Tamed by Love (Agent Lovers Series Book 2) (18 page)

Since there wasn’t any more danger within the hangar, Liz called to Jennifer and the freed hostages. Quickly the door was torn open and one after the other emerged. They followed Liz to the connecting door to the plant and tried to ignore the gruesome scenario.

“You’ll be outside once you’re through the small side door,” Liz said and pointed to a rusted iron door. “Only a couple yards from the plant is a truck, Jenny. I’ll take care of their reinforcements. The men in the silos won’t survive. Hurry!”

Liz closed the door behind the last of the freed hostages and turned toward the main hangar door, which had just been pulled open a minute earlier by several hands.

***

“Quickly to the truck bed!” Jennifer urged her parents and was on guard to be sure that no one noticed their escape. The freed hostages clambered onto the bed of the truck and crowded together on the floor. The truck’s dark-green tarp screened them from sight. Jennifer ran to the driver’s side and took a seat behind the steering wheel. With a loud, roaring grumble, the engine started. She hit the gas and the truck bounced past the hangar from which scattered shots could be heard. There was no trace of Liz. The outer areas were empty. No one blocked their path or attacked them. Every outpost had hurried to the explosion.

“Liz! Where are you?” Jennifer called desperately, keeping an eye out for her, but she couldn’t stop without endangering her parents and the others.

“Keep going!”

“Where are you?”

“I told you, keep going! Drive to the conveyor belt at the new cement plant. It’s closer than the old quarry. Hiller can probably land somewhere close to there without any problem.”

“But what about you?”

“Don’t worry about me! I’ll manage.” Then the radio went silent.

Jennifer sped toward the closed gate that broke apart on impact.

“Gray? Where’s Liz?” Jennifer asked. “She broke off radio contact. Why haven’t I heard anything more from her?”

“She’s fine,” said Chris. “I can’t say the same for the guys inside the hangar who got in her way. She’s about to catch up to you. Look in your rearview mirror!”

Jennifer glanced in the mirror and saw Liz on an off-road motorcycle right behind them. Several times Liz disappeared in the thick cloud of dust that swirled up behind the truck. But she got closer quickly, clearly recognizable by her headlight.

“So, did you put on the hand brake, or why are you creeping along so slowly?” yelled Liz into her headset to drown out the noise from the headwind.

“This truck’s probably older than I am. How can you expect it to have any speed?”

“Keep stepping on the gas, Jenny.”

“I’m almost pushing through the floor panel.”

“Where’s Hiller hiding?”

“He’s already on the way to you.” Gray sounded relaxed, almost nonchalant. “When you’re at the conveyor belt, turn right. After half a mile you’ll come to an intersection. That’s a good spot for Hiller to land the LAKOTA without any problems.”

“Understood,” Jennifer said.

“They’re still behind you, Liz.”

“I know. How much of a head start do we have?”

“Two minutes at the most. You should have taken something faster than the slowpoke truck.”

“It’s not like we had a lot of choices.”

Liz changed her path to take on less dust. She caught up to the truck in the meantime and drove the off-road motorcycle on the green strip next to the trail.

“Up ahead is the helicopter,” Jennifer said. She braked a moment later. The truck came to a skidding stop on the unpaved ground. The freed hostages jumped quickly from the truck bed, and crouched over, ran to the helicopter. Its blades were chopping through the air.

Hiller would get the LAKOTA airborne as soon as everyone was on board. He didn’t need an order from Grayson Blackwood for that. They had to get out of there as quickly as possible: the huge number of armed pursuers were getting closer and closer.

While Liz kept an eye on the approaching vehicles, Jennifer urged her parents to climb into the helicopter. Jennifer was the last to climb in. “Come on, Liz!” she called to Liz, who was looking at the incoming vehicles.

MANPADS. Their enemies had FIM-92 STINGER anti-aircraft missiles with a range of a maximum of six miles under good conditions. And the night was starlit. With the anti-collision headlights, they couldn’t miss the LAKOTA in the sky, and the helicopter wouldn’t be able to get out of range of the MANPADS in time because they were over the maximum capacity. The chopper would be flicked out of the sky like a fat, tottering bumblebee.

