Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (74 page)

“Trav?” Cal sounded out of breath.

Travis cut right to the chase. “Cal, are you
guys on those snowmobiles?”

“Say again? I can barely hear you. My signal
sucks down here.”

Travis spoke more slowly. “I said, are you
on those snowmobiles?”

“No. We just saw them leave from Ponder’s
place. Ten to fifteen of them, right?”

“So you saw both groups leave?”

“Both groups?”

“Yeah. It looks like the group of thirteen
might be trying to catch up with another three,” described
Travis.

“No. We only saw the one group. Shit, Trav.
You don’t think they’re taking Neil out do you?”

“I don’t know, Cuz.”

“Wait, are you looking down via
satellite?”

“Uh-uh. We’re circling overhead in a
C-130.”

“No shit?”

“No shit.”

“Well that changes the game. We’re getting
close to Ponder’s hideout. Do you have enough guys to handle the
vehicles while we check out the compound?”

“I think that can be arranged.” Travis
looked at Dunn who hurried to the troop space to prep their men.
“How are you boys doing?”

“I’m a little dinged up but okay.”

“You wanna tell me about it now?”

“No. Let me get off the phone so we can
start moving. With any luck, Ponder took a few guys with him. Maybe
we’ll just have to mop things up and leave the real fun to you
guys. Are you jumping in?”

“Yeah.”

Cal laughed. “You sure your old ass is still
up for it? I’ve been meaning to talk to you about your expanding
waistline.”

“Fuck you, Cal,” Travis said, not without
affection. If anything, Travis Haden was more fit than he had been
with the SEAL teams. “You call me when you get done, okay?”

“Yes, Dad. Stokes, out.”

Travis looked down at the
sat phone. Despite the risk, he realized that he’d really missed
the fun of being in the field. He turned back to Cowboy. “I’ll head
back to get suited up.” Travis joined his men, a little more
swagger in his step than he’d had for years.
To battle
.

+++

Cal was now able to communicate with Trent
and Brian’s team. They’d made better time and were even now
approaching the main entrance to Ponder’s stronghold. Cal was close
enough, and the weather had cleared so he could just make out their
forms slowly maneuvering into position. He watched the breach team
approach the large steel doors.

He was able to raise Brian on his satellite
phone.

“The breach team is checking out the front
door,” Brian described.

“Yeah, I’m watching right now. No bad guys
on the way in?”

“Nope. You?”

“No bad guys. I think they’re headed down
the mountain chasing someone else.”

“How do you know that?” Brian asked.

“Trav’s playing guardian angel in a C-130
overhead.”

“Holy shit!”

“Yep.”

“Hey, I think I see you guys. Wave to
me.”

Cal waved to the other group and Brian waved
back. Just as Cal went to sign off from the call, Brian’s waving
form disappeared in an enormous explosion.

The sound and shockwave swept over his team
as Cal screamed for his friends.

+++

“What the fuck was that?” Lt. Granes asked
out loud. He’d been monitoring the progress not only of the two
groups of snowmobiles but also of Cal’s two teams.

“What?” asked Cowboy.

“I think there was just a huge explosion
right where the good guys were going.”

“Don’t just sit there, Granes. Go get
Haden!”

Lt. Granes hurried to find Travis.

Seconds later, Travis, fully outfitted for
the jump, rushed awkwardly into the cockpit.

“What’s going on?” he asked.

“Granes says there was an explosion on your
objective. Did your cousin bring a whole lot of C4 with him?”

“No. Let me try to get him on the line. How
long until we drop?”

“Under two minutes.”

“Okay.”

Travis dialed Cal’s number. There was no
answer. He tried again. Nothing.

“Shit. I can’t get him.”

“Maybe it’s just the weather again,” Cowboy
offered.

“I hope so.”

Travis knew there wasn’t anything he could
do about Cal’s team. He had to focus on stopping the
snowmobiles.

