by Peter Hoole
“Okay then, let’s go,” Caleb said, pulling his pack onto his back, and grabbing his weapon of choice, an M4A1 Carbine. While it was a fully automatic rifle, it could be switched to semi-automatic if required.
When Caleb turned to leave, Darcy grabbed his arm.
“Babe,” she said quietly.
Caleb turned and met her eyes. They commanded him to stay - an order he couldn’t refuse. Not today. “The rest of you file out – give us a minute,” he said. “You too, Murphy”.
With a nod of agreement, Murphy joined the others.
“Darcy,” Caleb began, “I know what you’re going to ask, but the answer is no.”
Darcy shook her head. “You said back in LA. You said you wouldn’t leave me again.”
“I’m not, babe, I just, well,”
“Well what, Caleb?” she asked, irritated by his decision.
“This could get complicated. And Casey, Mike and I… we’ve had the training we need to get through this. You’re a civilian.”
“I can help—”
“I know you can. But I need you to do some stuff here, help Murphy with some things while we’re gone,” Caleb said. He turned to look down the steps. “Murphy!” he called out.
Murphy left the conversation she was having with Casey, “Yes, sir,” she said.
“You have a few things to do while we’re gone.”
“Yes, sir”
Caleb paused, ensuring he had their full attention. “One. Prep for a quick exit. I know we don’t have much time, but we’ll need to move quickly once we’re done. Maybe see if you can find us a car…”
“Right, sir.”
“Good. Now, second,” Caleb said, handing his back-up sidearm to Darcy. “The next time we get in a fight, Darcy’s coming along. So make sure she knows how to use this,” Caleb handed Murphy the pistol, “and teach her anything else you can. Just the basics for now, but get through as much as you can.” He didn’t miss Darcy’s grateful smile when she realized he was going to help her be a part of his team.
“Yes, sir, not sure how much I can get through, but we’ll give it a try.”
“I know, Murphy, that’s why I’ve left her with you. Make sure you look after her, okay?”
“Sir, yes Sir.”
Caleb looked back at his girlfriend. Before every mission, he was always acutely aware that he may never see her again. Consequently, he’d developed a superstitious pattern, making sure he did the same thing each time, hoping that by keeping to the routine, he’d get to come back home to his girl.
This time was no different. He let his weapon hang off its strap, and dangle towards the ground. He looked deeply into Darcy’s eyes, placing his hands on either side of her face. After several seconds of telling her with the emotion in his eyes, he whispered the words to her. “I love you. And I will come back.” For some reason unknown to him, he added some extra words this time. “You are my light when there’s darkness, Darcy,” he whispered.
The moment Caleb finished talking, Darcy wrapped her arms around his strong shoulders and leant in, burying a deep, passionate kiss against his lips. She knew, as well as he did, that there was a chance they may never see each other again.
The kiss was a perfect moment between them. It was as though both their worlds would be forever illuminated. A moment when, despite all that had happened and despite all that was bound to occur, they would always have. It was a moment that was over all too quickly.
“Sir, if I may?” Murphy began.
Before she could continue, Caleb grinned and replied, “Permission granted, Lieutenant.”
With that, Murphy bounded over to the others and threw herself at Casey. The two shared a deep kiss, with Casey wrapping his arms around Murphy as though he’d never let her go.
When Murphy pulled back, she gave Casey a final hug, and then came back, looking a trifle sheepish. “Sorry about that, sir,” Murphy said when she reached Caleb and Darcy’s side.
“Not a problem, Marine. Had to be done,” Caleb replied with a smile.
“Yes, sir.”
“Okay then,” Caleb said, “see you both soon.”
“Good luck,” Darcy said.
“You too,” Caleb replied. “Look after her, Murph”
“Yes, sir. Will do”
Caleb smiled at the pair, and then walked down the stairs. He broke into a jog almost immediately. As he moved past the other three, he ordered them to follow.
