Chasing Gold

by David Leadbeater

  More than would fit in most cars if you included Crouch, Terri and Cutler. It appeared they had found reinforcements already then.

  “Straight at them or stop?” Austin asked suddenly.

  Alicia grimaced. “What?”

  “Do you want me to drive straight at them? Or stop by the cops?”

  Alicia narrowed her eyes. She had about five seconds to decide. There was an awful lot of potential firepower ahead and great risk to her friend. Frustrated once more, she chose the latter.

  “Slow down.”

  Then the mercs rose, four together, and loosed a volley across the golf course. The cops ducked down. Austin swung the wheel and the car slewed, sliding sideways across a dip, leaving muddy furrows in its wake. Everyone ducked down; Alicia crawling on the floor and pushing open the rear door away from the one the mercs were targeting. She scrabbled out quickly, followed by Caitlyn. More bullets smashed into their car and plowed a furrow in front of the cops’ hiding place. Alicia scrambled away and rolled down a small incline, putting more distance between herself and the car. She waited for the others to join her.

  “Think we pissed them off?” Russo asked.

  Alicia was about to reply in the affirmative when the deep, rumbling sound of rotor blades started booming among the clouds. At first, she thought it was their own chopper arriving but then understood what was happening.

  “Shit, they’re getting ready to go. The mercs were clearing us away.”

  “Still are.” Russo doubled over as more bullets turned the turf bank above them into swiss-cheese.

  Alicia fastened on to the approaching chopper. It appeared out of the far distance, to the back of the golf course, sinking slowly toward the grounds as it approached the mercs. It was a large black beast, and she saw at least one man sitting in a gap where the door should be, an ominous object laid across his lap.

  When the current spate of shooting stopped she rolled out of hiding.

  Four mercs stood facing them, positioned atop a hillock. Four more ran out of the delve behind them, giving a thumbs-up to the pilot. Alicia then saw two more mercenaries pushing Terri Lee and Paul Cutler between them.

  And another figure — Crouch!

  “He’s here!”

  The helicopter drifted down. Alicia saw the cops bob up and loose off a few rounds. One of the standing mercs cried out and fell backward, prompting the rest to unconcernedly open fire. One of the cops took a bullet to the shoulder and rolled down the hill. Another scrambled after him.

  Alicia sighed and picked off one of the shooters, planting her bullet in the center of his forehead. At this stage the rest started to yell and fire indiscriminately. The chopper swung lazily around as it dropped lower and lower through the skies.

  The lone gunman on board raised his ominous looking weapon with difficulty. Alicia’s eyes widened, and she rolled quickly behind the nearest hill, screaming at everyone to get down.

  Large caliber gunfire filled the new day, bullets smashing through their car, mincing the metal to shreds. Enormous piles of dirt flew into the air where they struck the ground, showering Alicia and her colleagues with gravel and soil. It lasted thirty seconds, but felt like three hours.

  Alicia had been waiting for the moment when the chopper fell too low to be able to utilize the large gun. Now, she rolled back out, sighting immediately and ready to run. Russo was with her. They saw two mercs already on the chopper, reaching back to haul Terri and Cutler aboard. Four more surrounded Crouch and made him run between them, pointing their weapons toward the cops and Alicia.

  “Fuck!”

  Feeling helpless, she readied to make a dash for it. Crouch was so close; she couldn’t risk losing him now. Taking a firmer grip of her gun and bending her knees, she prepared to attack.

  Russo gripped her hand. “Wait.”

  He nodded over her shoulder.

  Alicia turned to see their own chopper approaching and grinned. “That’ll do.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY

  Alicia ran hard toward their airborne helicopter. The cops were busy attending their wounded man, but Alicia couldn’t let the mercs escape with Crouch again.

  Or the banner, she decided, telling herself it wasn’t an afterthought.

  Caitlyn had her cell clutched to her ear, shouting into the speaker and urging whoever was on the other side to let them take charge of the chopper. It wasn’t an easy task, but Alicia assumed one of the police officers had been contacted and had explained their situation. As they approached the landing helicopter, the pilot gave them a distinctive thumbs-up.

