Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (20 page)

The conversation ended and the line went
dead.

Cal tapped on his earpiece and started
instructing his assault teams.

CAL
: All
teams, get the Baby Birds ready. Target is on the move, I repeat,
target is on the move.

It was overkill to let his men know to
prepare their firearms. These were veterans who rarely went to the
bathroom without a weapon. They’d be ready when asked to execute.
Each knew without being told that action within a civilian
neighborhood required extreme caution. Firepower wouldn’t be used
except as a last resort. As Standard Operating Procedure each
member was given multiple tasers in the event close contact
warranted non-lethal intervention.

As they rounded the second to last turn
approaching the address provided by Neil, Cal pulled down his ball
cap to conceal his face as much as possible. He didn’t think
wearing a black mask in a neighborhood would be the most
inconspicuous disguise. Besides, he wasn’t planning on letting
Dante get a look at him.

The others didn’t bother with the masks
either. No one really thought West would call the cops and describe
them to a sketch artist.

Cal heard his earpiece beep and listened to
team #3.

TEAM 3
: Six
this is Three. I think we just saw our target roll by. He’s in a
nineties model maroon Honda Accord. Target is driving and there are
four other targets inside. Big boys too. How copy, over?

CAL
: Roger,
let’s launch all Baby Birds now, keep…

TEAM 2
: Six
this is Two (Andy and Brian), we’ve got three other vehicles
leaving the target address.

CAL
:
Dammit. All teams, any ideas on how to exploit this situation,
over?

There was a pause as each team pondered the
question they’d already been calculating. They all knew the danger
of exposing themselves. A prolonged chase and shootout was not in
anyone’s interest. It was Andy who spoke up first.

ANDY
: Six,
I think we need to go with Plan B.

Plan B was to call the local authorities and
give them a good location on the wanted gang leader. Cal wrestled
with the thought. He wanted nothing but to get the man who’d killed
his beloved. But how could they take the man out without engaging a
bunch of armed gang members in the middle of the city?

In the desert of the Middle East, he
wouldn’t have thought twice. The decision would’ve been easy. This
war was a different story. His team wasn’t riding to battle in
armored vehicles and combat gear. They were pursuing a wanted
criminal in the heart of America wearing normal clothes and
carrying a few measly weapons. Cal knew what he had to do.

CAL
: Roger
that. I’ll make the call.

Cal picked up the disposable cell phone that
Neil had provided at step-off and dialed the number for Nashville’s
Metro Police Department. He relayed the pertinent information to
the operator then hung up twenty seconds later.

His head hung down for a couple seconds and
then he looked at his friends.

MSGT TRENT
:
Don’t worry, Cal, the cops won’t get this guy. We’ll find him
later.

Cal nodded and looked back at his cell
phone. If only he could use it to call in some artillery support or
even some 30mm mortar rounds. As he daydreamed, he heard reports
from the teams. West was slipping through their fingers.

TEAM 2
:
Six, Two, the cars have split up onto different roads,
over.

TEAM 4
:
Six, Four, still have eyes-on target with Baby Bird,
over.

TEAM 3
:
Six, Three, still have eyes on target. Target is speeding up,
over.

TEAM 3
:
Six, Three, cops just spotted target’s car. Wait one…lights are on,
target is speeding up, over.

TEAM 2
:
Six, Two, the two cars we’re following just sped up too,
over.

TEAM 4
:
Six, Four, target is outpacing Baby Bird, over.

TEAM 3
:
Six, Three, trying to casually keep up with the chase, but they’re
really moving now, over.

Cal looked up and tapped his earpiece.

CAL
: All
teams break pursuit and meet-up at rendezvous point Charlie,
out.

His face covered in silent frustration, Cal
took the earpiece out, bent toward the console, and turned on the
police scanner.

+ + +

DANTE
:
Where the fuck did this guy come from?!

Dante accelerated through the red light. His
four passengers looked back toward the trailing police cruiser.

One minute they’d been driving down
Dickerson Pike matching the speed limit, then some cop had turned
on his lights and pulled up behind them.

Not easily scared, West was now completely
spooked. First, the call from the mysterious money collector and
now the cops were onto him? This was the fourth car he’d had since
being on the run. All the tags were legit and the car wasn’t
stolen. What the hell was going on? Was it possible the guy on the
phone was a cop?

As he let that thought tumble through his
mind, he continued to accelerate and speed through intersections.
He swerved to miss cars and put more distance between him and the
now fading cop car. He’d had each of his escape rides specially
equipped with new racing engines straight out of one of Fast and
Furious. The cops didn’t stand a chance unless they got a
helicopter up above. West wasn’t going to give them that
opportunity.

Being the savvy criminal that he was, he’d
already planned out multiple contingencies for escape. Right now,
he was on his way to one of his many safe houses where he’d pick up
another ride and move from there.

With the police cruiser fast fading in his
rearview mirror, Dante was already finalizing his plans for the
operation later that day.

+ + +

Cal was silent as he listened to the police
described the inevitable outcome. The police helicopter was on the
other side of town when the call was placed and, by the time it
came on station, West had evaded the lagging police cruiser.

MSGT TRENT
:
There wasn’t much more that we could’ve done, Cal.

CAL
: I
know. It just pisses me off that he was so close and we couldn’t do
a damned thing.

