ASSASSIN 5 - SITTING DUCKS (Assassin Series)

by Bryan Murray

  He had forgotten his cellphone, he didn’t have his heart medication with him and he was not good at tolerating pain. In the half conversations he had managed to overhear since his abduction, he had realized that a senior man with the terrorists was on his way from Syria and hopefully he would know more when that happened, but it sounded ominous.

  He was tired and hungry and he realized that there was a guard placed outside the room he was in. He was hoping against hope that someone in Winston would remember the GPS implant in his thigh and send a team to get him before things started to escalate.

  From what he had heard about this Jake Harrigan and his partner, they seemed more than capable of planning a rescue with the help of the Mossad, particularly since he had spotted the body of the Mossad agent who had been assigned to keep an eye on him, dead in his car outside Ravi’s place. Poor Ravi and Esther, he mused sadly.

  It was hot and humid in the desert and he tried to get some sleep, hoping that rescue plans were in motion.

  * * *

  After a long flight into Tel Aviv, Jake and Sarah quickly cleared customs where Joseph was waiting to greet them. He smiled when he saw them, shaking hands with both of them.

  “Jake, Sarah, welcome back. I wish it were under different circumstances.”

  “I agree,” Jake replied. “Any further news on the kidnapping?”

  Joseph nodded negatively. “Not really, nobody has claimed responsibility yet.”

  Sarah joined in. “Isn’t that a bit strange, Joseph?”

  He looked concerned. “I agree, I would have thought we’d have heard something by now.”

  “Hmm, that’s not normal for sure,” she replied. “So, I guess we need to go and meet the Winston guys at the hotel?”

  “Of course. I’ll drop you off to check in and then as soon as you have spoken with the Americans, we need to talk tactics.”

  Jake nodded. “Exactly and we do have one thing that could help us.”

  “We do?” Joseph looked curious.

  “Yes, the man who was kidnapped has a GPS implant that hopefully the terrorists are not aware of.”

  Joseph was a little more enthused. “Well, that’s a start. Once we can activate that, we can see what we are up against. Have you any idea why they chose this particular man, Jake?”

  “Ben Jacobs is the godfather of combat drone design, the Death Dart is his baby and the fatalities it has caused among the senior ranks of JOD and their associates in Al-Qaeda is quite considerable, in fact you guys have been responsible for most of it.”

  “And now they have him, what do you think they will be looking for?”

  Sarah thought a moment. “I don’t know, maybe torture out of him some information on any counter measures they could use to divert the deadly targeting of the Death Dart. There is no way they can track or stop the incoming drone, but if they can neutralize its deadly targeting software’s accuracy, who knows?”

  Joseph nodded. “Yes, I suppose you’re right. Let’s just hope we can get to him before they start losing patience with him!”

  “Amen to that. I take it we have full Mossad support on this, Joseph?”

  “Of course, after you meet the Americans, Director Ephron would like to meet you so we can plan our rescue.”

  “That’s great, hopefully we will also have some CIA help as well.”

  They arrived at the hotel and Joseph dropped them off, agreeing to pick them up later. After checking in, the security detail with Roddy escorted him to Jake’s room for an update. Roddy looked nervous as he greeted Jake and Sarah.

  “Jake, Sarah, thanks for coming. What’s the latest?”

  “Hi, Roddy,” Jake began. “Sorry about all the aggravation, this was all you needed in the middle of the show!”

  Roddy nodded. “Correct, but strangely enough we’ve been extremely busy and we’ve kept the lid on Ben’s abduction so far.”

  “That’s good news,” Jake began. “So, here’s the game plan as we see it. You and your security team plus your Mossad ‘shadow’ need to keep up appearances at the show, while Sarah and I, plus the Mossad team need to go in search of Ben.”

  Roddy looked concerned. “My God, I hope he’s okay. Ben has a heart problem, I wonder if he has his medication with him.”

  Sarah was ready to help. “In that case we’d better check his hotel room and if he left it behind, we’ll take it with us.”