Dunleavy look up position directly behind Caleb, already struggling to keep pace. In the third position was Matthew, obviously fit, as the jog didn’t seem to disturb him at all.
At the rear, Casey kept a close eye on both of them, watching for any false moves.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
The group stayed tight, keeping a steady pace. As planned, Caleb led them west across the runways. The sun was breaking over the horizon, which added a further complication to the plan. Caleb couldn’t risk being seen as they approached.
The airport terminal was presumably a potential secondary target for Emmett, and with the early morning travellers making their way to the airport, the number of dead could exceed those threatened if he shot down the plane.
Still about a mile away from their target, Caleb decided that every precaution needed to be taken. He figured that, just as he had ensured all precautions had been taken, so would Emmett, having been trained for this one and only mission.
The quartet continued to jog across the tarmac at a brisk speed. Dunleavy was proving a significant hindrance to their progress, but Caleb had to admit, the guy was trying to keep up.
With this in mind, Caleb doubled back slightly, so he was running by the side of the portly sexagenarian. With words of encouragement, Caleb urged him to move faster. It wouldn’t be long until they were fully exposed by the impending sunlight. Dunleavy did what he could, to pick up the pace and within a couple of minutes the group reached the edges of the parkland. Fortunately, the parkland was more forest-like than open plain. While it would slow their progress, it would provide ideal cover.
When Casey was doing the initial calculations, he’d acted on the assumption that the intended target, Emmett, would choose a location based on cover and ease of access.
The location needed to be of such design that he could hide himself and any equipment for an extended period of time, potentially even camp there for weeks. It needed to provide cover so that, until the last moment, people wouldn’t be able to notice him. There was always the risk that people would, but only if they knew where to look and what they were looking for.
The second aspect of Casey’s considerations had been ease of access. With practise, and constant repetition, the location could be accessed relatively easily. However, to the untrained person, the site would be difficult to access quickly.
For those two reasons, Casey had made three sites along the tree-line a priority. One towards the south west corner of the airport. With ease of access from the 509, it would only take moments for Emmett to get there. However, with the southern location, there was only about one hundred yards between the location and the highway. The risk of early exposure, or someone accidently stumbling on the area was too great.
The second location he’d considered was towards the north of the airport, the location they were running toward at that moment. It was more isolated from the road, and would provide a better chance of going undetected. The flaw with the site was that right at the last moment, Emmett would have to run up a sharp incline with the MANPAD and take his shot. This would leave him out in the open, and exposed, for several minutes, putting the plan at serious risk.
The last position was the location Emmett had apparently chosen; the one that Casey had said he would have chosen himself. It was, of the three potential locations, the hardest to access. Situated almost in the centre of the runways, and just north of the radar towers, the location was roughly four to five hundred yards from the highway. The place offered plenty of cover from the trees. The only real drawback, was
that once the rocket was fired, it would take time for Emmett to get out and back to the highway to make his getaway.
They made it to the rally point – a place located about thirty yards in from the start of the tree line. Surrounded by a natural barrier of trees, the quartet was able to relax and compose themselves for a couple of minutes.
Dunleavy was clearly out of breath, and welcomed the short interlude.
“Sergeant, can you go through the next steps for our guests?” Caleb asked Casey.
“Yes, sir,” Casey replied, pulling the tablet from his backpack. Matthew and Dunleavy stood to either side of Casey, looking at the tablet over his shoulder.
“Okay,” Casey began his explanation, referring to the map as required. “This is where we are. I’m going to take a more direct route, down the east side of the tree line. I’ll stay at least twenty yards in from the trees at all times. I’ll travel for about seven hundred yards, passing the tower on the east, and work our way through to here.” Casey pointed at an area about thirty yards short of where Emmett was thought to be. “Once we get there, I’ll hold until we get word from the Captain. Matthew, Dunleavy, you’ll go with Cap. You’ll all travel south, but on the west side of the trees. Passing the tower on the west, you’ll make your way to a position about thirty yards south of the target location.”
