by Peter Hoole
After the short drive, he came to a stop at the base of the hill and began to walk, enjoying the fact he was not required to carry the package this time. After counting out three hundred steps, he left the path, and made his way through the shrubs, to the clearing he’d prepared and fumbled in the darkness, searching for the piece of balsa wood he’d recently buried. It was time to open the package.
Emmett lifted the balsa wood, and placed it to one side. He knelt down and lifted the package out of the ground, thinking it was lighter than he’d remembered, but he didn’t complain.
Carefully he opened the packaging, to reveal a MANPADS (Man Portable Air Defence System) – a man operated rocket launcher. Developed in the 1940’s, MANPAD’s were now a staple of air defence, easy to aim, and easy to fire. Almost anybody could be trained to use one with minimal time involved. The unit was designed to fire using a laser-guided system. Point and click, was how Pierre had described it.
He removed the launcher and the missile from the box, and inserting the missile into the barrel, Emmett followed the start-up procedure. He aimed the weapon in the direction he wished to fire, visualizing a target in sight. Satisfied he was ready, Emmett placed the launcher on the ground and settled next to it, and patiently waited.
Chapter Twenty-One
Darcy drove along the highway, en route to Chuck’s house. As she drove, Caleb tried to formulate a plan. He knew they were still being tracked, after all, they now had the laptop.
Unfortunately, his planning was out of focus, as he tried to pull all the pieces together. He knew this Emmett guy, if that was really his name, was in Seattle. And he knew that Emmett had been sent a text message by someone called Pierre, and that message told him that something would be landing at seven in the morning. It was obviously a prelude to something more, but what that might be, he didn’t have a clue.
Something told him that whatever it was, it was going to be bad, and they needed to do anything they could to stop it.
But Seattle was at least sixteen hours away, and before they could deal with that problem, they needed to stop-off at Chuck’s house with the laptop.
Also weighing on his mind, was what to do with Matthew. They couldn’t very well talk about their own plans in front of him. But they needed him. They needed someone who knew the inner machinations of the people they were fighting. While Dunleavy seemed to have some insight, Caleb knew Matthew was their best resource.
“Pull over here, Darc,” Caleb said to Darcy, when he saw an all-night diner up ahead. It was as good a place as any to reflect on the situation and try and get a handle on his errant thoughts.
When the car pulled to a stop, Caleb handed Pierre’s gun to Dunleavy. “Mike, you stay here, keep Matthew company. Darcy, come with me. I need to figure out our next move.”
Dunleavy nodded in acknowledgement. “Bring me a coffee, I think I’m gonna need it.”
“Sure. We won’t be long,” Caleb said.
Darcy and Caleb made their way across the nearly-empty parking lot. The lot itself was dark, and the only other vehicle parked was a small blue truck. Caleb couldn’t make out the model, but took note of the licence number. It wasn’t one he could recall from their earlier travels.
He and Darcy entered the diner and Caleb took a moment to survey their surroundings.
The diner itself had a retro feel about it. Caleb assumed this was not out of any specific design plan, merely the fact that the aged décor hadn’t been updated for some time. They sat together in one of the booths, Caleb picked the one furthest from the door, with a wall behind it. The only other customer in the diner was an older man, hunched over his coffee and pie, reading a magazine. It was well into the early hours of the morning, so the limited people inside was to be expected.
Caleb sat with his back against the wall, so he could survey the diner’s interior. From his vantage point, he could see anyone coming in or out, the other customer, and the solitary waitress, who was making her way over to their table.
“Coffee?” Caleb asked a clearly weary Darcy.
“Sounds good” she replied.
“What can I getcha?” the middle aged waitress asked.
“Just two coffees please,” Caleb asked
“Two coffees,” the waitress said as she wrote down the order. “Anythin’ else?”
“No, thanks. We won’t be staying long.”
“Two coffees, then. Comin’ up”
The waitress walked back behind the counter. She returned with two barely-clean coffee cups, and two jugs of coffee.
