WAR: Disruption (37 page)

“They’re packing up,” Max called out, just loud enough for her to hear. He stepped out from the trees. “Let’s go.”

He looked haggard. His face was pale, with dark circles under his eyes and lines of strain showing at his eyes. “Did you get any sleep last night?”

“Some. I dozed off and on.”

That wasn’t nearly enough to help him heal. But he had that stubborn look in his eyes that said she’d better not comment, so all she said was, “Okay. There’s a banana and some groundnuts left.”

She climbed behind the wheel and eased toward the road. Once the convoy of vehicles abandoned the other camp she followed, staying as usual just inside the tree line. “Are there more vehicles now than last night?”

“Yeah. Dietrich’s men arrived a few hours after you fell asleep.”

“Oh, no. Did they already complete the sale?”

“Nope. As far as I can tell, they spent the night in their separate tents. I checked every hour and didn’t see any signs of activity.”

“So, where do you think they’re going?”

“I haven’t seen anything to indicate they have the second prototype with them. So I bet they’re going to retrieve it.”

“Is that why we’re heading back toward Dietrich’s camp?”

“Probably.” Max rubbed between his eyes. “If I were Dietrich, I’d have stashed it near enough to camp to be easily accessible when the buyer showed up. He likely only trusted a few people with the location, so that he could send someone to fetch it when the negotiations with the buyer were finished.”

“Only he didn’t expect to be poisoned, then dragged out of camp by the buyer.”

“Exactly. Unless…”

She waited for him to continue, but he just stared out at the passing jungle. “Unless what?” she prompted.

“Unless he plans on giving the buyer a demonstration.”

“Well, that’s a scary thought. Do you know if the prototype can be used more than once, or is it like a bomb, only a one-shot wonder?”

“Haven’t a clue.” Max rubbed between his eyes again. She wondered if he had a headache, or maybe even a mild concussion. “I was only told that it was experimental and could wipe out an entire population center.”

“Would Kristoff know?”

“Maybe.” Max picked up his phone from where it was charging on the console. “But we won’t be able to call him until we have a clearer line of sight, because this isn’t getting a strong enough signal.”

“Oh. Right.”

Ten minutes later, the convoy pulled into the jungle on the other side of the road.

“Keep driving past them,” Max said. “When I tell you, cross the road and enter their side of the jungle. Then we’ll sneak in to observe.”

Hearing the steel in Max’s voice, Emily didn’t bother protesting that he was too injured and should stay in the vehicle. Besides, he had experience with this type of situation. He’d be able to figure out a plan to stop the deal better than she could.

Once they were in a good position on the other side of the road, Max had her park the Hummer. “Gather all your stuff, in case someone finds this vehicle and we can’t use it again.”

She nodded and shoved the few remaining food supplies into her pack. “What about the phone?”

Max unplugged it and clipped it to his waist. He put the charger into his pants pocket. “After we’ve scoped the situation out, I’ll find a spot to call Kris.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry, we’re just going to observe. We’ll be safe enough.”

Emily waited until Max had turned his back to roll her eyes. He was limping and leaning heavily on his makeshift cane. Despite having a good night’s sleep, she felt sluggish and bone tired. Which meant they were prone to make mistakes. Mentally crossing her fingers for luck, she followed Max through the jungle.

HALF AN HOUR later, Max adjusted the focus on the binoculars. He and Emily occupied observation posts on neighboring branches in a giant tree. Emily had switched out the full memory card in her camera for a new extra-capacity one. She was taking video of the activity down below, while he watched through the binoculars. Dietrich—once again his impeccably dressed self complete with trademark fedora—Johann, and one of Dietrich’s soldiers stood in a clearing. Behind them loomed a buttressed root system that must be well over six feet tall because it dwarfed Johann, the tallest man present. Three other men formed a separate group a few feet away—a man with light brown skin wearing an incongruous black suit and a bowler hat who Max figured was the buyer, and two African guards wearing jungle camouflage uniforms that marked them as the buyer’s guards. One of the guards carried a briefcase that Max assumed held the money.

The number of visible men was far lower than what Max had observed last night at the camp. Some of the men would be guarding the vehicles, but Max suspected the rest were hiding nearby. Not knowing exactly where they were made him twitchy. That was the only reason he’d allowed Emily to share his observation tree. He didn’t want her alone in case one of the missing guards spotted her.