“Once we arrive, I’ll radio Sergeant Casey,” Caleb began, his part of the plan now to be explained. “We’ll then move in on the target area from north and south. While that leaves the east unguarded, it will be to the target’s ‘six’… sorry, it will be behind him. With the element of surprise on our side, we should be fine.” Caleb said the words, but he didn’t believe them. There was no telling how or what Emmett might do once he is approached. But there was no benefit in telling that to either Matthew or Dunleavy.
“Now, once we’re there, we have to act fast. If Emmett won’t surrender,” Caleb said, now presenting Matthew with a harsh truth. “He’ll have to be stopped – I’m not going to let him kill anyone.”
Matthew nodded towards Caleb.
“Get ready to move,” Caleb said to the group.
He pressed his finger against his earwig, activating his radio.
“Murph, can you hear me, over?”
After about five seconds, the Lieutenant responded. “Loud and clear sir, over.”
“We’ve reached Position One, and we’re about to move out. Radio silence from here on, over,” Caleb said.
The last thing they needed was for radio chatter to alert the suspect.
“Yes, sir. Over and out.”
Caleb disengaged the radio. “I make it 0635, meaning we have just under twenty-five minutes to get to our secondary locations. Let’s go,” Caleb said, as he turned towards the west.
“Wait a goddam second!” said Dunleavy, in a harsh whisper.
Caleb turned back. “What is it?” he said, annoyed with the interruption.
“Am I the only one here that doesn’t trust this guy?” Dunleavy said, pointing at Matthew, “Why the fuck is he coming with us?”
Caleb looked at Matthew, who seemed surprisingly shocked by Dunleavy’s declaration.
“Dunleavy,” Caleb began to explain. “Where would you rather he be? With us, or back at the with the others??”
“Shit, if it were my call, he’d be buried next to Long Beach Airport,” Dunleavy spat.
Matthew grew paler at the thought.
“I’m not a murderer, Mike!” Caleb said to Dunleavy, his tone changing as his frustration grew. Now, he was genuinely angry. “I will not kill someone who doesn’t pose a threat to me. While he is from the enemy, I won’t kill him just for the sake of it. I won’t kill him just to make my job easier. Every life is important Dunleavy. Every single one, and I won’t take his from him.”
“You can’t seriously trust him,” Dunleavy replied, taken aback by the verbal barrage that was forthcoming.
“I don’t, not yet. That’s why he’s with us, and not back at the plane with Darcy.”
Caleb turned to Matthew, who was visibly more relaxed now he had a protector in Caleb.
“Matthew,” Caleb said, “I have to warn you. Do not mistake my compassion for weakness. Do not give me a reason to kill you. Your life is important, but I will take it if I have to. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir, thank-you” Matthew replied.
“Don’t thank me yet,” said Caleb, “Dunleavy. Your other task is to keep an eye on Matthew. We can’t risk him calling out to Emmett. If he looks like he’s going to do something that we wouldn’t want, you’ll need to take him out.”
“Fine.” Dunleavy replied, as he looked at Matthew.
Casey glanced over at Caleb, waiting for his command. He lifted an eyebrow, as if he was reminding Caleb that they were running out of time.
Caleb nodded. It was all the direction Casey needed as he slapped Dunleavy on the shoulder and they started on their way.
Caleb moved along his route, and Matthew followed. After fifteen steps or so, Caleb spoke. “Okay,” he said, “you take the lead, and listen to the directions I give you, very carefully.”
He still didn’t trust him… not one bit.
“Where are they now?” Darcy asked.
“They’ve just made it to their first position,” she replied. “We won’t hear from them until it’s done.”
Darcy nodded pensively, trying not to let her concern get the better of her. While she knew that Caleb had plenty of experience, she was still aware of the possibility that mistakes could be made. Plus, he was with Matthew, a man she certainly didn’t trust.
“Don’t worry, Darc. They’ll be fine,” Murphy said.