“Decaf?”
“Not for me,” Darcy said
“Me neither,” said Caleb.
The waitress poured the drinks, and returned to her position behind the counter.
When he was sure they wouldn’t be overheard, Caleb began to speak. “Darc…” he began.
“You’re wondering what to do next, aren’t you?” Darcy asked. “Do we go to Chuck’s, or do we go to Seattle to try and figure out what that text was about.”
Caleb was pleasantly surprised. He knew Darcy knew him very well, but she could apparently read his mind, too.
“Yeah, I am,” he replied.
“What do your instincts tell you?”
He lifted an eyebrow. “My instincts?”
“Yeah… I mean, they seem to have been working for you so far. Not just today, from what you and Mike have said, you’ve been in some pretty shitty situations. Situations that would have been worse than this one. And guess what, you’re still here. Just on that basis alone, you have to admit, your instincts work.”
“It’s different this time” Caleb admitted.
“Why?”
Caleb frowned. “You’re asking why?”
“Yeah, why? Someone’s trying to kill you, and you’ve got an objective. I think if you just treat it like that—” Darcy started to explain.
“That’s not why it’s different,” Caleb interrupted, taking a sip of his coffee.
“So what’s different this time?” she demanded.
“All the other times, I had my guys around me. With me. I trusted all of them with my life, and they trusted me. Even before that, we worked the plan together before we headed out into these shitholes. Dunleavy and Hawkins, they gave us the missions, they told us the objectives. But, after that, we pretty much had free rein on how the mission would be carried out.”
“So,” said Darcy, “let’s call your guys.”
He shook his head. “I can’t. There are enough people in danger already.”
“Caleb, you’ve just finished telling me you trusted them and they trust you. What would you do if they called you?”
“I’d probably do anything I could to help them.”
“There you go,” Darcy said, offering him a reassuring smile.
He smiled back, but shook his head. “That’s not the only reason this mission’s different.”
Darcy crossed her arms. “What else?”
“On the other missions, your life wasn’t in danger.”
She shook her head firmly. “You need to forget about that, not let it be part of the equation. This is too important, and you’re probably thinking the same thing I am.”
“Oh yeah, what’s that?” Caleb teased, proud of Darcy’s bravery.
“I’m thinking that whatever this Emmett is going to do, it’s going to be bad. And by bad, I mean President-Hawkins-getting-shot bad.”
Caleb nodded, and sipped his coffee, “Yeah. I think you’re right.”
“That, Caleb, that needs to be the priority right now. We need to do what we can to stop him.”
Caleb thought over Darcy’s words. She was right, of course – they needed to get to Seattle, and fast.
“We can’t drive and get there in time,” Darcy added. “Do you know any pilots?”
After a moment’s reflection, Caleb smiled. “I do.”
Dunleavy shifted in his seat, trying to get a better view of the couple. They were still sitting in the diner
, seated towards the back. “Got yourself into some deep shit here, son, haven’t you?” he said.
Matthew stared blankly out the window his expression morose.
“Well, unless you can figure out a way of helping us out, I’m pretty sure you are going to die.”
Still, Matthew looked out into the darkness.
“I mean, that’s gotta suck. How would you be able to take the serum then?”
The question shook Matthew into reacting. He looked straight at Dunleavy, wondering who this man was, and how he knew about the serum.
“Oh yeah… I know all about that stuff,” Dunleavy said, pausing for dramatic effect, “Crazy thing, that serum. The ability to stave off any disease on the planet, and it gives you back your youth… Shit, with that stuff, you could live… I don’t know, probably forever.”
“How…” Matthew began, then swallowed heavily before he continued. “How do you know about this?”
“Ahhh, I don’t think you need to know that son. Suffice to say, we know a lot more about your group than you probably do.”
“Shit,” Matthew mumbled under his breath. “And them, they know about it too?” He nodded his head towards where Darcy and Caleb were visible, talking together in the diner.
