Option to Kill (Nathan McBride 3)

by Andrew Peterson

  “Okay. I think they’re going pretty fast. There’s a big dust cloud.”

  “Keep watching.”

  “The one in back is slowing down a little.”

  The driver of the rear vehicle was probably hindered by the dust. “Are both vehicles still moving?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  “You’re doing fine, Lauren. You’re my spotter up there.”

  “The car in back is going really slow now. I think they’re SUVs.”

  “Don’t worry about that. Just keep watching both of them. How close are they to the turn in the road?”

  “They’re almost there.”

  Nathan stood but couldn’t see the dust cloud yet.

  “Okay, they’re turning. Wait! The one in back stopped. People are getting out!”

  “Good girl, Lauren. Let me know how many men you see and where they go. Can you see any guns?”

  “Yeah, they’ve got big guns. Okay, three people got out. They’re running away from the road.”

  “Tell me what you see. Did they stay together?”

  “No. Two of them are running toward you through the bushes on your side of the road. The other one is running toward me!”

  “Lauren, don’t move. He’s way too far away to see you. Are your field glasses inside the hood of your ghillie suit?”

  “Yes.”

  “You’re totally invisible. He’ll never see you. Stay calm, okay?”

  “Okay.”

  Nathan knew what the three men were doing. They were moving into fire support positions. The mercenary or coyote heading toward Lauren was probably working his way toward the high ground to act as a spotter. Nathan had purposely placed Lauren in the low part of the saddle because tactically it wasn’t the best position. If any of Voda’s men headed for the high ground — like this guy was doing right now — he’d take up a position at the top of the closer peak, which was also a little higher than its counterpart.

  “Where are the two guys who stayed on my side of the road?”

  “They’re still running toward you.”

  “In a pure south distance, how far away from the road are they?”

  “I don’t know. I guess, like maybe a soccer field?”

  “So they’re running parallel to the road about three hundred feet south of it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Are they halfway here yet?”

  “No, maybe a quarter.”

  “You’re doing great, Lauren. Where is the other guy? Has he started up the mountain yet?”

  “No, he’s about halfway, maybe. It looks like he’s going to the mountain next to me.”

  “Good call — that’s exactly where he’s going. You’re totally safe. Just remember to make slow-motion movements.”

  “I will.”

  “Let me know when the man starts up the slope. Have the vehicles slowed way down?”

  “Yes. How did you know?”

  “They’re giving the men on foot a chance to advance. How slow are the cars going?”

  “Pretty slow, hardly moving. The guys running toward you are getting way ahead.”

  “Lauren, I’m going to relocate. Let me know when I’m the same distance from the road as the men running toward me. Do you understand what I’m asking?”

  “Uh-huh.”

  Nathan got up and, in a crouch, ran to the southwest. The landscape sloped downward slightly. Sporadically spaced creosote bushes and sage scrub prevented him from seeing farther than fifty yards in any direction.

  “Let me know when to stop.”

  “Okay, right about — there.”

  She’d called it pretty close. He’d run about one hundred yards from his previous position. “Tell me when the men are about a soccer field away from me.”

  “It’s hard to tell, but if they keep going, it looks like they’ll get to you in maybe five minutes. I can’t tell….”

  “Don’t worry about it. Sit tight and don’t react to what you see, okay?”

  “I won’t.”

  To Nathan’s immediate right, a shallow sandy wash no more than ten feet deep and forty feet across stood between him and the approaching mercenaries. He looked for a place to hunker down and didn’t see anything that would offer significant cover. He settled for a location just behind a trio of ankle-high barrel cacti. With his rifle secured behind his back, he pulled his SIG, checked for ants, and assumed a prone position facing the wash. Even though his human outline was completely camouflaged by the ghillie suit, he felt naked lying down on open ground. Since his rifle was wrapped in the same shaggy material, its silhouette couldn’t be spotted easily. He waited, expecting that the new arrivals would be winded from their long run across the desert.