“I know, I know,” Darcy replied.
“The Cap is… well, the Cap. He’ll have it all under control. Trust me, we’ve been in worse situations than this.” She grinned wryly. “Not that we’ve ever tried to stop a rocket launch on American soil before, but we’ve had plenty of delicate situations that he’s got us through okay, you know—”
“Yeah, I’ve just gotta keep telling myself that.”
“Anyway, back to it then.” The two women had been waiting at the start location, practising some basic self-defence as Caleb had requested.
Murphy had already shown Darcy the basic use of a hand-gun. The loading and unloading of the weapon, making sure the safety is off, not placing your finger on the trigger unless you were preparing to fire. It was basic stuff, but, as Darcy had fired at a shooting range before – a special date from Caleb – she basically knew what to expect.
They’d just begun going over basic self-defence strategies – which point to aim for that would cause quick, intense pain – when Caleb had radioed.
They’d also covered breaking basic holds. After several scenarios, Murphy motioned for Darcy to stand opposite her.
Murphy pulled a knife from her belt. Darcy could see it was a small blade, no larger than a paring knife. “So, we’ve know you can fire a gun. And you can do some basic self-defence. That’s great. But, this,” Murphy handed the knife to Darcy, “This will save your life one day. Consider it a gift.” Murphy moved around to stand behind Darcy. “Now, put the knife in your pocket”
Darcy complied.
Murphy reached forward and placed one arm lightly around Darcy’s neck. “Now, your natural inclination will be to struggle, try to pull my arm away. But let me tell you a little trick. What you do is, with your right hand, reach up and pull on my arm. Putting your right arm up, and pulling down again will fulfil your attacker’s belief that you’re struggling, and they’ll think they have control.”
Darcy moved her right arm up, and pretended to struggle. To add authenticity to the training, Murphy tightened her grip.
“With your left arm, grab the knife.”
Darcy complied.
“Now, slam it into the attacker’s thigh, and twist.”
Darcy pretended to do the action. Once complete, Murphy released Darcy. She spun around so they wer
e facing each other. “But Darcy, there’s only so much we can practise, especially in such a short period of time. It’ll be different in real life. It’s much faster and there will be things that happen that you can’t anticipate.” Murphy noticed the somewhat forlorn expression on Darcy’s face. “But the good news is that when you’re in a fight, your reflexes are sharper, and with adrenalin, you become stronger. Caleb wouldn’t have let you stay with me if he didn’t think you could handle it. Why do you think he took Dunleavy?” Darcy thought on the question. “Because, Dunleavy, he was CIA. He’s trained for stuff like this.”
“Nope. He took Dunleavy because he didn’t trust him to do a good job back here. He trusts me, he trusts you. Being left to fend for yourself, it’s basically the highest compliment the Captain can give.”
Darcy smiled at the notion. As she did, she caught movement from the corner of her eye - A large, black SUV was driving towards them.
It came into view sharply, and pulled to a stop even before Darcy could recognise what was happening. About half a dozen people exited, fanning out, their rifles in an attack posture.
Dressed similarly to Caleb, Casey and Murphy, they walked and behaved like soldiers moving swiftly and in unison.
Reaching a spot about twenty feet from the women, they moved their guns to a stand-down position, ready to be lifted if required. A seventh person exited the vehicle, and strode directly towards them, “Where’s Dunleavy?”
Darcy turned her attention to Murphy. The lieutenant seemed remarkably calm.
“Who are they?” Darcy asked.
“Don’t know. They move like SWAT, though,” Murphy replied.
“How can you tell?”
“You spend enough time around different agencies – SEALs, Delta’s, local PD, and you become aware of the differences. We used to train with some SWAT guys in LA, and these guys are behaving just like ’em”
“SWAT? Why would they be here?”
“Dunleavy call a guy. I didn’t think they’d be here so fast though.”
The woman shouted again.
“Dunleavy!” she said, more forcefully, looking around the area, presumably as she thought he was hiding.