  “He’s agreeable,” Caitlyn gasped.

  “Fucking brilliant.” Alicia jumped onto a skid even before it properly landed, grabbing hold of the mainframe. “Follow that chopper!” she cried out.

  Russo pushed her as she climbed inside. “I’m guessing that’s not the first time you’ve said that,” he commented drily.

  Alicia grabbed his right arm and heaved him inside. “You’re right. It’s my go-to saying once I’ve started on my second bottle of red.”

  “Second? What a bloody lightweight.”

  “Sorry, but I do like to save myself for the main event at the end of the night.”

  Russo frowned as Austin and Caitlyn climbed inside. “Main event?”

  Alicia slapped the pilot’s seat to get him going. “Shit, Russo, you’re so pure. Want me to spell it out for you. S-H-A…”

  “No, no, I got it thanks.”

  Alicia peered through the cockpit window. The mercs’ chopper was already winging its way east, over the tops of tall trees and away from the golf course. Austin gave the wounded cop a commiserating salute and then they were swooping in pursuit.

  “First by foot, then car and now helicopter,” Alicia growled. “We will chase these bastards down.”

  The pilot then shouted across a comms system. “Hey guys, what the hell are we chasing here?”

  Alicia found a way around the truth. “FBI agents, abducted by possible terrorists.”

  “Crap! Why isn’t the entire country up here with us?”

  “Sensitive personnel.” Alicia grimaced as she said it. “That’s all I can say.”

  “Ah, no worries. I got my orders from the captain who got his from Washington’s top FBI honcho. I’m cool.”

  Alicia stopped worrying about him and surveyed the chopper ahead. It was big so the extra personnel didn’t appear to bother it. She could see legs poking out of both rear doors, which suggested men with large-caliber guns were waiting to open fire. Their own pilot seemed to have spotted the danger, for he stayed directly behind it, catching up slowly. The helicopter bounced and jarred itself all around her, buffeted by winds and pockets of air.

  Austin looked decidedly green around the cheeks. “Crap, first time in a helo and definitely the last.”

  “Feeling out of control?” Russo asked.

  “Yeah, give me a car any day.”

  They skimmed the treetops, passing beyond the golf course now and seeing the high rises of St Louis in the distance. The air ripped at their metal body, flinging the chopper between currents. Alicia felt a little like a kite, but shrugged the feeling away. She couldn’t see anyone on the lead aircraft but knew what was at stake.

  Their quarry flew straight for a while, passing over the tops of houses, winding streets and a few open parks. Neither chopper was able to alter the distance between them, although Alicia’s pilot clearly didn’t want to. As the minutes ticked by it became clear to both parties, however, that something had to give.

  Those ahead swung around quickly, the side of their aircraft suddenly facing the other. Curses went up and Alicia’s pilot veered sharply downward. Bullets strafed the sky as the other chopper opened fire, a couple of metallic thuds coming from the roof. Their pilot aimed his machine almost vertical for a few seconds. Austin squealed and Caitlyn groaned. Alicia cheered. Russo’s lips were a tight line you could have used for a ruler.

  The attacking chopper adjusted its pos
ition for them, leaning over and allowing the shooters a better target. Alicia’s pilot swerved theirs sharply to the right, avoiding even more shots.

  For several minutes it was cat and mouse; both pilots correcting and overcorrecting, but Alicia knew the odds were in their favor — not the battle, but the timewasting. The thieves couldn’t keep it up for long.

  Already, they were attracting attention from below.

  Alicia held on tight as the lead helicopter swooped once more, heading for the ground and then coming up at a sharp angle. The maneuver fooled their pilot for a few seconds. Bullets strafed the metalwork, puncturing it in several places. One broke glass near Alicia’s head, making her duck down and swear. Russo tried to poke his gun through the small hole but didn’t have chance as their own pilot swung them straight up into the sky.