+++

Glancing at his wristwatch, Ponder smiled.
One of the precautions he’d taken while building his compound was
to rig it with enough explosives to knock down a skyscraper. He’d
learned the trick from a drug kingpin in Mexico City. The man had
described how each one of his safe houses, warehouses and labs was
rigged for complete destruction. When the drug lord told Ponder how
much it cost, he was pleasantly surprised and filed it away until
his own construction began. He’d done the explosives installation
himself with the help of some tips he found online on various
demolition how-to sites. The cost was minimal and it gave Ponder an
added layer of security should his enemies or the authorities show
up.

It’d been an easy choice to set the timer.
His cover was blown either way. Nick Ponder would never be coming
back to Battleship Mountain. The small pack strapped to his back
contained the currency and valuables that Benjamin had given him
earlier. It would be enough to help him should the need arise.
Ponder grinned again, hoping that some of his enemies had been
consumed in the blast. The sadistic mercenary only wished he
could’ve watched.

+++

At least four of his men were dead including
Brian Ramirez. MSgt Trent was badly wounded and unconscious. Gaucho
was doing his best to stem the Marine’s blood flow. More men were
strewn about tending to their wounds.

Cal shook his head in denial as he searched
the rubble. The explosion had effectively halved his force and
collapsed the entire complex. There was nothing to find. The only
reason they’d found anyone was that the blast had blown them all
away from the entrance.

+++

Travis was shuffling to the
open rear end of the C-130 when his phone buzzed. He looked down
and saw that Cal was calling.
Shit
. He knew Cal would have to wait.
Travis’s force had its own mission.

He lowered his night vision goggles and
jumped into the darkness.

+++

Benjamin had timed the extraction perfectly.
On their journey up, his men had staged additional gear as a
precaution. They’d just reached the weapons cache and were taking
ambush positions. Their kill zone set, Benjamin waited for Ponder
to fall into his trap.

+++

Todd Dunn had been the first man out of the
aircraft. He and his troops were now floating down through the
early morning darkness.

The plan was to land in front of the smaller
group of snowmobiles and set up a hasty ambush. Travis hoped that a
couple well-placed shots could disable the lead vehicle long enough
for them to find out who they were dealing with.

He gazed down through the
blackness with his NVGs.
It looks like
they’ve stopped,
Dunn noted.
At least that’ll make our timing
easier
.

The rest of the SSI operators were cuing off
of his descent. It would’ve been harder to ensure a smooth
insertion with moving hostiles. This way they might have a little
more time to stage themselves on the ground.

Thank God the damn weather
died down
, Dunn thought.
The last thing we need is casualties before we
fight.

He watched as the scene
unfolded below. It looked like the group was getting off of their
vehicles.
What the hell?

Turning back to the business of insertion,
Dunn checked his GPS one last time and prepped for landing.

+++

They’d just rounded a bend when Ponder saw
the telltale flash of incoming projectiles. He barely had time to
swerve left before a small rocket crashed into the snowmobile next
to him. Ponder struggled to stay on his own vehicle but was finally
thrown off when he slammed into a large boulder. His body somehow
flew over the rock instead of hitting it. The last thing he heard
before he slammed into the creek bed was the repeated explosions of
more rockets annihilating his forces.

+++

Benjamin smiled grimly as his assassins sent
round after round from their shoulder-fired weapons. They’d been a
last minute purchase from a Russian arms dealer before leaving
Pakistan. Rather than having to rely on accurate aim, the smaller
projectiles were, in fact, mini-missiles with heat-seeking
capability. The Russian had said that even his dead grandmother
could’ve pulled the trigger and demolished an enemy target. He had
not exaggerated. Benjamin made a mental note to thank the Russian
and put in a larger order for their next operation.

He signaled for his men to stop firing.
Cradling his AK-47, Benjamin approached the wreckage. After quickly
dispatching the few wounded survivors, he turned back and ordered
his men to get back on their vehicles.

