by Bob Mayer
Kane fired, his round missing Toni by an inch and striking Crawford in the shoulder, the only clear spot he could aim at past her, punching him back.
Kinsman was walking forward and he fired the M-1 three times, every round hitting Crawford, killing him.
Toni dropped the M-16 and stared at Yazzie’s body.
Kinsman stood over Crawford, whispering in Navajo: “I saved your life, now I have taken it.”
Caitlyn came running into the cavern, around the Defender. She noted the surviving Hmong trying to stand on a broken leg and fired the M-21, killing him.
As the echo of that last shot faded, Toni whispered: “I killed him.” The side of her face was smeared with blood seeping from the cut.
Kane stepped over Yazzie’s body. He reached out and took Toni in his arms, one hand on her back, the other pulling her head down to his chest so she couldn’t see the bodies. “It’s all right. It will be all right. You’re safe.”
“I knew you’d come,” Toni said into his chest.
Kane looked past her at Caitlyn who was surveying the interior of the cave.
“This is going to be a mess to clean up,” Caitlyn said.
28
Tuesday Night,
16 August 1977
FIFTYMILE POINT, UTAH
“More to deal with,” Caitlyn said, pausing the Defender outside the tunnel and just after the first switchback.
Bluehorse was seated to the side of the trail, a lifeless Tsosie body next to him, head resting in his lap. Bluehorse’s face was streaked by tears.
“I feared that,” Kinsman murmured from the back seat. “Brother would not yield to brother. I will stay. I can guide Bluehorse for the time I have left.”
“You need to get to a hospital,” Kane objected from the passenger seat.
Kinsman shook his head. “For what? A few more weeks or months?” He reached into his shirt and pulled out his tobacco pouch. Removed it and handed it to Kane. “For you, my friend.”
“I don’t smoke.”
Kinsman shook his head. “Not for tobacco. Find something you can put in it that means much to you. Something to tame the wolf in your heart.” He opened the door and stepped out.
“How will you get back to town?” Kane asked him.
“This is our land,” Kinsman said. “I will teach him about it.” He smiled sadly. “Nothing lives long. Only the earth and the mountain. A warrior I have been. Now it is all over.” He walked over to Bluehorse and squatted next to him, speaking in Navajo.
Toni started as the crump of an explosion rumbled behind them as the charges Kane and Caitlyn had set in the tunnel and air shaft went off, collapsing both and sealing the chamber and all it contained.
“That wasn’t as difficult as you worried,” Kane said to Caitlyn, the pouch in his hand. “But there’s still the Defender with the two Hmong bodies.”
“There are people who will take care of that for us.”
“Us being the Cellar?”
Caitlyn glanced at Toni in the back seat, then at Kane.
“Not my people,” Caitlyn said. “There are contractors who specialize in this kind of work.”
“Right,” Kane muttered. “Of course, there are.”
“And we have the money to pay them,” Caitlyn added, nodding toward the duffle bags of cash in the cargo compartment of the Defender. She began driving down the escarpment.
“You’re going to leave them?” Toni asked, still in a state of shock. The side of her face was bandaged and, for once, she looked old and tired.
“It’s his choice,” Kane said. “We have to honor it.”
29
Wednesday Morning,
17 August 1977
MEATPACKING DISTRICT,
MANHATTAN
Caitlyn stopped the van on Washington Street in front of Vic’s diner. It was just before dawn and the lights were on and Morticia could be seen inside serving the early customers and Thao was behind the counter, chatting with Mac and Truvey who were perched on stools.
They’d dropped Toni off on the way here from the small airport in New Jersey. Caitlyn had suggested a hospital, advising her to get a surgeon to work on the knife cut on her face, but Toni had shaken off that advice, saying she just wanted to get inside her apartment. Given her fragile state and his own exhaustion, Kane had agreed to that.
“What are you going to do with the ledger?” Caitlyn asked Kane, leaving the engine running.
“We don’t have the key,” Kane said.
“True.” A few seconds ticked off.
Kane had had some time to think on the flight back from Utah. “Where were you there the night Thao and I took out the IRA guys on Ellis Island? You seem to have a pretty good idea what happened.”
“I was in the Statue.”
“What?”
“I was in the crown. With my rifle.”
“Why didn’t you shoot?” Kane asked. “The missile launched. If I’d have been a second later it would have hit.”
Caitlyn shrugged, turning her head to stare out the windshield. “I don’t know.”
Kane didn’t pursue the issue. He was watching the diner. He frowned as Mac awkwardly put his arm around a sobbing Truvey’s shoulder. “Something’s wrong.”
“Something’s always wrong,” Caitlyn said. “But you better go in.”
“You’re not coming?”
