Tidal Rage by David Evans (bill gates books to read txt) 📕

never saw Gottschalk without his dark Ray-Ban sunglasses. With the glasses, he could take out a mouse at five hundred yards. Gottschalk’s weapon of choice was the German Blaser R93 tactical straight pull bolt-action rifle.

The latest and youngest recruit was Falco Jager. The ex-gang enforcer and nightclub bouncer was twenty-six years old. He was also the silver medal winner of the World Rifle Championship of 2008. Kurt Bauer always attended the championships looking for potential recruits. Jager was a solid hulk of muscle, which again was unusual for a sniper. He had short-cropped brown hair speckled with blonde patches. The pupils of his eyes were enormous; he had deep, black eyes that gave little room for the off-white irises. He had a hooked nose which gave him the nickname ‘ule’, or in English, Owl. Jager was even a better shot than Kurt Bauer, which was some achievement. His choice of weapon was more modern, and he preferred the Swiss bolt-action SSG 2000.

Kurt Bauer had initially laughed at both Roderick Friedman and Lothar Gottschalk as snipers; their names were antonyms. Friedman’s name translated means ‘peacemaker’, and he certainly was not. Gottschalk means ‘God’s servant’, and he was anything but. The only name which reflected their personality was Jager, meaning ‘hunter’. Bauer’s own name reflected his heritage: ‘peasant’.

Werner had been moved from the hospital in Bad Reichenhall to Landsberg Prison. The medical facilities of the prison had been identified as ones that could support Werner to adjust from the horrific injuries he had suffered. The prison was in the handsome little town of Landsberg am Lech and had previously been designated Prison Number One to hold convicted Nazi war criminals by the United States. It was located sixty-five kilometres west of Munich.

Delegate Frau Uebering had taken a particular interest in Werner’s case. She had used influence and money to ensure he had the best of medical help and facilities. She could not help with the food, as everything he ate was blended, and as he said in his robotic voice through his electric larynx, “Tasted of shit.” Werner had the small electric shaver-like device, which assisted him to talk by placing it on his neck, with him always.

Delegate Frau Uebering knew Werner was being moved to the courts in Munich for the first day of his trial, as she had paid for access to the records. She also knew the prison wagon would be accompanied by two police cars.

Kurt Bauer had been informed by the delegate that the convoy would travel east along the Romantic Road until it connected with the E54 and would skirt past Lake Ammersee and the town of Inning on Ammersee. A few kilometres further on, the main road cut through a tunnel under the fields and the two-lane motorway. The convoy entered back into daylight as it exited the tunnel, and they emerged with grass banks on either side, a concrete barrier a few metres high down the centre median.

They had stolen a motorway traffic truck with illuminated signs on the back. Bauer had enlisted Klaus, an old hand, and Heidi, his wife. The husband-and-wife team had done dirty and wet work for Bauer in the past.

Klaus turned up twenty minutes early, and waited on the roadway about a hundred metres before the prison convoy was due.

Bauer, Gottschalk, and Jager had arrived the previous night. They wore full camouflage gear, and it was an overcast evening, with no moon or stars for illumination. Using their infrared night goggles, they created their hides in less than two hours. Any sweep of the road prior to the prison convoys would have driven straight past them; they had simply blended into the flora and fauna.

Friedman, the fourth sniper, arrived at the same time as Klaus. After stashing the C-class Mercedes Benz he had travelled down in from Berlin, he took the C4 explosive from his black knapsack and crossed the carriageway to the opposite side when no cars were visible.

Friedman positioned the explosive on the base of a large coniferous tree and held it in place with tape. Once he had activated the remote-controlled censor, he returned across the dual carriage motorway, again unseen. He went on digging his hide some 300 metres away from the other snipers and opposite the tree.

Friedman, Bauer, Jager, and Gottschalk, the four-man hit team, had undertaken previous operations together in the past. They had left sufficient space, although very limited, so they could move to their side very slightly should they need to urinate. They had clingfilm with them to catch any number twos. They would leave no evidence of their DNA, and the filled cling sewage packs would be taken far away from the scene before being disposed of.

In the earphones, Klaus and the four snipers heard the one click. This was the premeditated sign from Heidi that the convoy had been spotted and was less than five kilometres away.

Klaus placed no entry signs in the lanes and the innermost lane had a sign slanting down to the left to display that only one lane was in use. A flashing 30-kilometre sign flashed, and five cars that passed the sign slowed down immediately. Klaus then took out his Zeus binoculars and had clear sight of the three-vehicle convoy that had no other traffic before them.

Several minutes later, the convoy slowed down on seeing the sign. They moved to the outside lane and decreased their speed in tandem. Klaus clicked his transmitter twice to forewarn the team that the convoy had entered the tunnel. Klaus then changed the sign to ‘No Entry Due to Roadworks’ and manoeuvred the vehicle between both lanes. After a few minutes, Heidi joined him, and they started to make their way on foot through the tunnel, as had been the agreement.

Two clicks in the earpiece were also the instruction to blow the tree, and Friedman clicked his remote. The noise was lost on