With a graceful hand gesture, Dietrich motioned for Johann to duck underneath the roots. The rest of the group kept their attention warily on each other.

It wasn’t more than a minute before Johann emerged from underneath the roots, carrying a briefcase identical to the one Emily had retrieved. He brushed off the lingering dirt and leaves and held it up for the buyer’s inspection. At the buyer’s nod, Dietrich snapped his fingers and two men walked forward from the direction of the road. One man carried a small folding table, which he set up on a small patch of relatively flat ground. The other man carried two folding chairs, which he set up on opposite sides of the table. Then Johann set the case on the table. Dietrich strode forward and, with a dramatic flourish worthy of a stage magician, he unfastened the latches on the briefcase.

Dietrich pulled back the briefcase’s lid to reveal several file folders and a square, metal device about the size of a large mango. The buyer leaned forward to take a look. He thumbed through the folders, turned the device around several times, then set everything back in the case.

Had he noticed that this wasn’t the newer prototype? His expression didn’t change, but Max thought his body had stiffened slightly.

Dietrich closed the lid and picked up the case. He indicated for the buyer to put his case on the table. Instead, the buyer nodded at his guards.

Max tensed.

The buyer’s guards drew their weapons as four of their comrades stepped out of the jungle. At the same time, all of Dietrich’s men pulled out their weapons, and a number of Dietrich’s men also stepped out of the jungle. The two groups of men stared at one another.

Hello, Mexican standoff.

The buyer said something to Dietrich. Dietrich shook his head and gave a one-shouldered shrug. The buyer shouted and took a step forward. Johann stepped between the buyer and his boss, gesturing angrily.

Max reached out and touched Emily’s arm. Any second, someone was going to snap and start shooting. He and Emily could be hit by a stray bullet. He motioned for her to sneak down the back of the tree. Once she was safely on the ground, he followed suit. Then he led her through the jungle in the direction of the vehicles. If they could disable the vehicles and put a call to Kris through in time, the WAR team might be able to nab Dietrich, the buyer, and the weapon.

Max pulled Emily to a halt at the edge of the clearing. Four men guarded the vehicles. Two each from Dietrich and the buyer.

Gunfire erupted from the meeting place. The guards glanced at one another, then ran toward the fight. A moment later, two more men tore out of the bushes near the road and also ran toward the firefight.

Excellent.

Max gestured for Emily to wait while he cautiously stepped into the clearing. There was no cry of alarm, so he started checking vehicles. Aha! He found a massive tool kit in the second vehicle. After removing a pair of wire cutters, he motioned Emily over. “Since they’re still shooting at one another, we have time to cut the brake lines of as many vehicles as we can. Do you know where the brake lines are?” He would prefer to do the sabotage himself, but no way would his wounded leg and ribs tolerate him crawling across the uneven jungle floor.

Emily nodded and took the wire cutters from him.

“Work fast.” He pressed a quick kiss to her mouth. “I’m going to load one of the Hummers with supplies so we can use it for our getaway.”

She darted over to the first vehicle, dropped to the ground and slid easily underneath.

Once he lost sight of her, Max removed the keys left in the ignitions. Being suspicious types, the drivers must have expected to need a quick escape. Better for him.

He decided to take the nearest Hummer as their getaway vehicle. He tossed Emily’s backpack inside, then checked out the cargo compartment. Max whistled silently as he ran his gaze over the cases of weapons and ammo. He opened one box that contained a variety of high-end European combat knives. Another box held Heckler & Koch G36 assault rifles and Glock 9 mm pistols. “Damn, these boys mean business,” he murmured. And not just the ordinary rebel kind of trouble. The rebels mainly bought cheaper AK-47s and were happy with them. No, this cargo hinted at that core of better funded, better trained soldiers he’d heard rumors of.

Just who was this buyer? Kris hadn’t provided details, but a hell of a lot of targeted damage could be done with this level of sophisticated weaponry. He’d bet these rifles were also going to be used in support of the upcoming attack.

Had Dietrich sold both the prototype and these weapons to the buyer?

