas how we’re gonna do this? Plans A and B are obsolete at this point.”
Sam sat scrunched in her dark hiding place listening to her radio as the two Russians did their walk-through again. Kong was right, the initial plan along with the backup were impossible to pull off. Twenty-four heavily armed men could not be taken down easily.
“We could just start shootin’ and take out as many as we can. With four of us shootin’ we could take down about half of them before they knew what was happenin’,” Ricochet suggested with little enthusiasm.
“One stray bullet and we blow them, us and who knows what else to hell,” Kong responded.
“Gas,” Boomer chimed in.
“You wanna gas ‘em? Damn Boomer, we have ta go in there too ya know. How we suppose ta contain the situation while we’re gagin’ on gas?”
“Rico’s right Boomer. Keep in mind we have a teammate in the building as well. You incapacitate them, you incapacitate her. We need everyone to pull this off.”
“Lock the doors, cover the windows and wait for them all to succumb. We go in and it’s all sleeping bodies. Smoke can come out before I gas ‘em,” Boomer explained.
Ricochet made a rude noise in the radio. “You just lookin’ for an excuse to use that new gas Cannon gave you.”
Sam smiled to herself, Ricochet was right. Boomer looked for any excuse to try out a new explosive or gadget Walt gave them. That gave her an idea.
“No go, Boomer. It doesn’t feel right. We need something else,” Kong told him.
Sam clicked her mic hoping Kong understood she had something to say on the matter. As soon as her two friends vacated she would say her piece. Since they were taking their own sweet time she used the moments to ask for guidance.
I have an idea and I need to know if it will work, she said inside her head. I want as few people to die as possible.
This I know, Samantha. Your desire to preserve life does not go unnoticed.
Sam sat quietly until the Russians left the area. As soon as she was able she jumped into the conversation.
“Boomer you brought the briefcase Uncle Walt gave you didn’t ya?” she asked. Walt had acquired a couple of experimental, extra-large Tasers encased in briefcases. The theory was to place them by a door. When the door opens, the case activates shooting out large volts of electricity knocking back the person trying to get through the door. Boomer had tested it out on himself and was impressed with how it worked. If Boomer liked it, it was impressive.
“Affirmative.”
“How many flash grenades do you have?”
“Six. Tell me where you’re going with this.”
Kong jumped in. “Enlighten us, Smoke.”
“Boomer places the briefcase at the main door. That’s where they’ll head to escape. The case activates its electric shock keeping them inside. The flash grenades stun the whole room, two gas grenades help slow them down. We may still have some escape. Ricochet can take them down if necessary. Once we make sure everyone is still inside, Boomer can release more of his gas taking everyone out nice and clean. I’ll wait upstairs out of the gas, come down when things cool off.”
This is a good plan, Samantha. Keep in mind these men will do anything to escape.
Sam clenched her jaw, it would be like throwing a net over twenty-four grizzly bears. Keeping them trapped would be hard but if they executed it fast and without hesitation they could do it.
“You get a confirmation on this plan?” Kong asked gently.
“Affirmative with warning.”
“I like it. Simple but effective.” Ricochet was quick to give his opinion.
“It’s a good plan, Kong. I brought both cases so we can eliminate two exit points.”
“You like those toys too much, Boomer. You need to find somethin’ else to play with, buddy. You and me gonna go find some women when this thing is done.”
“Let’s worry about our social lives when we’re drinking beer later. Right now we concentrate on the mission. Smoke, we go with your plan. We have ten minutes until bidding is supposed to begin. Boomer, do you have enough time to retrieve the cases and grenades?”
“Affirmative. Have them stashed close by.”
“I suggest we wait until my friends come back. I can take them out up here. That’s two less we have to deal with downstairs.”
“You can do it quietly? We don’t need anymore of them showing up to check out what’s going on,” Kong asked.
Sam slid her hand down into her leg pocket and pulled out her dart gun. “Affirmative.” If she could separate the two men it would be a lot easier. Due to their size she might have to nail each one twice. That meant there was no room for error since her gun only held four darts.
