Alpha mike foxtrot, p.28
Alpha Mike Foxtrot, page 28
part #3 of Witness Protection Series
Jackie ran for Zack before the man could take his shot. She spun into a kick for the captive man’s head. He aimed the small gun at her instead and pulled the trigger. The gun fired and the bullet tore into her leg. She cried out with pain and at the sight of her own blood exploding from her leg. Jackie clutched her bleeding thigh as she was thrown backward against the table. Zack saw Jackie go down. He appeared stunned initially then enraged. Without hesitation, Zack snapped the man’s neck, released him, and fired wildly into the slot machines, taking down the last man with more bullets than necessary. Zack ran to where Jackie sat against the blackjack table, fell to his knees alongside her, and assessed her injury. He applied pressure to the bleeding wound and stared at her.
“What were you thinking?” he suddenly demanded while searching her eyes.
Jackie gasped in agony and glared back at him. “I was thinking about saving your ass, idiot.”
Chapter Forty
Bogart continued to pace the loading dock before the open bay doors while Ross remained near some crates with the girls. Darth looked at the main entrance and snarled softly. Bogart and the girls instinctively looked at the doors. Ross motioned Bogart to take cover. Bogart barely made it behind the crate alongside them when the doors opened. Several men with automatic weapons entered with a mission to shoot anything that moved. Ross and Bogart waited until the men were unprotected in the center of the large bay before firing at them. The men attempted to dive for cover while firing back. Monique and Colleen crouched on the floor behind the crate and clung to the dog. Darth watched the action and seemed unaware of the girls clinging to him. More men filtered into the room and fired at them. Tremaine and Hoffman brought up the rear and immediately took cover, allowing the other men to do a majority of the dirty work.
Ross glanced behind him then looked at Bogart. “Out the bay door,” he ordered softly. “Take the girls through the kitchen door and make your way to the casino. We can see them coming through the glass doors.”
“What about you?” Bogart asked with surprise.
“I’ll hold them off as long as I can,” Ross replied.
Bogart wasn’t pleased by his orders. He gathered the girls and positioned them by the bay doors.
“On Ross’s signal,” Bogart informed them. “We take this party to the kitchen just a few yards to the right.”
Both girls uncertainly nodded.
“Darth too?” Monique asked in a timid voice.
Bogart glanced at Ross. He nodded.
“Darth too,” Bogart replied while forcing a smile.
“On my signal,” Ross announced then stood and rapidly fired at the men hiding behind crates.
Bogart hurried the girls from the loading bay doors down to the ground two feet below. Darth leaped the ledge and joined them. They ran around the side to the kitchen door. Ross took cover once they were clear. Tremaine nudged Hoffman and indicated the open bay door.
“I’m sure our kids went that way,” Tremaine informed him.
Hoffman tapped the man next to him. “The rest of you finish off that one,” he announced then touched his ear transmitter as he followed Tremaine to the main door. “I need every available man inside the hotel to meet me in the kitchen corridor.”
Both men left the loading dock. Ross remained hidden behind his crate and frowned at the enormous amount of gunfire. A pickup truck approached the open bay door. Ross glanced behind him at the approaching truck and groaned softly.
“From bad to worse,” he muttered.
Beck and Kirk dove out of the truck and fired rapidly into the loading dock, hitting several men as they joined Ross. Ross grinned at his men.
“Why must you cut it so close?”
“We like to make a dramatic entrance,” Beck teased.
†
The helicopter zipped along the countryside with Gil at the stick. Monroe sat in the back within the open doorway, tethered to the floor with a cable attached to the harness he wore. He fired out the open side door at the enemy helicopter in hot pursuit. Two men fired back at them out the side of the pursuing helicopter. With Gil’s maneuvering, they were avoiding most of the gunfire, but their assailants were closing the gap. Monroe looked back at Gil behind the controls.
“Those shots are starting to get close,” Monroe announced to Gil through his affixed headset. “You’d better think of something amazing and do it fast.”