  Jake tried to sound a little more upbeat. “And as you probably realize, Roddy, there is one thing in our favor.”

  “There is?”

  “Yes, the GPS implant, both you and Ben have them, I understand?”

  Roddy slapped his forehead. “Of course, but you’ll need the tracking control.”

  Jake patted the tote on his shoulder. “Got it.”

  Roddy looked relieved. “So, once you activate Ben’s chip you’re in business, right?”

  “I hope so,” Jake replied. “So, if you’ll excuse us, gentlemen, we’ll get moving on this.”

  Roddy turned to leave. “Of course, please keep me posted on progress, Jake. Our prayers for Ben’s safety are with you.” they left and Jake called Joseph to come and get them.

  * * *

  An hour later, Jake and Sarah, accompanied by Joseph were shown into the office of Zeke Ephron, the Director of the Mossad. Jake and Sarah had met the slim, bespectacled fifty-year-old before. He looked more like you would expect the owner of an antique book store to look, instead of the head of one of the most dynamic and ruthless intelligence agencies in the world.

  He shook hands with Jake and Sarah, a grim smile on his face. “Mr. Harrigan, Miss Schaumberg, nice to see you again. It seems that each time we meet we have a crisis on our hands!”

  “I guess so, sir,” Jake replied. “We are both devastated at the loss of your agent and the other innocent civilians. When we asked if you could perhaps just keep an eye on Mr. Jacobs, we had no idea it would escalate to mass murders by these ruthless terrorists. We are so sorry for your loss, Director Ephron!”

  Ephron nodded. “Thank you, these are violent days I’m afraid and it is sometimes difficult to predict what these extremists will do next. At first we weren’t sure if their primary target was Ravi Bernstein and his company, in view of the many strikes his drones have helped us to set up, but when Ben Jacobs was taken alive, we must assume that he was their prime target and Ravi and his family were a secondary target.”

  “I tend to agree.” Jake replied.

  “So, what are the plans, Joseph?” Ephron turned to the young agent.

  “Well, sir,” Joseph began. “The good news is that the kidnapped senior engineer from Winston has a GPS chip implant and Jake and Sarah have the tracking device with them that we need to activate.”

  “That’s good news,” Ephron replied. “So, what’s next?”

  “Once we activate the chip, we will zero in on the location. Then we will take a Mossad team with Jake and Sarah, head out to the location, check the enemy strength on the ground using one of our UAV drones and then plan our extraction.”

  Ephron rose to indicate the meeting was over. “Very well, Agent Cohen. Please keep me fully informed.”

  He turned to Jake and Sarah. “I hope you find the man alive. Goodbye, Jake, Sarah.” he shook hands with both of them before they left.

  “Thank you, sir.” they both replied.

  Walking back to the car, Sarah looked at Jake. “My goodness, Jake, it makes you think about Zeke Ephron’s parting words. We have to face the possibility that Ben could be dead already with these hot-headed whackos!”

  “Yeah, we need to keep our fingers crossed!”

  * * *

  In the Mossad electronics lab, after activating Ben’s GPS tracking chip, Jake and Sarah realized that the location showing up was in the foothills on the Israeli side of the Iraqi border.

  Jake turned to Joseph. “So, how far do you reckon that is from here?” he asked.

  Joseph thought for a moment. “About an hour by c
hopper and after our UAV’s set it up for us, we can make a move.”

  “Good idea.” Sarah replied.

  Joseph nodded. “Yes, and ironically it will probably be one of Ravi Bernstein’s UAV’s that we use!”

  “And after we’re done, those bastards had better have some body bags ready” Jake added.

  CHAPTER 14

  Back in Tennessee, Doug Mulgrave received a call from Jake with an update on the status in Tel Aviv.

  “We’re in place, Doug,” Jake began. “Thank goodness you had the GPS chips implanted in Ben and Roddy!”

  “Amen to that. So, Jake, have you been able to pinpoint Ben’s location?” the CEO asked.

  “Yes, he’s being held in the foothills just inside the Israeli border with Iraq. This looks like Jihad of Death territory, although they haven’t claimed responsibility yet and we’re heading in by helicopter gunship with the Mossad later today.”