After checking over his shoulder on Emily’s progress, Max unzipped one of the cloth rifle bags on the back seat, keeping attended for any sound of approaching danger. “Holy Shit.” He ran his hand reverently over the CheyTac M200. It was a top-of-the-line sniper rifle for a highly trained, experienced shooter. No way did the rebels have anyone with the skill to properly handle this baby. Hell, Max was an excellent shot with years of combat experience, and even he wouldn’t be able to use the rifle to its full capacity.

Not to mention that the rifle cost a fortune.

Well, their bad luck. Max was taking their expensive cargo. He zipped the rifle bag closed and set it on the floor of the passenger seat. Added a few combat knives, a couple grenades, and two G36s with extra ammo to the passenger’s area. Loaded magazines into two of the Glocks, then stuck one pistol and a couple of spare magazines in the map holder on the driver’s door and the same on the passenger’s side door. Just in case they needed to fight on the run.

A loud boom sounded from the direction of the deal. Men shouted. Branches cracked, indicating someone had broken away from the fighting and was headed their way.

“Em! Stop. We’re going to have company. Let’s go.” Max hauled himself into the driver’s seat and started the Hummer.

Emily popped up from beneath one of the Land Rovers on the far side of the clearing and raced toward him.

As Max drew near, he leaned over and flung open the passenger side door.

Several of Dietrich’s guards burst out of the jungle. The man in the lead saw Emily and fired. She screamed, pitched forward, then lay unmoving.

Blood spread across her right upper back. “Emily!”

The shooter shifted his aim and fired at Max as two of his buddies darted forward, hooked their hands under Emily’s arms, and dragged her over to one of Dietrich’s Land Rovers. Max grabbed the Glock and shot the man aiming at him, but couldn’t fire at Emily’s captors because they held her like a shield.

Another group of guards exited the jungle and opened fire.

Shit.

Bullets tore into the interior of the vehicle before Max managed to slam the passenger door closed. More bullets thudded into the vehicle’s exterior, but didn’t penetrate. Armored. Good to know. He slammed his foot on the accelerator and the Hummer leaped forward. He had to rescue Emily before—

The men across the clearing threw Emily into the back of the Land Rover. “No!” He was almost there. Almost—

One of Dietrich’s Hummers cut him off, trapping him against one of the buyer’s Land Cruisers.

Max reversed and swerved around the Land Cruiser, but ended up playing dodge with the other Hummer until he finally faked them out and raced past them.

But while he’d been maneuvering, the Land Rover holding Emily had sped into reverse. It slowed as Dietrich ran out of the jungle holding the briefcase with the second prototype. The passenger side door opened.

Max couldn’t take a shot because Dietrich’s guards were keeping him under heavy fire. But he raced toward the Land Rover as fast as he could, zigging and zagging around the buyer’s stationary vehicles. Behind Dietrich, Johann, who held the buyer’s briefcase, jumped into one of Dietrich’s Hummers.

Just before Dietrich climbed inside the Land Rover, he glanced into the back seat at Emily. With an evil smile, he gave Max a mocking nod. Then he ducked inside and the Land Rover raced toward the road.

Agony tore through Max’s chest as he chased after them. They might as well have tied a chain to his heart, attached it to their bumper, and yanked it out as they drove away. That pain wouldn’t be any worse.

Max blinked to clear the moisture from his vision.

Shots fired behind him. A quick glance in the rearview mirror showed more of Dietrich’s men running into the clearing. They fired at Max, then piled into Dietrich’s remaining vehicles and joined the chase. Just before the jungle blocked his view, Max saw the buyer’s men reach the clearing. Guess Dietrich’s guys hadn’t managed to kill everyone after all.

Keeping Dietrich’s vehicles in view, Max drove out of the jungle and turned left onto the road. To his surprise, the other vehicles seemed content to stay ahead of him without shooting. Which made him suspect Dietrich wanted to lead Max to a spot where his team could better ambush him without the buyer’s men interfering. Or else Dietrich hoped to outrun Max, leaving him to despair in the dust.

Hearing a crunch of metal behind him, Max glanced back. The second of Dietrich’s Hummers and one of the buyer’s Land Cruisers lay on their sides on the road. They must have tried to slow to make the sharp turn north, discovered their brakes were out, and flipped. As he watched, another vehicle crashed into the back of the Land Cruiser.