“No,” Caitlyn said, looking at him. “Not today.”
“But some day?”
“Perhaps.”
Kane opened the door. “I’d like it.”
Caitlyn was confused. “Like what?”
“If you’d come in. Some day.”
She gave a brief smile. “Take one of the duffle bags.”
“Payment for services rendered?”
“Operating expenses.”
Kane slid open the side door and grabbed one of the duffels. He slung it over his shoulder. He nodded at her and she nodded back. She shifted into drive. Kane waited as she drove south on Washington, toward the Twin Towers glowing in the distance. She turned left onto Horatio and was gone.
Kane entered the diner, winced as he heard Elvis crooning on the jukebox, and went to Truvey and Mac.
Truvey looked up, eyes red and smiled through them. “K! You’re back.” She hopped off the stool and gave him a big hug. “We missed you so much.” In her embrace, Kane felt Kinsman’s pouch on the leather strand around his neck. It was empty.
Kane patted her on the back while looking past her at Morticia who was hurrying over, breaking her usual smooth glide in her haste.
“What’s wrong?” Kane asked Truvey.
She stepped back, shocked. “You don’t know?”
Kane spread his hands indicating his utter confusion.
“Elvis!” Truvey said. “He’s dead.”
“Oh.” He’s not the only one, Kane thought.
Thao came out of the kitchen, smiling upon seeing Kane, his gold tooth glittering. “Dai Yu!”
Morticia rolled her eyes behind Truvey, then stepped up and gave him more than a peck on his cheek. “Welcome home, Kane.”
THE END
30
THE SERIES
Will Kane is introduced in New York Minute. Followed by Lawyers, Guns and Money. Then this book. This will be followed by Hell of a Town
While this is part of the Green Beret series as book #13, it’s actually part of a prelude to the first book in the series, Eyes of the Hammer, which features an older Dave Riley.
Books 1 through 6 feature Dave Riley.
Book 7, Chasing the Ghost, introduces Horace Chase. Books 8 and 9 feature Chase but with Dave Riley as a character.
All books are HERE including pre-order for Hell of a Town.
If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review!
Nero and the Cellar are also in The Cellar series in present day:
4Bodyguard of Lies Lost Girls
31
Authors Note:
This story is framed a
round historical events, but the people and details have been changed, except for significant historical figures.
The West Point class of 1966 lost 30 members, the most of any West Point class, in Vietnam. Four of the eight assigned to the 173rd Airborne were KIA.
There was an accident in Carcass Wash, Grand Escalante Staircase, Utah on 10 June 1963. Seven Scout and six adults died.
Hole in the Rock was used by the Mormons to cross into Southeast Utah.
Marine Corps casualties in the Makin Island were 18 killed and 12 missing in action. One of the MIAs was later identified in the 19 Marine graves found on Makin Island. Of the eleven remaining MIAs, nine had been left behind during the withdrawal and were captured by the Japanese. They were taken to Kwajalein Atoll and executed by the Japanese. After the war Admiral Koso Abe was tried, found guilty, and executed for that action.
The surrender was never made public and only recently released Japanese and American documents reveal the surrender letter written by Colonel Carlson. It had been delivered to a Japanese soldier but he was killed before he could deliver it to his commander. It was only found days after the raid.
Roy Cohn was a controversial figure and most agree he shaped Donald Trump’s vision of the world.
There was a Green Beret Affair in 1969 where a double agent was executed. Colonel Rheault, the commander of the Fifth Special Forces at the time, was the basis for Colonel Kurtz in Apocalypse Now.
Son of Sam began his reign of terror on 29 July 1976. By August 1977 he had killed 6 and wounded 7. He is still in prison.
About the Author
Thanks for the read!
If you enjoyed the book, please leave a review as they are very important and greatly appreciated.
Bob is a NY Times Bestselling author, graduate of West Point and former Green Beret. He's had over 75 books published including the #1 series The Green Berets, The Cellar, Area 51, Shadow Warriors, Atlantis, and the Time Patrol. Born in the Bronx, having traveled the world (usually not tourist spots), he now lives peacefully with his wife and dogs.
For information on all his books, please get a free copy of the Reader’s Guide. You can download it in mobi (Amazon) ePub (iBooks, Nook, Kobo) or PDF, from his home page at www.bobmayer.com
New York Minute is a prelude to his 2 million copy selling Green Beret series, set in New York City in the summer of 1977. Available HERE.
It’s followed by Lawyers, Guns and Money, Walk On The Wild Side, and Hell of a Town
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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Walk on the Wild Side by Bob Mayer
COPYRIGHT © 2019 by Bob Mayer
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner without written permission from the author (Bob Mayer) except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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