  “Where are they?” he asked quietly.

  “They’re almost there!”

  “Are they headed straight toward me?”

  “Yes!”

  “Stay calm, Lauren. Don’t say anything more.”

  His radio clicked.

  He heard them before he saw them. Their footfalls were also raising a dust cloud.

  Like something out of a video game, two men — each carrying an AK in his hands — emerged from the landscaping and stopped running when they reached the dry streambed. They weren’t wearing body armor.

  Nathan froze, melding into the desert.

  The men looked at each other, looked across the wash at his position, and then descended the bank quickly. The man to Nathan’s left lost his footing and fell. He quickly regained his feet and resumed running with his comrade. Dressed in desert camo pants and tan Tshirts, these guys might’ve been difficult to spot had they not been moving. Although they possessed the correct color scheme, they were clueless.

  From no more than twenty feet away, Nathan lined up on the lead man and fired two quick shots with the SIG. The man clutched his chest and dropped to his knees. Before the other gunman could react, Nathan double-tapped him as well. His arms flailed as he fell face-first onto the sand. The armor-piercing slugs had passed completely through the men. He saw exit wounds on the back of the man who’d done a face plant.

  Given the distance, there was no possible way the other man heading toward Lauren could’ve heard the suppressed shots.

  “Lauren, where is the other man?”

  “That was unbelievable,” she said in a whisper. “I can’t believe they didn’t see you!”

  He wanted to remind her she’d just witnessed the death of two human beings, but her insensitivity wasn’t an altogether bad thing right now. He’d rather have her in a state of admiration than in shock or disbelief. There’d be time enough for therapy later.

  He calmly repeated his question. “Where is the other man?”

  “He’s almost to the base of the mountain.”

  “Where are the vehicles?”

  “They’re still pretty far from the ghost town, maybe halfway after the turn in the road.”

  “Okay, you’re doing great. I’m going to relocate back to my original position. Sit tight and relax. Everything’s under control. Acknowledgment clicks only, unless I ask you a question.”

  His radio clicked. Before moving on, Nathan conducted a quick pat-down of the dead men and was surprised to find they didn’t have radios. Expendable, he thought. Voda had probably planned to use them as bait, hoping to get Nathan to reveal his position. In a full sprint, he returned to the group of creosote bushes where he’d taken the range-finder readings. He looked to the west but couldn’t see the approaching vehicles.

  “I’m back at my original position. Where’s the third man?”

  “He’s at the base of the mountain, but he stopped running.”

  “What’s he doing?”

  “He’s like, just standing there. I think he’s resting.”

  “Keep watching. Let me know when he starts moving again.”

  “Okay, he’s going, but he isn’t running.”

  “Is he headed up the slope yet?”

  “No.”

  Nathan ass
umed a cross-legged position again and shouldered his rifle. Out of instinct, he thumbed the safety, but it was already disengaged. He was huffing a little from the sprint, so he began a series of deep breaths.

  He focused on a spot where he thought the man should appear.

  The windows of the approaching vehicles would be rolled up, he hoped, against the choking dust. With a little luck, the occupants wouldn’t hear the rifle report.

  Sighting his rifle between H3 and H5 toward the base of the twin mountains, Nathan believed he’d see the man enter his line of sight within the next few seconds. As if on cue, the gunman appeared, moving from left to right, near the base of the mountain. As Lauren had indicated, the guy hadn’t started up the slope yet.

  Nathan shifted position slightly, giving himself better alignment toward Piano 627. If the guy kept going, he’d pass very close to that rock formation. Nathan reached up and clicked two hundred yards off his elevation knob. Since Piano 627 was nearly level with his current position, he also removed the additional clicks he’d put on for the higher elevation at Rectangle 851. Since the wind hadn’t changed, he left the windage knob alone. He was now zeroed for a six-hundred-yard shot with a ten-to twelve-mile-per-hour wind coming from a three o’clock vector.

