The Zimmer Doctrine (Corps Justice Book 11) (17 page)

Chapter 33

Great Sale Cay

The Bahamas

August 29th, 8:52pm

The gusts had batted them around since takeoff. More than one of the TJG warriors in the back had availed himself of the conveniently placed barf bags. It was the worst conditions Benny Fletcher had ever flown in, and that was saying something based on his thousands of hours in the air.

“Island in sight,” he announced to the Powers brothers. Johnny Powers was in the co-pilot's seat.

It took Johnny a second to find the island with his night vision.

“Got it,” he said. “What are you aiming for?”

Benny laughed. “Whatever’s biggest.”

Another torrent of wind buffeted them left and the Pave Low lost altitude. Benny muscled it back, the veins in his neck bulging as he tried to get them back on course. When he did, he glanced over at Johnny who gave him a thumbs-up. There had been a lot of thumbs-up since they’d taken off from Freeport. Both pilots knew they’d need all the luck they could muster, and if a thumbs-up helped bolster their chances, then thumbs-up were free for the day.

Benny could make out the house now. There were spotlights and most of the windows were illuminated. He decided to steer clear just in case another gust of wind blew them into the impressive structure.

And that's when he saw the flashes from the ground. The glass in front of his eyes splintered. Muscle memory kicked in and he banked right, away from the mansion and away from the gunfire. He couldn’t hear it, but he could imagine that whoever was down there was probably putting holes all over the big bird.

“We’ve got one hit in the back,” Jim Powers’s voice said over the radio.

“All systems green,” Johnny Powers announced.

At least there was that, and now they knew what they were getting into. There’d been the conversation before lift off when the TJG team leader asked the pilots if they knew what the threat might be. Johnny Powers had shrugged and said, “If it shoots at us, we shoot back.”

With that question answered, Benny imagined the boys in the back were clutching their weapons tight. Now, if he could only get them on the ground.

+++

Baxter watched as the Pave Low banked away from the house, and he marveled as the tracers from his crack security team streaked into the sky. They were the best. Some were French Foreign Legion, and the others came from a combination of special forces and high-level police forces, similar to American SWAT teams. There were only ten men total, but they knew every inch of the island as well as the Baxter complex.

Baxter smiled and looked down at his desk. There was an old-fashioned meter that looked like a thermometer, except it had dark-blue liquid, and it was almost to the top. In another minute or two, he would press the button at the bottom of the meter.

He looked over at Perlstein who was trying to sober up with a cup of coffee.

“You look worried, Efraim. Is the coffee not helping?”

Perlstein scowled. “I thought you said they couldn’t get to the island.”

Baxter shrugged. “It wasn’t a certainty but now that they’re here, why not let my men have a little fun?”

Perlstein didn’t reply. He was a politician, not a warrior. He didn’t understand the thrill of the hunt. He’d never experienced the adrenaline rush of seeing a man die. It was what man was built for - war. Baxter’s family had been fighting wars since his ancestors first stepped foot on the island of Great Britain. It was what they’d been bred for and it was how they raised their children.

Yes, it was good to purge the needs from his blood. Baxter just wished he could look into the eyes of the dying men before they plunged to their deaths.

+++

They were all treading water now. Cal was trying his best to keep both his and Liberty’s heads above water. The dog didn’t struggle. That made things easier, but it still kept Cal’s hands full. He couldn’t let her go.

There was maybe a foot of air left between his head and the ceiling. They were all searching in vain for a way out. Luckily, no one was panicking. Even Maya was swimming back and forth, her strokes strong as she tried to pry another air vent open.

Then something changed. It took Cal a couple seconds to figure out what it was. The water. He no longer felt the rush of the spouts on his bare feet.

“The water’s off,” he said, the room was now eerily quiet except for the sound of lapping water.

“Is that it?” Neil asked, clutching onto the wooden sofa he’d been sitting on minutes before.

No one said a word as they listened. Nothing. Not a sound. Liberty whined for the first time since the water had entered the room. Then Cal heard a squeal, like a huge rusted door creaking open.

“Shit!” Gaucho cried out. He was the closest one to the window.

Cal’s eyes widened when he saw what his friend had noticed. There was a crack at the top of the window, like it had somehow folded down. It remained that way for a moment with everyone staring at the only thing keeping them from plunging off the cliff and into the agitating water below.

Then, without warning, the entire windowed wall folded outward into the night sky, and Cal and his friends were flushed out of the flooded room into the hurricane-whipped sea.

+++

It seemed like every warning light in the cockpit was going off.

“We’re losing her,” Johnny said.

