Operation Date With Destiny (13 page)

He was huddled in the corner, and as she approached, he yelled and flinched away.
“
Jackson—it
’
s me. We
’
re getting you out of here.
”

As he turned towards her she bit back a startled gasp when she saw the amount of swelling and
the
bruises that covered his young face. He could only open one eye—the other
was
swollen shut.

“
Jackson?
”
Destiny spoke again and became alarmed when she
realized
her brother didn
’
t even appear to
recognize
her.
“
What
’
s wrong with him?
”

Maloney knelt down beside them, tossing his head in the direction of the door.
“
Keep watch—I
’
m just gonna
’
check him over real fast before we move him.
”

It was difficult to drag her attention from her little brother long enough to
provide rear security
, but she did it—only because there was no other choice
.
“
Maloney
?
What have they done?
”
she demanded when the medic straightened, slinging his rifle over his shoulder to pick up the young teen, and hoist him over his shoulder.

“
Looks like they
’
ve drugged him. He
’
ll be okay—I
’
ll get a better diagnose once we get him out of here. Move—I
’
ve got him.
”

Drugged him?
Destiny stared at her brother and felt a red tide of blinding rage course through her veins.
He was just a kid!

“
Lieutenant!
”
Maloney said snapping her from her stupor, the tone and address catching her attention.
Damn it—focus! You
’
re not out of this yet...not by a long shot,
she told herself firmly. Carefully poking her head around the corner of the doorway, she waved Maloney forward
,
moving ahead of him, gun at the ready and eyes darting ahead of their position steadily.

Pressing her fingers to the throat mic around her neck she quickly and quietly warned the others they were on their way out.

“
Roger that,
”
Tate
’
s deep voice came back in her earpiece.

Every now and then she threw a glance back at Maloney and checked on his progress. The extra weight wasn
’
t slowing him down too much, and she admired his calm, composure that only a true professional could achieve under pressure.
Speaking of professional,
she thought as she scanned the courtyard they were about to emerge from. She
’
d heard Johnny a few times over the mic as they
’
d searched for Jackson—but then he
’
d become quiet.
“
You Okay
Tupperoni
?
”

For a minute there was only silence
,
then in her ear she heard that soft drawl that even under fire—managed to curl her toes. Damn him.
“
Is that concern I hear
,
Ma
’
am?
”

Destiny grit
ted
her teeth and wished she
’
d kept her mouth shut now that she knew he was alright.
“
Just making sure you
’
re
doing your job, Gunnery
S
ergeant. Don
’
t shoot us on the way out—we
’
re coming through,
”
she all but barked and ignored his overly polite,
Aye Aye.

God damn cocky Marines
, she thought irritated that he could fill her with such conflicting emotions with a simple word or two.

She waited until Maloney had stopped behind her, tapping her shoulder so she knew when he was ready, and they broke cover, hunched low and ran for the archway leading out of the compound.

Suddenly all hell broke loose around them. In her ear
,
orders were being yelled above the noise of gun fire
and Maloney
and Destiny hunkered down behind the nearest vehicle to reassess what the next step
would be
.

Over her earpiece she heard Del and Tate piece together their
own
situation
as a
sudden influx of armed men
were
moving in from the rear of the compound
cutting them off
.

“
Where the
hell are
Ponleu and his men?
”
She heard Del snap out
,
sounding controlled, but understandably tense.

Destiny frowned as she did a quick scan of the immediate area she could see and found no sign of Pon or any of his men.
“
They were supposed to be
watching the rear,
”
she heard Johnny
say and by the sound of his heavy breathing he was making his way—fast
,
from another position to help out his now trapped friends.
Damn it,
she thought angrily
,
Pon was
supposed to be getting that evidence!

“
Maloney, we
’
ve got a clear path
to the
tree line
—you take Jackson out of here and see what you can do for him—I
’
m going to go back and help the others,
”
she said,
then
without giving him time to object,
sprinted off, making her way to the next wall and slipping around it to take up a position where she could cut a path out for Tate and Del.