  He placed the crosshairs on the man’s right arm, just under the shoulder, and tracked him. Moving at a fairly even pace, the man was weaving his way through the vegetation. Nathan knew his bullet time to the target was just under one second, so he’d need to lead the target by approximately three feet — the distance of one stride.

  He took a deep breath and told himself it was just business. He didn’t relish killing this man — sniper work was never pleasant — but for motivation, he needed only to recall the image of the shirtless slob sitting next to Abrille, holding a can of beer. Given the right circumstances, Voda and his thugs would do the same thing to Lauren and countless other young girls.

  He let half a breath out, placed the crosshairs out in front of the walking man, and began a gradual squeeze of the trigger.

  Chapter 29

  The report slammed Nathan’s ears.

  In just under two seconds, he cycled the bolt and reacquired the target.

  The man had literally walked into Nathan’s bullet. His mark was down, writhing on the ground as though covered with ants. Nathan had seen this before and knew it would end soon. It did. A few seconds later, the man stopped flailing and lay still. At least he hadn’t suffered long.

  “Lauren, you copy?”

  “That was crazy.”

  “What are the vehicles doing? Have they sped up or slowed down?”

  “No, they’re going the same speed. Super slow.”

  “Remember, no sudden movements up there. Stay invisible. Radio silence until you hear from me. I’m turning my volume down.”

  Click.

  Given that the vehicles hadn’t changed speed, Nathan felt confident that the men inside them hadn’t heard his rifle report. At a distance of a mile, a high-power rifle report sounded like a gentle pop, likely inaudible from inside a car.

  That was the good news.

  The bad news was that Voda probably wouldn’t have sent a man to high ground without being able to communicate with him. Now that man was silent, so it wouldn’t take long for Voda to realize that his lookout man was down. The question was, how long did Nathan have until Voda knew? Estimating five minutes max, he started a mental stopwatch.

  Guns reloaded, he stood and looked west, toward the oncoming vehicles. He still couldn’t see them. He knew when the SUVs approached the town, someone in the lead vehicle would be using field glasses, so, to avoid the possibility of being seen, Nathan settled into a cross-legged position again. He didn’t expect the SUVs would simply roll into town. Voda was many things, but reckless wasn’t one of them.

  He unslung his Remington and used its scope to watch for the two-vehicle caravan.

  His wait didn’t last long.

  Through the mirage effect in his scope, the lead SUV entered his line of sight. It looked like a Cadillac Escalade, and except for its windshield, its glass was darkly tinted.

  A few seconds later, he saw the trailing SUV, also an Escalade. It too had dark windows. Both of them stopped about one hundred yards west of H1. For several seconds, nothing happened. They just sat there, and Nathan worried that Voda had already attempted to contact his lookout and received no response. Since there was nothing he could do about it, he pushed the concern aside. At least Voda wouldn’t be able to see his dead lookout. The underbrush hid the body.

  Moving slowly, the lead SUV resumed its approach, but the second vehicle stayed put. A wise precaution on Voda’s part. At least he knew which vehicle Voda was in — the second one. Voda would never take the point and use himself as bait. He’d delegate that “honor” to one of his men.

  Through its lightly tinted windshield, Nathan saw a single occupant, the driver. When it reached H1, he lowered his rifle and remained motionless.

  Moving only his eyes, he studied the SUV as it rolled past and stopped about thirty feet east of his position, directly in front of the fluorescent stake. Its side windows were nearly black. There could be five or six additional men in there, but he wasn’t concerned. Yet.

  Again, the Escalade just sat there, unmoving.

  Its driver finally got out and approached the fluorescent stake. The man was nicely dressed in a dark suit and armed with an MP5, a close-combat weapon. He grabbed the radio and tentatively looked it over, turning it in his hand.

  Nathan pressed the transmit button. “Please take the radio back to Mr. Voda.”

  The man looked startled for a instant. Without responding, he climbed back into the Escalade and began backing up. Nathan shouldered his rifle and watched the Escalade recede. A minute later, it stopped in front of the second SUV and its driver climbed out.