Benny was trying to bring the bird back around. The bastards on the ground had gotten off a couple of lucky shots, but that hadn’t been the worst of it. The TJG warriors had gotten lucky when the island defenders decided to launch an anti-air missile their way. At that range, it should’ve been a direct hit. Benny knew that from painful experience. But the storm must have done something to the missile because they only got a glancing blow from the projectile. It managed to severely damage the Pave Low, but at least for the moment they were still in the air.

He couldn’t see anything with the wind kicking up debris all over the ground. It looked like something out of a post-apocalyptic movie where a nuclear blast scorched everything in its path. Benny had to find a place to land, but where?

“Tail rotor’s going down,” Johnny said. Benny already felt it. The control felt heavy, like the steering fluid going out of a car. She wasn’t responding to his gifted touch anymore.

Benny gritted his teeth then said, “I’m taking her in.” Then he aimed for the only thing he could, the only beacon that any sane person would avoid at all costs. With a grunt and a mighty push on the controls, Benny took her down.

+++

Baxter frowned when he lost sight of the helicopter. He’d so been enjoying the scene unfold. It was a good thing he’d outfitted his men with anti-air capabilities. When his security chief had asked about them, Baxter had calmly explained that if he wanted the island to one day be a fortress they should start with the right weaponry to defend against an assault.

Now he wished they’d installed heavy machine guns on the roof, but that wouldn’t be proper considering the clientele he brought to the island.

As he got closer to the twelve-inch thick glass, he got his answer. The building shuddered despite its fortress-like construction. The lights flickered.

“They crashed onto the roof,” Baxter said, admiring the daring. Maybe it was time to leave.

“Efraim, grab your things.”

“Where are we going?”

“Somewhere safe. Come, we’ll get Dr. Nahas on our way.”

“What about Hannah?”

Baxter thought about it for a moment. “Leave her. If she survives, we can always come back and fetch her.”

They hurriedly departed the room and passed Baxter’s armed men sprinting for the roof. Baxter wished them luck as they ran by. It wasn't that he cared; it was what he paid them for after all. But it was the polite thing to do.

Chapter 34

Great Sale Cay

The Bahamas

August 29th, 9:01pm

Cal’s legs kicked furiously as he tried to stay vertical. It helped, but it couldn’t stop him from face planting in the water, the jolt feeling more like a smack on concrete. He plunged deep, the water around him swirling angrily like he’d jumped into a pool full of gigantic eels.

Somehow he’d held onto Liberty but she felt lifeless in his arms. Cal didn’t have time to think about that as he pushed for the surface with one arm while he kicked mightily with his legs. His face broke through the water's surface and, as he was taking a long breath of air, a wave slammed into him forcing water down his aching throat.

Up he bobbed again and this time his bearings were better. He had to stay away from the cliff lest he be crashed against the sheer wall. Liberty moved, then squirmed in his grasp. He held her tight as he sidestroked away from shore. His mind searched for a way to shore. He should have paid more attention when they’d flown in. Suddenly, he recalled the map they’d looked at in Charleston and he knew where to go.

He called out every few seconds as he swam, the stamina from miles and miles of ocean swims over the previous months keeping him going. Finally, he heard someone. He swam towards the voice and found Neil and Jonas clutching the wooden sofa.

“Are you okay?” Cal called over the screaming wind.

“I’m okay,” Jonas said.

“Got a little banged up, but I’m okay,” said Neil.

“We need to go that way,” Cal yelled, pointing down the coastline.

The others nodded and began kicking that way.

Cal kept going, still calling out to his other missing friends. No one answered as they swam further, every inch a tortuous task as they were slammed time and time again by the raging sea.

+++

Hannah sat on the edge of her bed, listening. Ever since the conversation with Chance Baxter, she’d been locked in her room waiting for word. Would Baxter go back on his word and kill her? Where was Maya? How could she use Baxter’s altered plan to her advantage?

Then the sounds came. First came the clicking and the scraping sounds like mechanical robots preparing for battle. She thought she’d heard water like a giant toilet being filled, but she couldn't be sure. Then the lights in the room had gone off and the emergency red light in the corner snapped on.

There was an alarm going off somewhere nearby. She could only hope it wasn’t a fire. As deep as she was in the complex, she would be burned alive for sure.

So she waited and she listened, hoping for an answer.

+++

They’d come down hard. So hard that Benny was surprised to see that they hadn’t taken more of the building with the crash. The guys in the back had taken the brunt of the crash. Two suffered broken legs, one was unconscious, and one was dead.