In her ear she heard Maloney swearing, soon followed by Tupper yelling at her.
“
Get your ass back to the tree line, woman and let Maloney take care of
t
his.
”

“
Negative. I can
’
t carry Jackson that far and it
’
s too late—I
’
m already in position. So quit your bitchin
’
and let
’
s get this done, shall we gentlemen?
”

“
I can
’
t get a good visual on what we
’
ve got—but there
’
s a shit load of them out there,
”
Del said.

“
I can move to a better spot—hang tight till I get into position.
”
She made herself as small a target as possible and ran across to the corner of the house, pulling her gun up as she took a careful look before slipping around. The gunfire was louder here and she could see the two Marines more or less trapped behind a low stone wall in front of the large shed where the drug lab seemed to be
centered
. Gunfire rained down on them from a line of fifteen men,
who seemed
armed to the teeth. They weren
’
t military or police—that much was obvious, so they had to be Rothman
’
s employees.

“
Okay—I count fifteen unfriendlies and you
’
re right—you two are pretty much hemmed in there.
”

She saw Tate and Del glance over, locating her position
.

“
Hold tight guys, I
’
m almost in position,
”
Johnny
’
s
voice came over the mic.

“
What do you want me to do?
”
Destiny asked
,
looking at Tate and Del.

“
Nothing! Just stay where you are—or better yet—get the hell outta
’
there,
”
Johnny cut in again.

“
Think I
’
ll just wait here—these guys are going to need me to lay some
ground fire
when they make a run for it,
”
she said calmly.

“
You and I are going to have a serious talk about following God damn or
ders when we get out of this,
”
Johnny
growled into the mic.

“
Would you stop your whining and take some of these guys out so we can get outta
’
here?
”

He didn
’
t bother answering, instead a succession of gunshots came from high above on the ridge above the compound and the line of men began to quickly fall. The guy was good—she had to give him that. She knew snipers were all about precision, timing and concealment and Johnny Tupperoni was certainly proving that now.

The men shooting were suddenly confused by their comrades dropping beside them and searching wildly for the source of the gunfire with little success. Their line fell apart and they began to scatter—most dropping back but a few ran towards the house.

“
If you guys are going to move—now might be a good time,
”
Destiny advised, keeping her eye on the three men closest to her.

“
We
’
re gonna
’
head over to your position. You two keep em
’
busy,
”
Tate ordered, as he and Del prepared to run from behind the wall.

“
Watch those three on your side, I
’
ve got the others
,
”
s
he heard Johnny say in her ear and she trained her weapon on the men–keeping a steady round of fire over their heads to stop them getting off any shots while th
e two Marines ran to her side. Then t
ogether the three of them backed away from their position and
headed for the
tree line
outside the walls of the
compound.

They headed into the dense jungle, keeping an eye on the remaining gunmen, as they waited for Johnny to catch up to them.

Destiny knelt by her brother
’
s head and stroked the matted hair off his forehead gently.
“
What did they give him?
”
she asked Maloney in a low tone. He seemed so still and pale, it
momentarily
scared away her initial anger.

“
Don
’
t know—but it probably wasn
’
t anything legal—my guess is they kept him quiet by giving him whatever the hell they were making in that shed.
”

The thought of anyone injecting her brother with God only knew what chemical
cocktail
they were experimenting with in that damn drug lab made her feel sick to the stomach. They had no idea how much he
’
d had or what it may have done to him.

****

“
Here comes Tupp
,
”
h
e heard
Del announce, moments before the man in question emerged from the foliage.

“
Everyone okay?
”
Tupper
asked but his gaze rested on Destiny who only managed a quick nod in the affirmative before her gaze returned back to the kid on the ground
lying
way too still.
“
We better move out, there
’
s a small party on our tail and the chopper won
’
t be too far away.
”

Maloney extracted a foldable stretcher from his pack and between the men—they carried Jackson out of the jungle and back towards the village.

“
Did you see any sign of Pon and his guys while you were up there?
”
Destiny asked dropping back to speak to him quietly.

“
Nope. Not a sign.
”