Liz turned toward the helicopter and looked at Jennifer who was holding her hand out to Liz. “This is the end for you, Jen!” Before she knew it, Liz grabbed Jennifer’s wrist and handcuffed it to a metal rail. Puzzled, she looked at Liz.

“What’s this about?” she screamed over the roaring helicopter.

“You know exactly what it’s about. Someone has to delay them and give you backup.”

“We’re a team!”

“You’re on a new team now, Jenny. And have a much more important assignment than this one.” Liz gave the pilot a quick bang on the door as a signal to lift off. “I’ll give you enough time so you can get out of the danger zone.”

“Let me go!” demanded Jennifer, fumbling with the handcuffs. “We’ll do it together.”

“Get out of here, Hiller! And get them to safety.”

Liz didn’t see the expression of respect in Hiller’s eyes because she had already turned her back to the helicopter.

“Liz, let me go! You can’t do this alone!” roared Jennifer over the noise of the rotors, and she pulled desperately at the handcuffs.

Liz didn’t react to her request. She was already in the process of putting the M203A1 version of a grenade launcher on her M4 assault rifle. Then she ran away from the ascending helicopter, fell on one knee and aimed at the first incoming SUV.

She had barely launched the first grenade when Liz shoved the launching tube forward over the hand grip and put in another grenade. After she locked the tube again, she drew a bead once more. She repeated this process several times standing her ground, destroying three SUVs and killing their occupants.

She hit the engine on the fourth car. The driver turned the steering wheel and caused the SUV to roll over several times and crashed against a conveyor belt abutment. She heard a loud metal grinding as the body of the vehicle yielded. The SUV was torn in the middle like a toy car before it went up in flames.

Helplessly Jennifer looked back as she leaned out of the hatch and stared as the figure on the ground got smaller and smaller. On her own, Liz detained the approaching “mini army” just to keep her promise to herself, which could at the same time, mean death to her. Tears welled Jennifer’s eyes and slowly found their way over her cheeks.

***

Chris switched to the satellite camera to get a better picture of Liz and the situation. She checked in with them, but her words were distorted by the bursts of gunfire. She retreated to the edge of the woods and kept firing at her pursuers who had left their vehicles and followed Liz on foot.

“Where’s Jeff?”

“Reinforcements are just three miles from your position coming from the southeast.”

“Understood.”

***

“Is this a hostage rescue or a scavenger hunt?” Banks asked after Jeff changed directions and forced everyone into a faster pace. They were now moving away from the actual target. Clearly everyone had heard the explosion resounding from the old cement plant through the woods. They could see an orange fireball in the distance. Minutes later Banks heard the sound of an exploding 40 mm grenade, but from a different direction, the one they were going in now.

***

“Maintain that direction, Jeff.”

“Understood.”

“I uploaded the latest satellite information to your GPS. Liz is running toward you and she has a whole group of these guys on her heels.”

“That’ll be tight!” Jeff stopped and looked at the position on his GPS. “At that pace, we’ll meet her in about five minutes.” He thought briefly and finally said, “Right in front of us there’s a clearing. All of them have to cross it.”

“I know what you’re thinking. Get her to safety. Just get her to safety. That’s all I want.”

“You can count on it.”

“Oh, and … the Lt. General has another request for you.”

“What’s that?”

Townsend got on the radio. “I want one or two of the assailants alive.”

“Ha, that’s all he wants? Maybe he should come himself and watch the whole thing up close?” Jeff ended the conversation and turned to Banks and his men. “I hope you’re all the climbing type.”

***

“How far are they?” said Liz as she climbed a small hill at top speed. Her breathing was choppy from the strenuous climb. There wasn’t enough time for a glance at her GPS.

“Once you’re over the hill you’ll come to a clearing in about half a mile. The TDAs and SEALs are waiting for you on the other side.”

“Great!” Liz said. “Men these days aren’t gentlemen anymore. Shouldn’t they be coming to me?”

“They want to keep you out of harm’s way. The clearing isn’t too bad.”

“You don’t have to tell me. I know firsthand that I’ll be a prime target in the open field.”

“I’ll try to put a conference call through again. There was some interference; your connection didn’t go through. Jeff’s waiting for you to report to him.”

“Okay!”

