The Rescue(82)

He stood there for a moment, dazed by his luck. Jumping headfirst into a thirty-foot drop usually had consequences. Death, paralysis, or broken limbs, just to name a few. Somehow he’d landed on his feet, no worse off than the first time he jumped onto this ground.

Pierce just stood there with a disapproving look. “That was interesting. Can we go now?”

“I have to make sure Aleman isn’t still in the tunnel.”

“Are you crazy?” yelled Pierce. “He bailed! We’ll be lucky if he didn’t lock the damn door on us.”

“It’ll only take—”

Before he could finish, a second salvo of eight grenades hit the roof. Showers of dirt dropped from the ceiling as the ground shook from each successive impact. Decker and Pierce dashed for the closest door, piling inside moments before a grenade hit the hatch above the ladder, stitching the dusty ground with splinters and steel fragments. When the bombardment ended, they peered through the doorway at the ceiling, noticing that the roof had bowed inward at several points.

“We need to go,” said Pierce. “Before this place drops on top of us.”

“I have to check. You get out of here. I’ll catch up.”

Pierce shook his head. “That’s not how it works. I’ll be right here covering the giant hole in the roof. Just hurry the hell up. I don’t want to die down here.”

“Neither do I,” said Decker, taking off for the ramp.

Tendrils of dirt streamed down from the timber ceiling, sprinkling his face as he ran. When he reached the vehicles parked at the base of the ramp, the third salvo of grenades hit, immediately dislodging one of the wooden support beams. The massive log thudded to the ground behind Decker, missing the Jeep Wrangler’s rear bumper by a few feet.

He kept running, crouching instinctively each time another grenade pounded the roof. The last grenade in the cycle knocked another beam loose, Decker looking over his shoulder in time to see it cut the aboveground pool in half and empty several thousand gallons of water into the space at once.

He didn’t slow until he reached the door, which lay flush against the earthen ramp. A quick examination revealed hinges at the bottom and a recessed handle at the top. He grabbed the handle and retreated down the ramp until gravity took over. The hatch slammed into the dirt at his feet, revealing Aleman’s bloodied body at the mouth of the tunnel. Aleman lay on his back, blood streaming from a hole in the top of his left shoulder. Judging by the height of the tunnel, Decker guessed he had been lying flat when the bullet struck him—penetrating deep into his chest cavity. He was as good as dead if that was the case.

Decker knelt next to Aleman’s head with the intention of making sure his assumption hadn’t been faulty. The bullet could have ricocheted off the clavicle and exited his back a few inches lower, yielding a survivable wound. He doubted it based on the evident blood loss, but he wasn’t going to leave Aleman behind, regardless of the past.

The moment Decker reached out to grab his vest, Aleman pushed a hand into him. His fingers clutched a smartphone.

“I need to turn you over and check for an exit wound,” said Decker.

Aleman jammed the phone into his chest again, hoarsely whispering, “I’m not going anywhere.”

“I can get you out.”

“They stopped the grenades,” said Aleman. “They’re coming.”

“It’ll take them a while to—”

Aleman dropped the phone and coughed a mouthful of blood.

“Take the phone. Enter the same code for the armory on the screen and press the red button before you enter the tunnel. I have the place rigged to explode.”

Decker put a hand on Aleman’s forehead and nodded. “I forgive you, Kurt.”

Aleman forced a thin smile but didn’t respond. Tears formed in his half-closed eyes.

“What can we do for your family?” said Decker.

“They know what to do. They’re expecting you. Go.”

He picked up the phone and activated it, seeing the pass-code screen.

“Keep them busy down here,” said Decker. “Take as many of those bastards with you as possible.”

“That’s the plan.”





CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE

Derek Green descended the ladder, splashing down into a few inches of muddy water. He took in the underground structure with a mixture of amazement and pity. He’d seen places like this on those extreme survivalist shows but never thought anyone actually lived in one. This dude had lived down here with his family for two years! There had to be a better way to vanish than this. The guy had a wife and three kids. How the hell was this any kind of a life for them? Now he was starting to feel a little angry. This was one hell of a price to pay for whatever screwup this guy had perpetrated.

“He’s over here!” said one the operatives clustered on the other side of the cavern.

He gave them a thumbs-up before glancing at two Aegis mercenaries conferring in the nearest doorway. One of them was the only surviving team leader. Aleman, Decker, and their mystery friend had pounded them unexpectedly with 50-caliber rifle fire. The IEDs had been bad enough, but the vehicle armor had done its job and protected the occupants. The 50-cals, though, sliced through the armor like it wasn’t there.

“No sign of Decker and his accomplice?” said Green.