“Them? They know what I want them to know. They’re serving a purpose right now.” Dunleavy paused to let the message sink in. “So if you want to have the opportunity to access the serum, I suggest you help us out.”
“I’ll do anything…”
“Yeah, I bet you will.”
Dunleavy lowered the gun. “Now Matthew, I can help you get the serum,” he said, “but you need to do what I ask.”
“Okay” Matthew said cautiously. “Anything.”
“Good” Dunleavy pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialled. He didn’t really care if Matthew could hear, he assumed the young man would be dead soon enough.
The phone rang twice before it connected. “Who is this?” replied a harsh voice on the other end.
“Dunleavy”
“Bullshit.”
“Jacob, it’s really me.”
“Prove it.”
“Okay… Remember Bogota, Jacob?”
“What about it?”
“Remember how I pulled your nuts out of the fire? How you’d be dead, if my team didn’t get you out?”
“Shit! What are doing? You shouldn’t be calling me!”
“Jacob, you know me. I wouldn’t be doing this unless I had to.”
“What’s the problem?”
“What’s your current location?” Dunleavy queried.
“DC.”
“DC? Still?”
“Yeah, I had some cleaning up to do. Had to lay-low.”
“Okay, well get your ass to Seattle, ASAP. I need your help with something.”
“I’ll be there by asap.”
“Good. See you then.”
As he hung up the phone, Dunleavy saw Caleb and Darcy making their way out of the diner. As they approached the car, Dunleavy raised the weapon to take aim on Matthew. “Now remember, you gotta make them feel like you’re helping them. Caleb… well, Caleb’s a walking bullshit detector. So make sure whatever info you give him is legit, otherwise…” Dunleavy pretended to pull the trigger.
Caleb opened the back door. “Hand me the laptop,” he said to Matthew.
Tucking the computer under one arm, he took it to the side of the parking lot where a dumpster leaned against the wall of the diner. He located an empty pizza box in amongst the dumpster’s contents, and placed the laptop inside. Then he placed the pizza box behind the dumpster. He returned to the car, and motioned to Darcy. “Give me your phone babe.”
“My phone?”
“I’m guessing they’re also tracking your phone, so we need to leave everything here. Anything they could use to track us.”
“But, why my phone?”
“We need to make sure they can’t find us. You have email on your phone, and the tracker is in the email. It’s probably how they knew we had arrived at your apartment. We just need to get rid of it.”
Without further argument, Darcy gave Caleb her phone.
He walked back to the dumpster, and placed Darcy’s phone into it.
He returned to the car, and slipped into the back seat beside Matthew.
‘So, I take it you have a plan?” Dunleavy queried.
“Yep. Darcy and I came up with something.”
“Care to fill me in?”
“Not yet. But I can tell you this, we’re going on a plane ride.”
“Where to?” Darcy asked.
“North.”
Darcy started the car, and pulled out of the parking lot. “What direction?” she asked.
“Long Beach for now. I’ll let you know more when we get there,” replied Caleb
“We’re obviously not flying commercial, then?” asked Dunleavy.
“No, Mr. Dunleavy. No, we’re not.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
They drove south on Lakewood Boulevard, barely passing any other traffic. Being four in the morning, this wasn’t unexpected. As they approached a golf course on the left, Caleb told Darcy to turn right into the airport complex.
Taking the long way around, they pulled over to the Gulfstream depot, near the south side of Daughtery Field. “Pull over here babe,” Caleb said to Darcy.
Caleb sat in silence. It had been half an hour since Caleb made the call, giving his teammates just enough time to prepare.
“What are we waiting for, Caleb?” Dunleavy asked.
As he spoke, Caleb sighted the person who they had been waiting for. They’d emerged from the bushes, and were making their way towards the car.
The three of them approached the car. From their walk, Caleb was able to discern each of them, having known them all for so long.