Benjamin took one last look
at the carnage and smiled.
Stupid
Americans
.

+++

Ponder peeked out from his
hiding spot. He winced from the pain of his dislocated shoulder.
There were no tears shed as Ponder watched Benjamin kill his men,
only seething anger.
I don’t care how or
when, but I’m gonna kill that fucker
.

He slunk back further and waited for his
enemy to leave.

Chapter 39

Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming

1:53am, September 29th

Cowboy had readily agreed to stay on-station
for as long as he could. His ability to view the battlefield from
the air gave the SSI warriors a distinct advantage. He keyed up
Travis to give him the latest intel.

“What have you got?” Travis asked.

“Looks like the smaller group just took out
the bigger group. Granes said one of the fuckers actually walked
around cleaning up the survivors of the ambush. I think we can
safely assume that they’re bad guys too.”

Travis grunted. At least there would be less
of an enemy to confront.

“Are they on their way?”

“Yeah. They’re heading straight for
you.”

“Roger, out.”

Cowboy shook his head. The
last thing he’d expected to see on his training tour was a full-out
battle on American soil.
I might have to
stick around these SSI boys
, mused the
mustachioed pilot.

+++

The snowmobiles were just coming into
view.

“Take out the lead vehicle,” Travis
whispered to the sniper lying next to him.

The expert killer took one last breath and
pulled the trigger of his Barrett M107.50 Caliber rifle. Travelling
at over 2,800 feet per second, the bullet pierced the lead
vehicle’s engine and the vehicle sputtered to a stop. A second
later, the small convoy stopped right where Travis had wanted. The
SSI operators quickly surrounded the three vehicles.

“Drop your weapons!” Dunn commanded.

None of the masked riders complied.

“I said drop your weapons!”

Without warning, one of the snowmobiles
gunned its engine and sped off around the others. Travis noted that
it was the only one towing some sort of elongated sled. As if on
cue, the rest of the riders moved to fire their weapons at Travis’s
men. The SSI team didn’t hesitate. Before the Pakistanis could
fire, each man already had in excess of twenty rounds in them.

Travis turned to the sniper who’d stayed
next to him in the fray.

“You think you can take out that snowmobile
that took off?” asked Travis

“I’ll try.”

Through his Leupold scope, the sniper tried
to find his target in the darkness. In daylight or properly set up,
it might’ve been an easy shot. With darkness limiting his scope’s
night vision enhanced range, he would be much less accurate. To
make matters worse, whoever was driving the thing knew how to
maneuver to avoid being shot.

Travis’s sniper exhaled and pulled the
trigger.

“Hit,” he announced, continuing to look
through his scope. Despite being hit, the vehicle was still moving.
Just as he lined up for another shot, the enemy disappeared into
the night.

“What happened?” asked Travis.

“I hit the damn thing, sir, but it’s still
moving.”

“It’s okay, O’Brian. We’ll have the C-130
keep tabs on it.”

Travis went to key his headset when the
sniper added, “I think I detached that sled it was pulling,
sir.”

Travis looked up. “Let’s go take a
look.”

He turned to find that Dunn was approaching.
“O’Brian said he might’ve knocked that sled thing off. You wanna
come take a look with me?”

“Sure.”

“Can we borrow that last snowmobile?”

“Negative, Skipper. I just checked and it’s
dead. We must’ve hit it when we took the bad guys out.”

“Then I guess we’re huffin’ it. Let’s grab a
couple guys and go.”

Dunn nodded and went to fetch some men.

I wonder where the hell
Neil is
, thought Travis, as he
waited.

+++

Benjamin cursed his luck as he pushed the
crippled snowmobile to its limit. Not only had he and his men been
ambushed themselves, somehow whoever had attacked them had managed
to shoot the hitch connecting the vehicle to the sled holding his
masters’ prize.

There was nothing he could do now. Benjamin
put his head down and continued his reckless retreat down the
mountain.