  Chased by their enemy.

  They ducked and dived, swooped and came around. Once they came so close, both aircraft were buffeted off course by the other’s turbulence. Alicia and her team could do nothing but hang on tight, grateful their pilot possessed skills. Several times she got a glimpse through the windows of their opponent’s, but saw only a mass of bodies, all crammed together.

  Then, the attacking chopper flew straight down, dropping like a stone in the sky. Their pilot changed course to follow, gaining some space and then tracking the other. It plunged hard toward some tree tops and then veered into an open space — some kind of park with an abundance of grassy fields. Alicia was shocked to see it land.

  “Get ready.”

  They removed guns as the chopper steadied, then prepared to jump out of the doors and attack, but as they neared the ground men jumped out of the other helicopter and opened fire. The pilot sucked in a deep breath as he yanked on the collective stick and wrenched them away. The chopper tilted hard, its rotors now the closest things to the ground.

  Alicia gasped, face now striking the window near the ground and finding it decidedly close. She could see the rotor blades spinning, blurring. Not sideways, but dangerously tilted, the chopper’s engines groaned and complained; the framework was peppered with bullets, and the occupants either screamed or clung on in desperation.

  It didn’t stop. Alicia couldn’t take her eyes off the churning rotors, the hard earth; her ears full of shrieking engine noises. The pilot wrestled hard. They came around in a full circle and she got a quick glimpse of their opponents.

  Climbing back into their aircraft and lifting off once more.

  It had been a ruse, a way to throw them off. “Get it together!” she cried into the pilot’s ear. “This was a trick.”

  He was already there; the chopper slowly righting itself under his careful guidance. After a moment a sigh escaped his lips. “I got it.”

  Austin clapped a hand over his mouth. “Can I get out?”

  Alicia pointed at the already escaping chopper. “Not a bloody chance! Get after those bastards.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  The helicopter rose and began to pick up speed.

  Alicia eyed the pilot. “Unless you have wings of your own, friend, don’t ever call me ma’am.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

  Both helicopters raced across the flatlands beyond St Louis, matched for pace, averaging round 140mph. The scenery whipped by unnoticed; the clouds cleared and then brought rain. Alicia struggled to see out of the cockpit windows.

  “Our problem now,” Caitlyn said, “is that we don’t know where they’re going.”

  “I know,” Alicia said. “Crouch wasn’t able to pass on the clue. It’s imperative we don’t lose them this time.”

  “Shame,” Russo said. “I was just getting into the groove of chasing clues.”

  “I’m not sure what comes next.” Austin had managed to settle his stomach as the flight stabilized. “This chasing about can’t continue. Something has to give.”

  “I agree.” Alicia was unsuccessfully trying to stick tape over the hole in her window. “We have to assume they have sufficient fuel to reach their destination. Why wouldn’t they? That means there will be a standoff. And I’ll never give up trying to save my friend.”

  “They could call for reinforcements again,” Russo put in. “Like we should consider doing.”

  “We can’t.” Caitlyn had already informed Agent Merriweather of their progress, or lack of it. To Merriweather it was a case of going nowhere fast, or rushing forward to stand absolutely still. “Same old problem with the banner and the terrorists that are holding it. It must be protected and we’re on a need-to-know basis. They’re trying to scramble a team to shadow us.”

  “I don’t like the sound of that,” Russo said.

  “Me neither,” Alicia said. “How long have we been flying now?”

  The pilot spoke up. “Four hours,” he said. “A tad more.”

  “What’s the fuel situation?”

  “I have a little over two hours remaining.”

  Alicia found herself focusing her attentions on Crouch and the two thieves, and on how her feelings had changed, especially for the former.

  It was a mixed bag where Crouch was concerned. He had been her boss for so long, one of the stalwart, trusted figures in her life that she could always count on. Then she had learned something about him, something that didn’t jive with what she wanted to believe. Her views shifted; a large part of her felt let down and quite broken. But it was a personal thing for Crouch, and nothing to do with her.