“Ricochet, you need to reposition before we start this party?”
“I’m cool, Kong. This is the best place for me,” Ricochet responded.
“Okay,” Kong huffed. “Smoke, we wait for your go.”
“Affirmative.” Sam worked through her plan in her head. First she would draw her targets to opposite ends of the hall. Her theory was pop two darts in one, when he was down and sleeping like a baby she could either wait for the other to come looking for his partner or go after him. She’d wait and play it by ear.
This was the easy part. The hard part was sitting downstairs surrounded by twenty-two men. In theory her plan would work—reality however had a nasty way of biting you in the ass.
The sound of footsteps coming up the stairs echoed through the hall. Sam closed her eyes and asked for the four of them to be watched over and kept safe. It was time to party as Kong put it. She waited for the two Russians to make their way further toward her and then slid further into the darkness. With slow, deliberated movements she inched down the hall.
Once she found a spot to tuck herself into she picked up a piece of rubble from the floor and tossed it into the room across from her. The two men stopped, listened and looked at each other.
“Go check it out,” one said to the other in his native tongue.
Sam smiled to herself. Perfect. As the man made his way to the end of the hall she readied her dart gun. As he neared the door he stopped.
Come on, go inside, she urged silently.
As if hearing her silent order he stepped inside the dark room. Sam pulled the dart gun up, aimed and popped off two rounds. She wasn’t sure where they hit but she was sure they hit. The sound was unmistakable. It was as if she could hear the points sink through his clothing and pierce the skin.
Seconds later his massive body succumbed to the tranquillizer seeping into his system. With a loud thud he dropped to his knees. In Russian he muttered something and fell flat on his face.
One down. It would be too much to ask for the second one to be as easy. And it looked like it wasn’t going to be. The other one was on his way down the hall, his gun aimed in front of him. His beefy legs were pounding the floor, his heavy breath huffing from his lungs. When he reached the door he stopped.
“Mik, you in there?”
Sam held her breath, come on, go in.
Instead he put his back against the wall and scanned the hall. “Mik, what’s going on?”
Sam slowl
y pulled her gun up and aimed at his chest. As she was about to pull the trigger he moved. Did he hear her? Did he see her? Her question was answered when he aimed his pistol right at her.
She didn’t hesitate, didn’t even blink, just rolled out across the floor kicked her legs out jabbing at his ankles with her feet. His knees buckled slightly but then he caught himself. He wasn’t going down easily. She struck again, this time kicking at his knees. He faltered, grunted in pain and then aimed at her once again.
Reflexes took over, Sam jumped to her feet, ramming her head under the hand holding the pistol shoving it toward the ceiling. With one fist she jabbed him in the solar plexus. As far as she could tell he didn’t even notice but her hand did. She might as well have punched a cinder block wall.
She did have one advantage over him, she was small and fast. Using that advantage she circled around him and plowed her fist into his kidney. When he arched his back, rearing from the pain, she lifted her knee and drove it between his legs. It didn’t work as effectively as it would if she were standing in front of him but it slowed him enough for her to retrieve her dart gun and release two tranqs into his chest.
The huge oaf looked down at them and smiled. His meaty hand wrapped around the slender metallic vials, plucking them out like they were nothing more than lint balls. Sam dug into her pocket for more darts when the back of his hand struck her hard across the face, throwing her off balance and sending her crashing to the floor.
Her vision wavered. Burning pain seared her face under her mask and fires of anger blazed in her eyes. This was war. Sam jumped to her feet again, one hand still digging in her pocket for darts. She managed one painful blow to his nose with her free hand before he blasted her off the ground and into the wall with a blow of his own to her face.
Kong’s hushed voice sounded in her earpiece. “Smoke, anything yet?”
Sam pulled herself up and charged the hulk of a man once again, ignoring Kong’s question. She launched herself off the floor slamming her body into his chest. Her hands wrapped around his throat, her legs around his waist and squeezed with all her might. Her hands didn’t make it all the way around his throat but that didn’t matter. She dug her thumbs into his trachea stopping the flow of air.
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