  “And what about Roddy?” Mulgrave asked.

  “He’s back at the show with his security detail and a Mossad agent keeping an eye on him.”

  “Great, so keep me posted, Jake.”

  “Will do, Doug.” he rang off.

  * * *

  Shortly after lunch in Tel Aviv, the Mossad Humvee picked up Jake and Sarah at their hotel and drove them to the heliport where Joseph and his team were waiting with the gunship ready to go.

  They all had their Kevlar vests for use later and Joseph had a fully loaded Glock each for Jake and Sarah as well as a silenced automatic rifle and plenty of spare ammo. He had also been continuing to check the GPS location of Ben’s chip and he told Jake that he seemed to be in the same place as detected earlier.

  “It looks like they haven’t moved him.” he explained.

  “I understand,” Jake replied. “And what about the feedback from the UAV?”

  “We already have target acquisition data relayed to us.”

  “And what does the site look like?” Sarah asked.

  “It’s not a large building, probably used to be a warehouse of some kind inside a fenced enclosure. It looks like it’s in a typical border village mainly inhabited by friendly, non-hostile Muslims, but that close to the Iraqi border there could also be terrorists hiding amongst them.”

  “Any head count on the number of hostiles spotted on location?” Jake asked.

  “That’s what confuses me,” Joseph replied. “There don’t seem to be any in permanent view outside and we don’t have a head count inside.”

  Jake was thinking fast. “In that case, I suggest we make the rescue attempt after dark, land the gunship far enough away so that the sound of the landing won’t be heard in the compound. We could leave the pilot and the gunner with the chopper and make it in on foot in the dark, signal them to come and get us for a quick exit when we get our hands on Ben, what do you think, Joseph?”

  Joseph gave a tired smile. “Sounds good to me.”

  Through the window of the chopper as they headed into the fading light, the sun was starting to set towards a golden horizon. The Pilot turned to Joseph. “I’ll start looking for a landing spot as we get closer, Agent Cohen,”

  Joseph nodded in agreement. “How far will we be from the target?”

  “I’ll get as close as we can without alerting them,” the Pilot replied. “If you can call me on the secure line when you get out of there, we’ll move in quickly guns blazing and grab everybody, sir.”

  “Sounds good. Land somewhere out of sight and be ready to zoom in on the exact coordinates, okay?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  * * *

  About twenty five minutes later the gunship came in to land in a shallow, rocky mountain valley and the rescue team quickly jumped out and silently moved down the deserted valley towards the small encampment below. It was a cool, moonlit desert night.

  Jake had the GPS tracking unit in one hand, his trusted Glock in the other with his automatic rifle on his shoulder as he led the team with Sarah at his side, towards the twinkling lights of the village below.

  Nearing the outskirts of the village, the occasional dog barking could be heard outside the small stone houses nearby.

  The streets were deserted and at the side of an old wooden building, Jake moved into the shadows so that he could re-check his GPS one more time. He turned to Joseph and whispered. “According to this and the info from the UAV, the building where they are holding the engineer should be about 200 yards up on the left.”

  “What do you want to do when we get there, Jake?” Joseph asked.

  Jake thought for a moment. “Well, there’s eight of us including Sarah and myself. Let’s get within sight of the building where they are holding Ben and we’ll check for hostiles outside. Have you got night goggles for all of us?”

  Joseph whispered. “Yes, they’re in the equipment totes.”

  “Okay,” Jake replied. “So, now we’re getting closer, stay low and stay alert. Let’s move out.” Joseph signalled to his men to follow them.

  They moved along a deserted street and Jake suddenly waved the team into the shadows when a door opened and two men emerged and moved off down the street. They were both armed and Jake gave them time to move on out of sight before his group moved on again.

  Finally, ahead, Jake could see the fenced compound surrounding the old building they were looking for. He double-checked the GPS tracking device and confirmed that the chip was still showing Ben as being inside the building.

  He signalled to everyone to put on their night goggles as they all moved closer to the compound.

