The Shadow Patriots Box Set

by Warren Ray

  Winters sat in his room playing Cat’s Cradle with Sadie and relishing his down time. General Standish had, once again, seen to their needs, and had even gotten Sadie a couple of new outfits. The henna dye on her hands was starting to fade and she was her perky self again. Winters admired her resilience and wished he could bounce back as quickly. The past ten days weighed heavily on his shoulders. His thoughts were on the lives they’d lost and how Mr. Peterson had sacrificed his own life to protect him. He hoped to honor these sacrifices and be able to continue in the long coming days.

  Sadie laughed at him. “You can’t keep making the same lame moves.”

  A slight smile formed on his face. “I’m just not as good as you.”

  “Finally,” she giggled.

  “What?”

  “You smiled. It’s the first one I’ve seen since we got here.”

  Winters thought about that. “Is it really?”

  “Yes, and I’m glad. I like it when you smile.”

  Winters gave her another one.

  There was a knock on the door. They both turned to see it open and Colonel Brocket peering through. “Hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

  “Not at all Colonel, come in. Sadie is just schooling me in a game of Cat’s Cradle.”

  “Why, I haven’t played that since I was a boy.”

  “You can have the next turn,” said Sadie.

  “Can I take a rain check on that?”

  She looked puzzled.

  “He means, can he play later,” said Winters. “What can we do for you, Colonel?”

  “General Standish and I would like a word with you if you don’t mind.”

  Winters looked at Sadie. “We’ll pick this up later. Why don’t you go see what the other girls are up to?”

  Winters walked to the conference room where General Standish was waiting. It was the same room he had taken tea with them a few weeks ago. He noticed they were using the same tea set as before. He sat down in the same blue swivel chair.

  “Captain, thanks for coming. Can I assume you have everything you need?”

  “Yes sir, and thank you, everyone has been more than gracious.”

  “Well Captain, everyone here, and I mean everyone, is in awe of what you and your men have accomplished.”

  As before, Winters was humbled, never being comfortable with compliments.

  “We interrogated Commandant Boxer again, asking him specific questions about Mordulfah, and he confirmed the info you provided. It all fits nicely with what our contacts in Washington were able to ascertain. We do know, of course, Perozzi’s ultimate goal is to be in complete control of the United States, but with such a vast country, that will take considerable time. How many different ways they’re going about it is still a mystery, but we’ll piece it together. We think Mordulfah is only a small part of the overall plan. While the war out West isn’t going well for your military, it’s certainly being used as an excuse for Perozzi to gather more power.”

  Winters listened to the chilling words as if they were spoken in a dream. With everything that had been happening to the country in the past year, none of this came at much of a surprise, but hearing it from Standish’s deep voice, seemed to give it more credence.

  “Corporal Bassett was able to get us in contact with Major Green.”

  This caught Winters’ attention.

  Standish filled him in on what was happening with Major Green, and about Green’s mother being held, hostage.

  Winters was shocked by the news, but now had more appreciation of the danger Major Green had put himself in by working for Reed.

  Standish continued telling Winters that Green was committed to staying in Washington, and had already made some important contacts with like-minded power players. They were willing to support the cause and bring Perozzi down.

  The news reached deep into his soul and gave Winters much needed encouragement. He leaned back in his chair, and slowly formed his third smile of the day. He was pleased with the knowledge, that for the first time since losing his friends at the train station, the Shadow Patriots were not alone in their struggle.

  Dark Maneuvers - #3

  The Shadow Patriots Book Three

  Chapter 1

  Gross Pointe Michigan

  Burns turned to Bassett and gave him a nod. The two of them climbed into a small rubber raft and shoved off into the Chapaton Drain. They silently paddled the black raft in the darkness and made their way to the Milk River. They had volunteered to go and recon Mordulfah’s compound at the Edsel and Eleanor Ford house. The Milk River ran underneath Lakeshore Drive, where they would disembark to get a closer look at the size of Mordulfah’s army.

  The intel out of D.C. indicated that after the assault of Mordulfah’s compound by the Shadow Patriots, more Jihadis, or Jijis as the Patriots called them, had come forward to volunteer to wage war and protect the Saudi Prince. Winters needed to know the size of his army.

  Bassett and Burns offered to go back to a place from which they had barely escaped a couple of weeks ago. They had hitched a ride from the Canadians who dropped them off a few blocks from where they launched the raft.

  They entered the Milk River and found the current was against them, which made the paddling more difficult. Empty docks lined both sides of the river and only a few lights were lit in the houses on the west side. They were more interested in what was happening on the east side where Mordulfah’s compound sat.

  Before reaching the Lakeshore overpass, they decided to put into one of the many empty docks. The dock had trees in front of it, and Bassett thought it ideal to hide their raft. They tied it off, grabbed their M4 rifles, and put on their AN/PVS-24 night-vision goggles that Colonel Brocket had given them. Their optics revealed clear green images of the field. Crossing Marter Road, they entered through a grove of trees and snaked their way to the edge where the trees opened up to a large grassy field known as Lake Front Park. It was directly in front of Mordulfah’s compound. The night-vision optics revealed a field filled with row after row of tents. It looked like a civil war encampment.