“I’m working on it,” Gil remarked with annoyance. “I’m better with a plane than I am with a helo. You want high-flying fun, fly Jackie’s friendly skies!” Gil banked sharply, nearly toppling Monroe onto the seat. He hadn’t been expecting the maneuver. “Why don’t you help out a little by shooting those bastards?”
“You’re not Jackie, and I’m not Zack,” Monroe launched back. “I’m not real keen on heights or shooting from them.”
“Yeah? Well, how do you feel about crashing from them?” Gil demanded.
Monroe sneered then leaned out the doorway and fired at the helicopter gaining on them. He shot one of the men leaning out the opening. The man tumbled from the open doorway and plummeted to the ground while screaming the entire way. Monroe grimaced, possibly envisioning his own fate.
“That’s gotta hurt.”
Gil banked to the left. Monroe lost his footing and fell from the opening. He cried out until the cable became taunt, stopping his fall. He was left dangling by the cable nearly twenty feet beneath the helicopter. Monroe screamed as he was towed through the air while frantically grasping for the cable. Gil looked out the window and groaned softly.
“Great, now I’ve got wind drag,” he muttered.
Monroe spun around out of control on the cable attached to his harness. He attempted to keep a hold of his assault rifle while reaching for the cable as he twirled around in a circle. The entire time, the man in the second helicopter was shooting at him. Fortunately, being he was a spinning target, he was harder to hit. Monroe finally caught the cable and straightened himself. He raised his assault rifle, clenched his teeth, and fired back at the shooter while yelling like a madman. The remaining shooter took a bullet to the chest and fell back onto the seat. Monroe clung to the cable attached to his harness and wildly pointed with his assault rifle while screaming at the pursuing helicopter.
“There’s more where that came from, you bastard!”
Monroe fired wildly at the helicopter that now attempted to get closer to him. It was possible the helicopter pilot wanted to get beneath him and slice him with the rotors. When he realized what the pilot was attempting, Monroe slung his assault rifle over his shoulder and cried out while frantically climbing the cable. The enemy helicopter flew beneath him and lifted upward. Monroe scrambled into the safety of his own helicopter and looked at the enemy helicopter several yards beneath them.
“Oh, you wanna play?” Monroe cried out. “I’ll play!”
Monroe threw his assault rifle from the back and down upon the rotating blades beneath them. Gil cried out and veered sharply away from the enemy helicopter. The rotors caught the assault rifle. The horrific sound of metal chewing through metal could be heard even above the sounds of their own helicopter. Monroe stared out the side and watched as the rotors were torn from the craft, sending it spiraling downward. The enemy helicopter crashed into some rocks and exploded on impact. Monroe thrust his arms outward, revealing both middle fingers to the fiery inferno below. He caught his breath and collapsed against the seat.
“You know, I could be at my beach house soaking up some sun and getting plastered right about now,” Monroe remarked with a groan.
“And yet you’re always the first one to answer Ross’s call to duty,” Gil replied and cast a look back at Monroe with a mocking smile. His look then turned serious as he touched his headset. “I’m getting a transmission from Ross.” He again looked back at Monroe, who now sat forward with a curious look on his face. “Loading dock evac has been scratched now as well. Too many hostiles hanging around. Do you have more weapons back there? We can offer some air support until they find a new evac site.”
Monroe routed around within a duffel bag. “Yeah, I’ve got plenty of weapons and ammo.” He cocked an assault rifle. “Let’s circle the compound and see how many rats we can pick off.”
†
Katrina ran through the woods, stumbling over tree roots and rocks in her less than desirable high heels. She finally stopped by a tree to catch her breath. The sounds of gunfire at the casino now almost a mile away had nearly silenced. She had covered a lot of ground in a short period of time considering her footwear. She shut her eyes and allowed her head to fall back against the tree while attempting to control her heavy breathing. The sound of a rifle cocking jolted her back into reality. Katrina stared at the barrel of an assault rifle directly in her face. She looked at Betty on the other end of the weapon, her finger tightly on the trigger. Betty grinned in a mildly psychotic manner.