  Nathan watched through the scope as the man approached the driver’s side of the second Escalade. Since he had two radios on his hip, he quickly confirmed the tan radio he used to talk with Lauren was turned down. Without volume, the voice-activated system wouldn’t work.

  The other radio’s earpiece crackled to life. “Mr. McBride? Where are you?” asked Voda.

  “Please have your man open all the doors of your vehicles, including the tailgates.”

  “I trust you brought my alexandrites with you?”

  “‘Trust’ isn’t a word in your vocabulary. But to answer your question, yes. Please comply with my request and open all the doors. I’d like to verify you only brought two men, as agreed.” Although Nathan wouldn’t be able to see inside Voda’s vehicles, Voda didn’t know that.

  “All right.”

  Nathan watched the nicely dressed gunman systematically open all the doors and tailgates of both vehicles.

  “Satisfied? As you can see, I brought two men. I’m a businessman. I see no reason we can’t complete this exchange.”

  “Same here. Please ask your man to get back into his vehicle.”

  If Voda had lost communication with the man on foot who’d been heading toward Lauren’s position, he wouldn’t be able to mention it without tipping the fact that he’d brought the extra firepower. And by now, Voda would expect his two other men — the men without radios — to be in place. Voda probably felt confident he was in the superior position tactically.

  Voda’s man complied and got in the lead SUV.

  “Thank you,” Nathan said. “I would like my sister to get out and begin walking toward the houses. Ask her to stop at the fluorescent stake where your man retrieved the radio.”

  “I’d like to comply, but Ms. Marchand will have a difficult time walking.”

  “Why is that?”

  “I’m afraid she was less than forthcoming during her…visit with me.”

  “You smashed her toes.”

  “I took no pleasure in it, but she was quite stubborn.”

  Nathan clenched his teeth but maintained a calm voice. “Then have your man
drop her off.”

  “What about my alexandrites?”

  “After I’ve verified my sister’s identity.”

  “You’re asking me to risk losing my piece of the trade.”

  “Take a look around. Do you see any vehicles besides your own? Any men?”

  “Do you expect me to believe you and your sister are going to simply walk out of this desert on foot?”

  “Believe whatever you want. Have your man search the town if it will make you feel better. Once I’m certain of her identity, I’ll drop a Ziploc bag containing your gemstones. You’ll have ample opportunity to verify the contents.”

  “All right, we’ll play it your way. No tricks.”

  “Please keep your radio on.”

  “Agreed.”

  Through the mirage-distorted image of his scope, Nathan saw the right rear passenger door of the second SUV open, and another gunman got out. He looked similar to the first guy but appeared to have trouble putting weight on his right leg. He could be the surviving gunman from the Ulric Street action. He reached inside the Escalade and pulled Jin out by her hair.

  Nathan held his breath and was sorely tempted to shoot the asshole, but he couldn’t see Voda, who probably had a gun trained on his sister. Now wasn’t the time to act. Jin wasn’t out of danger yet. He also realized Lauren was observing everything. If he acted hastily, he could get Jin killed in front of her daughter — not an option.

  She limped forward and got into the front passenger seat. Nathan realized he’d never actually seen his sister before this. He couldn’t see much detail because her disheveled hair concealed her face. He didn’t like having the scope’s crosshairs trained on her, but his finger wasn’t anywhere near the trigger. Just to be safe, he moved the crosshairs off of her.

  The Escalade started forward. As it neared H1, he got a better look at his sister. As with Marchand, she looked severely battered, one of her eyes nearly swollen shut. It looked like they’d worked her over pretty savagely.

  The SUV rolled to a stop at the fluorescent stake, and Jin got out. Without warning, the driver spun the tires on the road as he sped backward. The open door clipped Jin and knocked her down. Twenty feet farther away, the driver slammed his brakes, which closed the passenger door. The Escalade peeled away in reverse again, leaving more dust.