Target on the Mountain by Elizabeth Goddard (the chimp paradox .txt) 📕

door slid open and his good friend Jase Bradford hopped out, followed by several other members of the team.

Jase glanced at the towering inferno. “What happened here?”

Alex gave him a quick rundown. “I have an injured man over here who needs immediate medical attention.” He pointed toward Liam. Then he explained about McNamara’s injury and where he was located.

Jase motioned to Ryan, the EMT of the group. Along with Gavin, they hurried to assist Liam and bring out McNamara.

“We need to get to Deacon, too. He’s in bad shape and he’s been down there alone for a while.” Rachel told Jase where the agent was located.

“I’ll send Ryan and Aaron down to get him. They can take him and your brother along with McNamara to the hospital right away. I have the state troopers on their way up the mountain as we speak. We’ll have this location saturated in no time. Temple and his men won’t get away this time.”

Alex watched as Ryan and Gavin carefully carried Liam over to the chopper, with McNamara trailing behind them. Liam was strong and Alex believed God would bring him through safely. McNamara appeared defeated. He had to know what lay ahead for him. If he talked, it might help him in the long run.

“Take some of the team with you.” Jase gave Aaron the location where Deacon was hiding. “We don’t know what you’ll find there. Temple’s men might have found Deacon by now, so be prepared.” Alex prayed Deacon was still alive.

The chopper carrying Liam and McNamara quickly became airborne. Jase waited until it was heading down the mountain before he turned to Rachel and held out his hand.

“Jase Bradford. It’s nice to meet you.” Jase smiled.

Rachel shook his hand. She seemed to be unable to grasp that they’d finally been rescued. She had a surreal look on her face. “Rachel Simmons. I can’t tell you how happy we are to see you.”

Jase laughed. “I can imagine it’s been a crazy few hours up here.”

Michelle emerged from her hiding place with her prisoner in front of her.

With everything that had happened, Rachel had forgotten about Michelle guarding another of McNamara’s men. Alex explained what he knew about Michelle’s role in everything along with what she’d done to help them.

Agent Liz Ramirez took the weapon from Michelle and then cuffed her prisoner.

“I appreciate you helping my people, but you have to understand, you’re still a suspect in all of this until we know what truly took place.” Jase indicated Liz should put Michelle and the man into the remaining chopper. “Keep an eye on both of them.”

Michelle’s story would get sorted out in time. She’d be treated fairly.

“We found agent Seth Jamison’s body a little ways down from here.” Alex filled Jase in on what he believed happened to Liam’s handler.

“Unbelievable. I guess that’s how Temple and his men managed to stay hidden for so long. They had inside assistance.” Jase shook his head.

They’d sort through the web of lies in time. Right now, Alex’s main concern was locating Temple and his men before they found the sarin gas. “We need to go after Temple’s people before they get away. Or worse, locate the gas.”

Jase nodded. “You’re right.” He motioned to the rest of the team standing by. “Fan out. Keep your eyes open. They have lots of men up here and they have nothing to lose.”

Jase turned to him and Rachel. “You two should hang back. You both look exhausted. We’ve got this.”

Standing next to him, Alex could feel Rachel ready to protest. He was right there with her. They’d come this far. “No way. We want to see this through to the end.”

Jase didn’t appear surprised. “All right, but be careful.”

The airborne chopper was still in sight when it opened fire on something down below.

Alex focused on the area. “It looks like they’ve located some of Temple’s men.” The team rushed for the location. Alex stuck close to Rachel. They were both drop-dead exhausted, but they’d come this far. They weren’t about to give up the fight without knowing its ending.

The chopper hovered over an area, occasionally firing. Alex heard the men return shots, then silence followed.

Rachel glanced at Alex. “What happened?”

He shook his head. “I don’t know. I’m guessing they realized they were outnumbered and gave up.”

Once the team reached the site, the chopper took off again. There were half a dozen men standing with their hands in the air. Within no time, they were subdued in cuffs.

As Alex looked over the faces of the men who had surrendered, he realized none of them were Temple’s CIA team. They’d somehow managed to get away.

Jase came over to where they stood and confirmed the truth. “Temple and the rest of the agents aren’t here.”

Alex couldn’t believe they’d gotten away. “Let’s just hope he hasn’t located the gas already.” Alex told Jase what they overheard McNamara say about the prospective buyer.

“That doesn’t sound good. We need to find these guys and soon.” Jase glanced up at the threatening skies. “It’s getting colder and we’re running out of daylight. If we haven’t found them by night, they could manage to give us the slip.”

Jase ordered some of his team to watch the prisoners. “Let’s keep looking,” he told the rest. “We’re losing daylight fast.”

In a matter of hours, the entire mountainside was crawling with state troopers and agents. Alex didn’t believe Temple’s team would risk leaving the area. “They’re hiding out somewhere. Probably hoping we’ll think they’ve left the mountain.”

Rachel stopped walking. “The cave. It’s the perfect spot to stay hidden and Temple knows about it. There are several passages, and if they stumble upon the one that we did, they could escape.”

“You’re right.” Alex told Jase about the cave. “I sure hope we find them before they reach the sarin. We have no idea who their buyer is, but we need to put him out of business before he can do any harm.” Alex didn’t want to think about the possibility