“Now,” Betty announced pleasantly to the once attractive, exhausted woman, “I think it’s time you and I had a little talk.”
Chapter Forty-one
Jackie felt the sharp, hot pain shooting through her leg. The pain was so intense; she could almost feel herself about to black out. She sat rigid on the blackjack table alongside an industrial sized first aid kit kindly provided by Sal’s casino. Zack, armed with a tweezers, dug inside the bullet wound on her outer thigh while catching as much blood as possible with a blood-soaked gauze pad. She pinched her eyes shut and held back her scream while gripping the foam edge of the table. Zack tried to convince her to lie down, but she admitted she was too stubborn to listen. Once he stopped digging with the blood-covered tweezers, she panted heavily. The agonizing pain was a welcomed relief to the excruciating pain Zack had been inflicting.
“Got it,” he announced with a soft sigh.
Jackie opened her eyes and looked at the bloodied bullet between the equally bloodied tweezers. He tossed the tweezers aside and flushed the wound with a bottle of wound wash. She gasped softly, although the pain wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been a minute ago. As he applied carefully cut strips of tape across her wound to hold it together, Zack cast several glances at her with a look she couldn’t read. He wasn’t mocking her pain. His look was almost sympathetic. Since he wasn’t really the type to provide sympathy, his look was slightly troubling. He returned to patching her wound and avoided looking at her. Jackie felt a slight pang of concern sweep through her. She knew what happened when the guys became too attached. They started worrying about her, which allowed them opportunity to screw up. Maybe Holden had been right but not for the reason he’d given. Perhaps the team was better off without her. She didn’t need the guys jeopardizing their lives because they were worried about her safety.
Zack placed a thick padding overtop the carefully patched wound, taped it securely to her thigh, and then straightened. He looked at her then frowned as he gently brushed the sweated hair from her forehead. His hand remained on her temple as his thumb touched her cheek. He again stared into her eyes with that hard to read expression. Jackie had never seen that look in his eyes before and felt compelled to stare back. It was possibly the longest she’d ever stared into Zack’s eyes. For the first time in her life, she swore she saw into his soul. Although he never showed it, he cared. He cared too much. She somehow knew he’d be the first one to end up dead because of her, and the thought was frightening.
She looked away while tensing and subconsciously brushed his hand from her face. “I’m fine,” she muttered softly. “We should get going.”
“You’re not fine,” Zack informed her. “You can barely walk.”
Jackie suddenly glared at him with unfounded hostility. “Don’t think for one second about carrying me, Zachariah. I will hurt you.”
“As much fun as that sounds, I’ll have to pass,” Zack replied, almost relieved to bury his emotions. “Ross just gave us our new orders. The extraction is happening just outside the game floor.” He indicated the set of glass doors marked with bullet holes toward the back. “Gil’s circling with the helicopter now. Once Bogart arrives with the girls, we’ll only have a few minutes to make it to the extraction point before the guys in the trucks realize where the helicopter is landing.”
Jackie glared at him with distrust. “Bogart is bringing the girls here?” she asked demandingly and raised her brow. “You’re not just bullshitting me so I won’t go after them.”
Zack offered a humored smile and patted her good leg. “No bullshitting, darling,” he informed her. “They’re on their way, so let’s get you positioned by that door. I’ll cover your lovely little ass so no one shoots it.”
She rolled her eyes at the comment and attempted to move off the table. It was harder than she anticipated, but she didn’t want to admit she was in a lot of pain. Zack attempted to help her, but she resisted, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor. She cringed in agony. Zack stared at her a moment with a raised brow. Now he was mocking her. He extended his hand to her. She reluctantly accepted his hand. He easily pulled her to her feet. Jackie attempted to limp across the game room floor, but the pain was unbearable. It was almost worse than when Zack had been digging around for the bullet. Zack cut off her path and faced her. It wasn’t as if she could do much to remove him either. His look was commanding.