***

In the middle of the thick undergrowth, Jeff crouched on the ground and looked through the sight on his assault rifle, scanning the row of trees on the other side of the clearing. Nothing. Why hadn’t Liz reported in?

Gray said he would connect them on a conference call. But that was a while ago. Problems, nothing but problems. And Banks was getting on his nerves. The guy just didn’t understand that Jeff didn’t want to talk to him. They weren’t here to drink coffee. The information he and his team got was sufficient. A little sparse, but sufficient.

The TDAs were under more and more pressure. The level of secrecy was a joke. Apparently it was all over town that they were there. Otherwise why would that SEAL have asked him if they belonged to a top secret unit?

There was a brief crackle in his headset and Jeff listened intently.

“Can you hear me? … Jeff?”

Well, finally. “We can’t wait to see you, Liz!”

“You’ll get your wish soon enough. I can’t shake them.” Her words came gruff, choppy.

“Elizabeth? Is that you Gibson?” Now Banks chimed in on the conversation. Jeff rolled his eyes. He seriously thought about shooting the windbag. The temptation was really great.

“Eddie?” Even though Liz was unmistakably gasping for air, she still managed to laugh. “Can’t believe you survived
hell week.”

“I have you to thank for that.”

“Hopefully you’re good enough to save my ass.”

“I’m more than happy to save such a sweet ass.”

“Restrain yourself, Banks! This is serious!” hissed Jeff into his headset. How does Liz know this idiot? And why were they so familiar with each other? When he heard Gray make a noise over the receiver that sounded like a growl, Jeff grinned. The windbag would be dead if he didn’t keep his paws off his sister-in-law.

Jeff scanned the edge of the woods again. Finally! He could make out movement in the undergrowth; a moment later he saw Liz storm into the moonlit clearing. She ran toward them across the clearing as if the soles of her boots were on fire, with two men right behind her. Too close. His plan threatened to fail. He had hoped Liz could increase her lead and would be closer to him before her pursuers emerged in the clearing. More and more emerged from the undergrowth, following her into the open area. Shit!

“Put them out of commission!” Jeff repeated his order to the TDAs and SEALs. “Do not kill! Unless you have no other choice.”

“Understood.”

***

Her lungs burned. She left behind the pain in her legs more than a mile ago. Just like her backpack, so as not to be hindered by it either. Liz ran as if her life depended on it. Which it did. Branches hit her face, thorn bushes tore her clothes. She ran on. She could hear loud, heavy breathing at her back, but she wasn’t about to turn around. They were too close on her heels. Just a couple more yards, then she’d reach the clearing.

At first Liz hoped she could shake off her pursuers. But they kept her pace. Not all of them, but nevertheless, too many that she couldn’t overpower them alone. She had shot off almost all her rounds to make it possible for Jennifer and the others to escape. The MP and assault rifle now hung uselessly in the harness on her back. She had used the last of her ammunition to put more distance between her and her pursuers, which was clearly getting smaller. She only had the knife and the GLOCK.

Liz clutched the grip of the GLOCK 29. She wouldn’t waste any time pulling the weapon out of her leg holster. Time was very, very precious right now and was winding down.

She swung and moved a thin branch aside, jumped over a root jutting out of the ground and charged on. The clearing. Liz could see it just fifty yards away.

Gray’s order, “Run, Liz! Run!” didn’t help her either.

The last row of trees. She had finally reached it and charged into the moonlit clearing. There was no sign of reinforcements, but Liz hadn’t expected to see them. The boys sat somewhere in the bushes or the trees and aimed at her pursuers.

“Just go straight, Liz, then you’ll run into Jeff’s arms,” Gray said tensely as he followed her sprint on the monitor, watching her go over the uneven area, the waist-high grass waving gently in the wind.

***

She wasn’t going to make it; that suddenly became clear to Jeff. Two of her pursuers were only an arms-length behind Liz and would bring her down any minute. If they wanted to kill her, they would have already done it. They wanted Liz alive since they didn’t have any more hostages to use as leverage.

He couldn’t spring his trap in the way he had planned. They didn’t have any other choice than to open fire. “Put the back ten out of commission first!” Jeff instructed Banks and his team. “Then work forwards. And don’t forget the two near Liz!”