Firepower by John Cutter (ebook reader online .txt) 📕

her. She meets with Bellator. Tomorrow she’s going out to the woods. Romantic assignation, mushroom hunting — or something else? She’d kept her cool, but Colls felt he’d seen a caught look in her eye when he stopped her outside the library.

If Bellator was a quisling, and he was meeting with her, maybe she was a traitor too…

*

Halfway through the afternoon, Vince was out on the range with Shaun, watching the young man shoot. A motion from the west caught Vince’s attention and he turned to see a team of Germanic Brethren escorting Agent Deirdre Corlin from the woods.

It was Mac Colls, Dale French, Gunny Hansen, and Marco Ambra, herding her along. They were about a hundred yards away, striding through a field of ferns. Her hands were behind her, probably cuffed. She stared fixedly ahead, affecting a look of puzzlement.

Vince guessed someone had followed her out to the satphone. French and Marco were carrying the aluminum box, between them, that she’d stashed in the woods. Meaning they’d found her satellite phone, her gun, and whatever else was in that box. Maybe more Jack Daniels for “trading with the natives”.

Pistol in hand pointed at Deirdre’s back, Colls had a look of surly triumph on his face.

Suddenly tautly aware of the gunshots cracking at the range, of eight men firing at the targets against the hill, Vince asked himself what the hell he was going to do now.

Must be someone — Colls, judging by his smug expression — had heard Deirdre talking in the library. They’d thought themselves talking in voices too low to be heard. But from bad timing, or a trick of acoustics they hadn’t counted on, they’d been overheard.

This is my fault, Vince told himself bitterly. I should never have suggested we meet anywhere in the building. But both of them getting away to the woods to meet had seemed problematic.

Excuses.

If they’d heard her talking in the library, they heard who she was talking to, Vince realized.

He moved off to Shaun’s left so that the bole of a big fir tree blocked him from Colls’ view. Soon enough, Colls would be coming after Vincent Bellator with every resource at his disposal. Gustafson would give him permission once he heard the revelation about Deirdre. “‘Deirdre Johansen’ is not Deirdre Johansen… She’s a federal agent.”

Would they cancel Operation Firepower because there was a federal agent amongst them?

Doubtful. From the hints Gustafson had dropped, they would simply give the signal and send all the Brethren cells in to attack D.C. While Gustafson, likely, split for cover somewhere.

She’d stall them with some kind of story. But Vince very much doubted it would work. And they would come for him next.

The question was, what was he going to do about it?

He glanced at the men on the firing range. Rocky Chesterton was there, teaching the other men. Shaun was popping away with a carbine. Vince had his Desert Eagle with him, had the jump on them, and he might be able to kill most of them, but there were a lot of men there with automatic and semi-auto weapons and it was broad daylight.

He could slip away — but if he did, he’d leave Deirdre at their mercy. He suspected they wouldn’t kill her right away. Gustafson would want time to think it through, possibly keep her as a hostage.

At some point, they would kill her. They’d probably make it look like an accident somewhere away from the base.

Don’t delay, he told himself. Within an hour, Mac will be out here with his men looking for you. This wasn’t the time for a firefight. Have to get that message to the feds.

But there was no way he was simply leaving Deirdre Corlin and Bobby Destry here. Not for long.

He could get to town and call the FBI, tell them what had happened.

And how long would it take the feds to decide he was telling the truth? How long to get a raid organized? What would happen to Deirdre and Bobby in the meanwhile?

He couldn’t wait for the feds. But neither could he make his move right this second.

Vince leaned over, looked around the big tree. He could see Colls and the others in the distance, their backs to him, still marching Deirdre toward the base.

He could go after Deirdre’s escort and kill them all. But that’d bring hell down on him and Deirdre from everyone else on the base. They’d be out in the open.

He shook his head. First things first. Get off the base.

“Hey Shaun,” he said.

Shaun got up and turned to him. “How’m I doing, Vince?”

“Great. I’d hate to be on the wrong end of that gun. Listen.” He took a deep breath, then put a hand on Shaun’s shoulder, leaned near the young man and spoke right in his ear. “You need to think about leaving here. If there’s any shooting, anything going down… Get out. Head through the woods for town.”

Shaun stepped back and gaped at him. “What!”

“Stay chill, Shaun. Just think about what I said. I’m not fucking with you. You want to help Bobby, right?”

“Yeah, but…”

“Then stay alive and out of jail. That means leaving here first chance you get. Even before any trouble, if you’re smart. I’m going to get Bobby out of here. But I won’t be able to watch your back.”

“Oh Jesus. Does this mean what I think it means?”

“Don’t ask. Just promise me you won’t say anything to anyone. For Bobby’s sake. At least for today.” He extended his hand to Shaun. “Is it a deal?”

Shaun hesitated. Guns cracked and rattled nearby.

Then Shaun took his hand. “I guess so. For Bobby. But what are you going to do?”

Vince smiled and said, “I’m going to take a piss.”

“You’re going to…?”

“Yeah. I’m going off