“Look, I can either carry you military style or “An Officer and a Gentleman” style,” he announced simply. “The choice is yours, but I am carrying you.”
Jackie groaned softly and placed her arm around Zack’s neck, submitting to his will. He easily scooped her up into his arms and carried her toward the glass doors. She didn’t look at him, but she could feel his smirk burning into her skin.
He softly sang, “Where the eagles cry; on a mountain high.”
She felt stupid, and there was no doubt she intended to hit him at some later date. They were halfway to the back glass doors when the main casino doors burst open. Zack spun while releasing Jackie’s legs, although keeping his arm around her waist to balance her, and aimed his gun at the door. As Jackie’s feet hit the floor, her gun was in her free hand aimed in the same direction. Bogart, the two girls, and Darth ran through the doors. Bogart stopped to bolt the doors with the floor and ceiling bolts then frantically motioned to the girls with his gun. Both girls ran across the casino and hid. Bogart saw Jackie and Zack halfway across the room. He motioned wildly with his gun.
“Take cover! Now!” he cried out. “They’re right behind us!”
Bogart ran for cover. A split second later, there was a tremendous bang against the door. Zack whisked Jackie off her feet and carried her behind a bank of slot machines. He set her down, where she immediately allowed herself to drop to her knees while taking aim at the door. When she looked back, Zack was already gone. She looked up and saw his boots disappear over the bank of slot machines. That he managed to scale the wall of slot machines so stealth-like amazed her. If he ever officially retired from the team, he’d make a great cat burglar. Judging by the sounds coming from the right side of the room, Bogart had managed to lock the second set of doors as well. Men could be heard attempting to break through both sets of doors. The main doors cracked and flew open. Four men spilled into the room under a steady stream of bullets, allowing them to seek cover before Jackie or Bogart could even get off a shot. The glass doors to the back shattered under gunfire and more men spilled onto the casino floor from the rear.
As Jackie fired at random men barely poking out from behind slot machines, she was wishing she had her assault rifle now more than ever. Jackie heard a metallic clatter at the end of the aisle nearly fifty feet behind her. She looked down the aisle to see a man rounding the corner, his weapon hitting the edge of the slot machine. She spun around and aimed her semiautomatic at the man. A booted foot flew out from the end machine and struck the man in the chest. He was thrown across the aisle and into the opposing slot machine. Zack took one quick step across the aisle, spun into a roundhouse kick, and struck the man in the face. The man struck the machine hard. Zack grabbed the guy’s head and, with one fluid motion, snapped his neck, allowing his lifeless body to drop. Zack casually snatched the discarded assault rifle, took a few steps closer, and tossed the weapon to Jackie. She caught the rifle and stared at Zack with surprise.
He grinned his pleasure. “Thought you might want one of those.”
Before she could respond, he disappeared around the back of the aisle. That he had read her mind was scary enough. What really frightened her was that they apparently thought alike. The last thing she wanted was to be like Zack. The armed men from the glass doors started making their way closer, closing in on them. Jackie fired several shots at them, but she couldn’t slow their approach even with the assault rifle.
On the other side of the casino floor, Bogart had his hands full shooting at the men making their way closer from the main entrance. The casino floor was now filled with the almost deafening sound of automatic weapon fire. Monique and Colleen clung to Darth while backing themselves into a corner, remaining close to the floor to avoid stray gunshots. Both watched Bogart fire at the men attempting to gain ground. The side door suddenly broke open and two more men filtered into the room with their weapons raised. Both girls screamed on cue. Darth pulled free from them and ran for the men with the guns while snarling viciously. As he leaped for the first man, the man fired at the dog, hitting him directly in the chest. Darth yelped while being thrown back to the floor where he lie motionless. Both girls again screamed while staring at the fallen war hero. As the men aimed their guns at the girls, Colleen suddenly cracked her bullwhip at the first man, catching him around the neck. She gave a firm yank using her entire body and pulled him off his feet. Bogart realized what was happening behind him and turned with his weapon raised.