Despite the casualties, the rest of the men were all business, already having secured the perimeter of the crash site.

Jim Powers came into the cockpit cradling an automatic weapon. He looked every bit the Marine he was.
Every Marine is a rifleman
, he remembered hearing once. Benny wished he were as comfortable around firearms as Jim. His gift was flying, not shooting.

“We’re going in,” Jim said.

“You too?”

“I’ll let the pros take the lead, but I’ll bring up the rear. You think you can hold things down here?”

“Yeah.”

Jim nodded and went to join the others. That left Benny in the cockpit of a destroyed Pave Low, wondering what the hell he would do with his pitiful pistol should the defenders make their way up to the roof.

+++

Benny shouldn’t have worried. TJG operators, despite the heavy fall, were superbly trained and well armed. Plus, they held the high ground, something the defenders hadn’t anticipated. So, when Baxter’s men tried to ambush them at the first stairwell TJG men ripped through them. Their anger at being downed, the thought of their fallen comrades, and the hope that Cal and the others were still alive fueled the warriors.

They only stopped long enough to make sure the defenders were dead and to pick up a couple extra flash-bang grenades along the way. With their first obstacle obliterated, they moved quickly but carefully, clearing rooms as they went. Further into the complex they went room by room and floor by floor.

+++

Baxter entered his ten-digit pin and the pneumatic door opened. Inside was a padded room with a simple array of technology on one corner. The room was fifteen by fifteen and included a row of four padded chairs on one side, each adorned with matching harnesses.

“What is this place?” Perlstein asked, staying in the doorway.

“It’s my safe room, of sorts.”

“Safe room? This thing won’t keep them out!” Perlstein argued, pointing back the way they’d come. He was panicking now and Baxter was getting tired of it.

“Do you want to get away or don’t you?” Baxter asked. Then his voice became calm. “Trust me, Efraim. Have I led you astray thus far?”

Perlstein glared at the billionaire but stepped into the room, followed by the less tentative Dr. Nahas. As soon as the two men entered, Baxter pressed a button and the door slid shut.

“Have a seat,” Baxter said, pointing to the harnesses. “I have some preparations and then we’ll be on our way.”

“On our way?” Perlstein was trying to strap himself in.

“Oh yes, didn’t I mention? This is an escape vessel as well. We’ll be safely off the island soon. Now buckle up. The fall isn’t far but we don’t want to hurt ourselves.”

+++

Hannah tensed when she heard a key jangling on the other side of the door. A moment later the knob turned and through the red-lit gloom she saw the the face of George, the house manager.

“Please come this way,” he said politely, apparently unfazed by all that was happening in his master’s home.

Hannah hesitated. George beckoned with his hand.

“Please, there isn’t much time, Ma’am.”

Slowly, she stood and walked to the door.

“Is he going to kill me, George? Is that lunatic going to kill me?”

George smiled up at her, his white teeth gleaming.

“Not if I can help it, Ma’am.”

And there it was again – hope. It was the only thing besides a gun to the head that could  make her move from the relative security of the room. She followed George as they went down, not up. Shouldn’t they be going to the surface, away from the house?

Hannah kept the question to herself as she followed the sure-footed servant deeper into the complex. He seemed to know exactly where he was going.

+++

Jim and Johnny Powers followed the TJG team at a safe distance. It wasn’t that they couldn’t take care of themselves. They'd both shot their first .22 at the age of five, but they were not trained in urban combat like the men taking the lead. They watched in amazement as Cal’s men tore through the house defenders. It shouldn’t have surprised them, but the brothers had never seen the boys in action.

Down they went, further and further into the expansive complex. They felt it when they were below ground. It was colder and almost smelled like the bowels of a ship. From time to time they would surprise some of the household staff.

No one knew if Baxter’s servants were in the know, so the operators zip-tied their hands to the nearest piece of heavy furniture and then moved on. It was the best they could do. They couldn’t take prisoners with them. It would slow them down, and speed was imperative.

+++

Cal’s bare feet touched coral and he knew they’d made it. He still couldn’t see the shoreline, but he knew it was there. If the raging waves couldn’t stop them, a short swim to land wasn’t going to either.

A short time later they’d made it, but the near hurricane-force winds still made it almost impossible to stand. They moved from tree to tree, taking whatever cover they could. Flying palm branches slashed his face and Cal could barely see through the blinding and screeching winds.

But they kept going if for no other reason than to find shelter. Not knowing if his friends had survived drove Cal to continue moving against the tempest. That, along with the knowledge that something could yet be done to rid the world of Chance Baxter.