MSGT TRENT
:
Now you know what the cops deal with every day.

CAL
:
Yeah.

MSGT TRENT
:
Where to now?

CAL
: Let’s
head back down south. Neil, can you radio the rest of the guys and
tell them to head home?

NEIL
: No
problem.

+ + +

The teams met briefly outside the campus
headquarters building. There wasn’t much to say other than a couple
thank-yous from Cal so the crowd quickly dispersed.

ANDY
: I
wish we could’ve done more.

CAL
: I
know, but it was the right call. Thanks for making it.

ANDY
: No
problem. Hey, you know what that reminded me of?

Cal looked confused for a second and then
the light bulb went on.

CAL
(laughing): That patrol we were on with the
sheepherders!

BRIAN
: You
jarheads wanna tell me what hell you’re talking about?

Andy turned to Brian and explained.

ANDY
: Our
platoon was running one of those crappy patrols on another hot ass
Afghan day. Well, all of a sudden, Cal looks to our right and sees
two insurgents peeking over a little hill about a hundred yards
away. We immediately take cover and call battalion to get some fire
support. We get weapons platoon on the hook and tell them what
we’ve got. The platoon commander was a buddy of mine and told me
that if I wanted to have some big guns there was a pair of Cobra
gunships a few clicks away. As you probably know, it’s always fun
to watch the Cobras fire some rounds, so my buddy patches me
through. Right about the time the gunships get on station, my radio
operator taps me on the shoulder and points back to the little
hill. I look over there and I’ll be damned if there isn’t a fucking
flock of two hundred sheep strolling up to the hill flanked by a
couple of herders. The two insurgents decide to take advantage of
the distraction. They actually run into the middle of the herd and
hunker down with the sheep.

BRIAN
: No
way.

ANDY
: Yeah!
So the Cobra pilot gets on the hook and tells me he can see the two
insurgents but that he can’t shoot because of the livestock and
herders. I told the guy that we suspected the two bad guys were
lying in wait so they could trip an IED. The pilot didn’t care. He
said the Rules of Engagement were tight. He couldn’t shoot up a
bunch of local sheep because some paper pusher in the rear had
decided it was bad for local relations. So what do we do? We had to
just sit there and wait for the two guys to come out. We’re sitting
there watching as the two Cobras are literally hovering overhead,
the two guys don’t even shoot at them.

BRIAN
: I’ll
bet they were pissing their pants.

ANDY
: Yeah.
We would’ve run over there except we were still waiting for EOD to
get there so they could sweep the road for explosives. Well, even
when the Cobras floated lower to try and scatter the sheep, the
damned things stayed calm and the insurgents stayed with the sheep
as they were guided toward the little town. I called everyone I
could, but we couldn’t get anyone else in on the ground in time and
because of the IED threat. So we had to watch these two guys mosey
on into the sunset with their herd of sheep. That’s what I felt
like today.

CAL
(chuckling): Yeah. Now that I think about it, it’s a pretty
good comparison. Let’s get back to The Lodge. I think I’m in need
of a couple of fingers of The Famous Grouse.

The friends hopped in their vehicles and
made their way to the bar.

HIRED
GUN
: Dante, the boys are all set and
we have that van you wanted.

West stared at the hulking messenger, one of the
hired guns from New Orleans. He’d especially be glad to have this
guy gone soon. West wasn’t afraid of much, but being surrounded by
a bunch of bouncers with guns, even vouched bouncers, made him
antsy.

DANTE
:
Alright, thanks. Tell your boys that we’ll be taking off as soon as
it gets dark. I want everyone on the level. No drinking or drugs.
Clear heads for this last thing.

HIRED
GUN
: We ain’t idiots, Dante. We’ll be
ready to go.

West nodded and closed the
door to his new bedroom. As he looked around yet another dingy
room, he dreamed of the day he could live in luxury once
again.
Just a few more hours. Just a few
more hours.

+ + +

MSGT
TRENT
(raising his full glass): I’m
limiting myself to one of these. My ass is draggin’.

CAL
: Thanks
for all your help today, Top. We wouldn’t have even had a chance to
catch West if you hadn’t tracked him down.

Trent drained his glass and looked back at
Cal.

MSGT
TRENT
: We’ll get the guy, Cal. Let’s
all get a little shut-eye and we’ll hit the streets again
tonight.

CAL
:
Thanks, Top.

Trent nodded and, with surprising grace
considering his size, hopped up from the couch and left the
bar.

Brian motioned to the bartender. Cal had
told him the guy was a former Marine sergeant major who’d come
onboard after losing a leg in the first Gulf War and soon became
one of Cal Sr.’s first hires. The bartender nodded back and walked
around the bar with a half-full bottle of The Famous Grouse. He
gave everyone in the group a healthy splash finishing with Cal.

CAL
:
Thanks, Sergeant Major. How’s the new book coming?

BARTENDER
:
Slowly. Took me a while to get my rusty brain running again. Neil
set me up with a laptop behind the bar so I can write while I work.
Thanks again for that, Neil.

NEIL
(waving nonchalantly): Anything for my warriors, Sergeant
Major.

Andy and Brian looked on intrigued. Andy
spoke up first.

ANDY
:
What’s the book about, Sergeant Major?