  Now, Alicia struggled to hold on to the suspicions, finding herself barely able to remember any of the reasons she’d used for their foundations. Everyone made mistakes. Shit, I made a million. You just had to give someone another chance to step up and prove themselves.

  Already, his abduction had changed her. Life had proven quite chaotic of late, giving her no chance of revisiting earlier feelings — but now that her old friend was in mortal danger she saw that she’d been unfair. Moving ahead wasn’t always moving on, and she berated herself for that.

  Crouch would give her a dozen second chances.

  She snapped back to the present as Russo growled, wondering what had caught the recalcitrant monster’s attention.

  “What is it, Robster?”

  “Mountains.”

  “Eh?”

  He pointed through the haze of cracks that made patterns across his window. “See there? That smudge is mountains.”

  “Do friends of yours live there?”

  Russo gave her the finger.

  “Where the hell are we?” Alicia nudged the pilot.

  “Soon to be approaching Colorado,” he said. “Y’know it? Ski resorts, snow. Aspen. Nice place, but friggin’ cold and pointy.”

  Alicia let out a long breath. “You should become a tour guide. Does anyone think we should force the issue before we get to Colorado?”

  The general reply was negative. Alicia fretted that she hadn’t brought along her skis. Austin mentioned the designer shopping. Caitlyn informed their FBI liaison of their probable direction.

  The smudge grew larger, transmogrifying into peaks, valleys and deadly ridges, all either tippled or covered in snow.

  “They’re headed here for a reason,” Alicia reminded them as the choppers skimmed clouds and shot through blue skies in their endless pursuit. “Get ready.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

  Speeding beyond Denver and higher up into the snow-capped mountains, the chasing helicopters raced for supremacy.

  Their pilot inched closer, knowing something was coming. Their fuel tank was dangerously low, and it made sense that their adversaries would be in a similar state. No confrontation had been forced since St Louis, just this headlong helicopter chase across mid-America. The first bird threaded the gap between two knolls and then they were soaring through the mountain range.

  “Prepare for turbulence,” the pilot said. “You can get some odd gusts up here.”

  Austin moaned.

  Racing at an angle, the choppers twisted and threaded their way through the peak
s. Engines roared and rotor blades spun furiously. Alicia ignored the complaining grind of something inside their own aircraft, something probably broken or battered by the earlier battle.

  “What’s your name?” She placed a hand on the pilot’s shoulder.

  “Dave.”

  “Well, Dave, you’re doing a great fucking job. Keep it going.”

  The pilot looked grateful, refocusing on his quarry. They swooped along a mountain path, thundering alongside a vertical slope for a while before bursting out over a valley and seeing the ground suddenly drop away by hundreds of feet.

  Austin gulped.

  “If you’re gonna throw up, mate,” Alicia said, “you do it out of the window. All right?”

  “But I could fall out!”

  “That’s an acceptable risk,” Alicia confirmed.

  As they flew, they passed towns and villages speckled about the mountains and the hills that bordered them. They saw a ski slope, and a cable car clinging to a rock face; even, what Alicia referred to as, “the rabid mad-bastards that travel in them.”

  “You don’t like heights?” Russo checked.

  Alicia shook her head. “Heights and spiders,” she said. “And the London Underground. Anything else — I’m cool.”

  “But we’re a thousand feet up,” Austin whined. “Isn’t that high?”

  Alicia turned in her seat. “Yes, mate, it is, but I possess two things that you seem to lack.”

  Austin looked blank.

  “Balls.”

  Austin whimpered and turned away. The lead helo curved around a peak and disappeared for a few seconds. Then, when their own bird made the same maneuver, it was facing them.

  “Crap!”

  Dave pointed the nose downward, but their enemy was expecting it. He dove too, just as people leaned out of the doors, weapons aimed.

  “Look out!”

  Bullets split the freezing cold air, causing the chopper to buck and sway. Alicia had had enough of being shot at. She fired a shot through her own taped window, where the hole was, and then pushed the barrel of her gun through the remaining tape.