Caleb had called Murphy – full name Lieutenant Charlene Murphy - known as Murph for short. She was arguably the best pilot in the corps – which was why Caleb had selected her for his team. Even without a plane, she was one of the most lethal fighters in his group. Not that you’d know it to look at her. Standing a touch over five feet seven inches, Murphy had a seemingly slight frame. But what she lacked in strength, she more than made up for in speed and agility. Coupled with these skills, Murphy was also the smartest person Caleb knew, able to figure out just about anything she laid her eyes on.
Caleb stepped out of the car. As the trio approached, he recognised the others; faces he was happy to see in the circumstances. “Murphy! Casey! Walker!” exclaimed Caleb. “Boy, am I glad to see you.”
They jogged up, and stood in front of their commanding officer, offering him a respectful salute. “As ordered, sir.” said Murphy.
Casey pulled a fake pout. “Sir, I’m hurt you didn’t call. I’ve been waiting by the phone, just pining to hear your voice.” Darryl Casey was, judging by his physique, a stock standard Marine. Strong and tall, Casey was the kind of guy you wanted with you in a fight. The main thing that separated him was his attitude. Never short of a quip, Casey managed to make the team laugh at many inappropriate moments. That was one of the main reasons Caleb chose him. While an excellent soldier, his humour and personality revealed a deeply compassionate, human side. A side that could be used as a moral compass for the rest of the team.
“Why Sergeant, did you miss me?” Caleb replied.
“Every day, sir. Every day.” Casey said with a bright smile.
The third member was Declan Walker. A shorter and slighter version of Caleb, Walker was arguably the second best pilot Caleb had known. A great mechanic as well, Walker had spent much of his time as Murphy’s apprentice, trying his best to learn what he could. Walker was not as tall as Caleb and Casey, but the youngest member of their squad was more than handy in a fight.
But it was not his fighting skills that would be called on for this mission.
“Murphy said you needed a ride, sir?” Walker interrupted.
“Yeah… need to get up to
Seattle, pronto.”
“Seattle, sir? May I ask why?” Murphy asked.
“I’ll explain on the plane
“Will be tricky to land though, Sir” said Murphy, “Major airport and all.”
“You’re right Lieutenant. Did you bring the ‘chutes?”
It then became clear to the people listening as to how they would be disembarking the plane.
“I can see some of you are nervous,” Caleb said, referring to Darcy and Dunleavy in particular, “But we can’t think about that now. It’s time sensitive, so we need to get going.”
Caleb tried to change the thought processes of his companions.
“I assume one of these is ours, Murphy?” Caleb asked, pointing to a row of jets near the runway.
“Ummm, sort of sir,” replied Murphy.
“What do you mean ‘sort-of’?
“Let’s just say we’re going to borrow one.”
Caleb shrugged, he had little choice other than to trust his team at this moment in time.
The others began to exit the car, and Caleb began introductions. “This is Darcy…”
“THE Darcy?” asked Murphy.
“Yep,” Darcy said, happy to discover Caleb must have spoken about her during his times away, “that’d be me”
As Dunleavy moved toward the group, Caleb was about to introduce him, when Casey interrupted in a hushed aside. “Holy shit, sir. What is Dunleavy doing here?”
“Like I said, Sergeant, I’ll explain later.”
“I thought you said we had three additional, sir?” asked Murphy, glancing from Dunleavy and Darcy and back to Caleb.
“Indeed we do,” Caleb replied. He made his way around to the other side of the car and opened the door. “Out!” he ordered.
Matthew did as Caleb ordered, struggling to exit the vehicle, with his hands still bound behind his back. Caleb grabbed him under his arm, and helped lift him out of the seat.
“Sir?” Murphy questioned, her eyes widening at the sight of the bound man.
“I can guarantee you, Lieutenant, it will all makes sense, in time. Where’s the plane?”
Murphy motioned the group to follow her, and she led the way, followed by Darcy, then Dunleavy. Caleb escorted Matthew, still holding his left arm. Casey held the rear.