  On closer inspection, Jake could see some movement just inside the gate of the compound. Using Joseph’s binoculars, he could see there were two armed terrorists just inside the gate and he signalled to Joseph and Sarah to stay where they were. He then moved stealthily ahead, staying in the shadows, moving closer to the gate.

  When he was about twenty feet away from the gate, still in the shadows, he could see that the two terrorists were on the inside of the gate and he really needed them to open the gate and move outside.

  He looked in the gutter at the side of the dusty, rocky road and grabbed an empty tin can that he picked up and tossed just outside the gate from his location in the shadows.

  The first terrorist heard the noise and mumbled something to his buddy before he opened the gate and ambled out lazily to check on the noise. Big mistake!

  After walking to within just a few yards of where Jake was in the shadows, he never even heard the silenced shot that hit him between the eyes and he slumped dead in the dust.

  Inside the compound, the other terrorist was alert when he hadn’t heard from his buddy. He walked outside the gate to check and another silenced head shot from Jake took him out immediately.

  Jake quickly emerged from the shadows and dragged both bodies out of sight before he waved to Joseph and the rest of the team to move forwards. Like spectres in the night, they all slid quickly inside the gate and moved silently over to the side of the building.

  They stayed close to the wall and Jake crept over to one of the windows and peeked inside. In the dimly-lit room, he could see six armed terrorists, four men and two tough-looking women, but there were no signs of Ben.

  He signalled silently to Joseph that he had seen six hostiles and he also pointed to another door a few feet further down the wall that they were pressed up against.

  He whispered to Joseph. “You take the other door with three men. Sarah and I with two of your men will take this door.”

  Joseph nodded that he understood.

  “Remember, Joseph, make every shot count and we still don’t know where they are holding Ben, or even if there are other hostiles guarding him, or if they have him in one of the surrounding buildings, so be alert in case they try to kill him in retaliation if they realize we are here.”

  “No problem.” Joseph whispered to his men and they split up into two teams.

  Jake turned to Joseph. “Okay, on a count of three, we make our move!”
>
  They all lined up, four people outside each door and as Jake signalled with his fingers across to Joseph, ‘one, two, three,’ they all busted through each door simultaneously, weapons aimed and ready.

  The terrorists were taken completely by surprise and with the silenced weapons and the excellent aim, they were all dead within seconds and Jake signalled to Joseph to stay alert as he went in search of Ben.

  He quickly opened the door to two other rooms, gun in hand, but they were empty, presumably rooms where the terrorists had been sleeping and when he opened the third door, his heart almost missed a beat as he looked ahead.

  Ben, looking battered and bruised, was lying on the bed in the fetal position, with an armed terrorist still snoozing on the chair beside the bed. Even before the man could open his eyes, he was a dead man as Jake hit him with a shot to the head.

  He rushed over to the bed and checked to see that Ben was still alive. He gently touched his shoulder and Ben opened his eyes. Jake smiled at him and whispered. “Hi, Ben, you ready to go home?”

  Sudden recognition appeared in Ben’s eyes. “Jake, my God! Where did you come from?” he gasped.

  Jake grinned. “Thought you might want to get out of here, whaddya say?”

  Ben was rapidly collecting his thoughts “Man am I glad to see you!” he looked up as Sarah and Joseph and the rest of the team came in the room. “Was it the GPS chip?” he asked.

  “You bet,” Jake replied. “So, let’s get out of here. Can you walk, Ben?” he asked.

  Ben slowly swung his legs off the bed and struggled to stand up. “No problem, lead the way, Guys!” Jake grabbed Ben’s arm and slung it over his shoulder to help him along.

  They all moved out into the main room and when Ben saw all the dead terrorists on the floor, he looked at Jake with new respect in his eyes. “My God! You guys don’t mess around, do you?”

  Jake gave a wry smile. “You could say that. Now we need to get out of here, we have a chopper waiting!”

  * * *

  Joseph was already on the intercom to the Pilot telling him they were on their way out and to move in fast, guns at the ready.