  “How many you figure?” Burns whispered to Bassett.

  “Got to be at least a thousand.”

  A tree branch snapped to their left.

  Both men froze.

  Bassett turned to see the silhouette of a Jiji relieving himself.

  They waited for him to finish and watched as he picked up his weapon and walked back to patrolling the perimeter of the field.

  Bassett motioned Burns to back up and head toward Lake Shore Drive. They threaded their way to the road, which led to another field and found an even larger number of tents laid out in rows.

  Burns tapped Bassett on the shoulder and pointed to more guards patrolling Lake Shore Drive.

  “I think we’ve seen enough,” said Bassett.

  They headed back to their raft. As they got closer, to their dismay, they saw two Jijis pulling the raft from its hiding place.

  Chapter 2

  Winnipeg Canada

  Cole Winters sat alone in his room pondering how he was going to break the news to Sadie that he was leaving to go back to Michigan without her. She had grown attached to him over the last couple of weeks seeing him as a surrogate father and savior. She had done the same thing for him, awakening in him something he had not felt in the last couple of months. The estrangement of his daughter, Cara, was difficult but losing his wife was heartbreaking. Then, watching his friends murdered at the train station had emptied the little humanity left in his soul. Sadie came into his life like a bolt of lightning and filled a void giving him a new sense of purpose.

  He tried to get himself ready for the tears that he knew would be coming. He had always been a sucker for that tactic. Growing up, Cara had done it to him on many occasions, and he always gave in, which never failed to make him feel like an idiot. He wouldn’t let it work this time because it was much too dangerous for Sadie to come along. The Shadow Patriots had difficult days ahead of them, and h
e couldn’t allow her to join them. It was bad enough that Amber and Reese were insisting on coming along. He didn’t necessarily want them there, but they both had proved their worth, especially Reese. The way she handled herself in firefights was impressive, but she had revenge coursing through her veins. Like himself, it would have to be something she would have to learn to control.

  He made his way to the cafeteria at the James Armstrong Richardson International Airport. The Canadian government turned the place into a multi-functional training facility, housing both British and Canadian air and ground forces. It was here that he and his Shadow Patriots came to rest and get more supplies. The base commander, General Standish, had been gracious and instrumental in the Patriots quest to rid the U.S. of an armed insurgency of corrupt government officials and now Jihadist terrorists. They could never repay such a debt. Their interest was ensuring the war didn’t spill over into Canada and to get the U.S. back as an important ally.

  British and Canadian forces were seeing fit to help the many refugees that poured across the Washington State border from the war with China that was raging in California. The Chinese were winning with ease and now it was starting to move north up the Pacific coast.

  For the past two weeks, Winters and his men had received more training from the British and Canadian Special Forces. They sorely needed it because the majority of his men had never been in the service, let alone have the experience needed for a full on confrontation. They all received training in weaponry, combat tactics and field medical techniques.

  Winters grabbed a tray of food and joined Elliott, Scar and Meeks.

  “Morning guys.”

  “So, have you told Sadie yet?” asked Meeks.

  Winters shook his head.

  Meeks smacked Scar on the shoulder. “That’s one you owe me.”

  Winters raised an eyebrow. “You’re making bets on this?”

  “We need something to entertain us, Captain,” laughed Meeks.

  Winters rolled his eyes. “I could let you handle it. If I remember correctly, you guys are the ones who promised to find her mother.”

  “Yes, but you pinkie promised her and that takes precedence,” said Meeks.

  “It does, huh?”

  “Oh yes, the pinkie promise is much higher on the totem pole.”

  “I wasn’t aware of that.”

  “Sorry to say, Captain, but it is,” said Meeks in a satisfied tone.

  “I’ll tell her after she eats. I don’t suppose you want to help out.”

  Scar let out a chuckle. “You sure you want Meeks to help you. Hell, he’ll have her driving us back before she’s done with him.”

  Meeks laughed in agreement.

  Elliott set his coffee cup down. “When’re Bassett and Burns supposed to be done?”

  Winters looked at his watch. “It’s six, so right about now. I’ll go check in with Brocket.”

  “What time you wanna be on the road?” asked Elliott.

  “It shouldn’t take us but a couple of hours to get everyone ready. Can you make sure everyone is good to go while I meet with Brocket?”

  Chapter 3

  Grosse Pointe Michigan

  Bassett broke out of the tree line first and stopped when he saw two dark figures in the green glow of his night-vision goggles. He threw out his right arm to stop. Burns looked to where they had stashed the raft and saw the two figures about seventy-five yards away.

  The two quietly moved through the trees to get closer to the two Jijis. They watched the two Jijis in the green glow of their goggles. It didn’t appear they knew the significance of what they had found. Their body language didn’t scream out to Bassett that the enemy was close by or was watching them. He gave it some thought as to how he wanted to handle these two. He didn’t want to arouse any more Jijis to the area. Even if he had a silencer on his Glock 17, if anyone else were close by, it still would have made too much noise in the night air. He’d have to take these two up close and personal. He studied the two Jijis for a few moments before deciding how he was going to take them down. He was in his element, having done many night operations like this in Afghanistan, sneaking into a village in the dark of the night to take out key Taliban players. They usually had guards patrolling the perimeter and Bassett remembered always having to sneak up on them.

  Those operations were riskier because not only was the enemy more alert than these two, but you always had to deal with innocents roaming around or an occasional dog barking. Of course, then he was with more experienced operators than Burns. He thought highly of him and knew about the things he and his friend Murphy had done with the Shadow Patriots, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He was younger and agiler than the older Burns.

  Bassett set his rifle down and pulled out a tactical tomahawk and an eight-inch knife.

  “Cover me,” he whispered to Burns.

  Bassett switched his mind into warrior mode before racing across Marter Road to the small group of trees that stood in front of their raft. The two Jijis had begun to pull the raft onto shore when Bassett sprang from the trees. He swung the tomahawk down on his first victim slicing into his shoulder while he plunged the knife into the man’s stomach. The Jiji collapsed to the ground while Bassett pirouetted like a ballerina and backhanded the tomahawk across the second Jiji’s throat. The Jiji dropped the raft and clutched at his throat where Basset sliced his veins and arteries. He could hear the air gurgling through the man’s exposed throat. He finished him off with another swing of the ax.

  Burns grabbed Bassett’s rifle and dashed across the road. He looked at the two dead Jijis in silent approval. They dragged the dead men into the water and tied them under the dock. They then boarded the raft and paddled to the pickup point.

  Chapter 4

  Winnipeg Canada

  Winters walked to General Standish’s office where Colonel Brocket and Standish greeted him.

  “We picked your men up and with the exception of a small encounter, everything went well,” said Brocket.

  Winters didn’t want to know about the small encounter. He tried not to worry too much about the operation. He had a lot of faith in Burns and even more in the young Corporal Bassett. He had done a tour in Iraq and two in Afghanistan and had the confidence and skills to get any job done. Winters felt fortunate to have him on their side.

  “What did they come up with?” asked Winters.

  “It would appear that our earlier assessment was a bit lacking,” said Brocket. “They saw two fields full of tents and figured there’s an easy two thousand there alone. Plus, you have the surrounding houses to figure in.”

  “So how many do you think we’re talking then?”

  Brocket looked at Standish.

  “We’re estimating Mordulfah’s strength to be at least three thousand,” said Standish in his rich baritone voice.

  A cold chill ran down Winters’ spine. He didn’t like the odds. He had three hundred men under his command now. Even though they had all been training, it was not going to be enough for a full on assault. They were still going to have to rely on guerrilla tactics with small hit and runs. While this was effective, it was also time-consuming. It would take months maybe even a year before they could claim victory. He would have to strike fear into this enemy and discourage them sufficiently so some would get disheartened and leave.

  “That’s a hell of an army he’s got there,” said Winters.

  “It is, Captain,” said Standish. “But, it’s nothing that can’t be handled. This army has no training and no discipline. It won’t be easy but they can be beaten.”

  “Do we know anything more about the National Police?”

  “Only what Major Green was able to tell us,” said Brocket. “There’s a new station commander by the name of Mike Vatter. He’s a political appointee, friends with a former Detroit councilman. They’ve replaced all the men you took out and added more to their ranks. You’re looking at approximately four hundred men.”

  “So it’s abo
ut the same as before then,” said Winters.

  Winters took leave and headed back toward the cafeteria. As soon as he entered, he saw Sadie sitting down with Amber and Reese eating her dinner. She looked up and didn’t give him her usual smile. Winters knew immediately she’d found out she was going to be staying in Canada.

  Chapter 5

  Winters took a deep breath headed into the cafeteria and sat down next to Sadie, who gave him the cold shoulder. He looked over at Amber who sat across from them. She gave him an apologetic look for spilling the beans.

  Winters turned to Sadie. “Honey, I’m going to come back.”

  She kept looking down at her food.

  “Please understand that after what happened to you, it’s just too dangerous for you to come with us. I couldn’t live with myself if something happened to you.”

  She looked up at him and turned the waterworks on.

  “C’mon now, don’t do that.”

  “I know it’s too dangerous to come with you,” she said through her sobs.

  “Then why are you crying?”

  “I’m scared that something bad will happen to you.”

  That admission surprised Winters. He put his arm around her and gave her a hug. “Nothing is going to happen to me.”

  “You don’t know that. Mordulfah might get you again.”

  “Sadie, I can assure you, it will be I who will capture Mordulfah.”

  She kept holding on tight as Winters patted her back.

  “You promise?”

  Winters pulled away from her and looked into her blue eyes. He wiped away the tears on her face. “Sadie, I’m going to get him and everyone else who tries to harm little girls. We’ve got a lot more men with us now, and we’re more organized than we’ve ever been.”

  “Will you take my gun to help protect you?”

  “You’d let me do that?”

  She smiled and nodded her head.

  Winters loved the gesture and knew how much it meant to her. She had grown even closer to him over the past couple of weeks. They both had lost their families and leaned on each other for comfort. Winters still had hopes in finding his daughter, Cara, but for now, he relished Sadie’s presence. He would struggle to leave her behind as much as she would for having to stay.