Solemn Duty (1997) (41 page)

He shifted his eyes to the three waiting men. The man in the center looked like a movie star rather than a killer. He was thin but broad-shouldered, and unlike the others, his eyes were round. But it was his high cheekbones and strong jaw that would have made him stand out in a crowd. Eli continued walking, looking into the man's eyes, and knew he'd been wrong--the man was a killer, it was in his eyes, locked on Robert Anderson.

"Stop here, both of you," Kenny said Anderson suddenly recognized the good-looking man. "My God . . . Frenchy?"

Jean Paul ignored Anderson and shifted his gaze to Eli. "It is a pleasure to finally meet you, Agent Tanner. You did not disappoint me. As a man of honor, I now keep my word to you."

He lifted his left hand, holding a piece of paper. Standing to the right of Devoe, Hu Nim stepped forward, took the paper from Jean Paul's hand and walked toward Eli. Stopping six paces away, he leaned over, placed the page on the ground, and retraced his steps to his position beside his leader.

Jean Paul motioned to the paper. "It is the address to where the ladies are located. You may use your cell phone and instruct your colleagues of their whereabouts. Read only what is on the paper, Agent Tanner, nothing more."

Eli took the cell phone from his waistband and walked toward the paper, once again looking at the three men, noting the two men flanking Devoe were holding 9mm pistols in their right hands but Devoe had a military style Colt .45 stuck in the waistband of his tan slacks. Eli picked up the page and pressed the keys of the cell phone.

Special Agent O'Malley answered on the first beep. "FBI

Operations."

Eli read slowly. "The missing FBI Agent Ashley Sutton and Mrs. Robert Anderson are located in a brick house in Anacostia. The address is 1861 River Lane. They will be found in a basement room. There is a simple detonation device affixed to their door that only requires the removal of the positive and negative wire leads. Call me back at the following number when the women are safe. The number is 227-144.6."

Eli lowered the phone and nodded to Devoe. "Sir, you are a man of your word. When I receive the confirmation call, I will also prove I am a man of my word." And my word is I'm going to kill you, ya sonofabitch.

Devoe dipped his chin, accepting the compliment, and shifted his eyes to Anderson. "So, Robert, after all these years, you recognize me. . . . Most in your team did not . . . I had to help them remember."

"Why did you have to kill them, Frenchy?"

"It is a matter of honor, old friend. You made promises .. . we all believed you. I am sorry Lieutenant Tram will not witness the justice that is soon to be done. I have here his pistol. It is the one you gave him before you left us. It is fitting, don't you think?"

Ramona sat erect in her seat in the operations conference room listening to the voices of the tactical team, which had just rappeled from its helicopter down onto the back lawn of the house in Anacostia.

"Team One on the ground, moving to back door of the house. Team Two cover."

"Roger One. Got you. Go."

"Clear! Inside kitchen. Team Two and Three, go!"

"Roger. Moving in now . . . We'll go left, Team Three take the right rooms."

"Roger."

"C. P., this is Team One. We see steps leading down to basement. We're going down . . . cover me. . . . I see room and door. . . . Wait, I hear a woman's voice yelling about a bomb attached to door. . . . Agent Sutton, this is Agent Nolin, we know about the bomb. Get away from the door. Sam, you have it spotted?"

"Yeah, got it right here. . . . Okay, it's simple, only two leads attached to battery. I'm going to pull red lead first . . . good... now the white . . . good! We're clear. Agent Sutton, you can get up now. Mrs. Anderson, come with me, please."

"C. P., we have ladies with us. I say again we have the ladies with us."

The deputy pushed the switch on his console, switching back to the airborne command post radio frequency, and looked at the director. "Sir, Agent O'Malley was monitoring what we just heard from the airborne C. P. He will now wait until General Walker gives him the go ahead to call Agent Tanner and confirm the ladies are safe. General Walker is waiting for Blue Flock to arrive on station. Once they arrive and begin their approach, General Walker will have Agent O'Malley make the call to Agent Tanner."

The director took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

Behind him, Ramona Valez squeezed the cross in her hand as she stared at the monitor. "Come on, Eli, I believe in you. . . . I believe."

General Walker spoke quickly into the mike. "Roger, Blue Flock Lead, I understand you and your flock are on station.

Request you take up heading zero six zero and begin attack approach immediately. We have you on our screens and will vector you to target area Target area is fourteen miles from your location and is ridge top, I say again ridge top. Please inform when ready to proceed, over."

"Delta Six, this is Flock Lead. I am banking now and taking up heading zero six zero. My flock is following. I am on course now. I am proceeding toward target, over."

"Roger, Lead. We will vector you, but right now you're looking good on our screens. My air controller will now take over for me."

Walker nodded to the Air Force controller seated in front of the monitor, who immediately switched to the command frequency and spoke into the mike. "Command, this is Delta Six.

Make the call to Tanner, now. Flock inbound, over."

In the airborne C. P., O'Malley acknowledged the general and began pressing the cell phone keys.

Kenny Chun and Kaing had both moved past Eli and Robert and were standing beside Devoe and his two bodyguards. Eli turned slightly. Just three paces to his right rear a Cambodian was holding a shotgun on him. He was about to look for the other Cambodian but his cell phone beeped.

Anderson's eyes darted to him. Eli lifted the phone, turned, and saw the other shotgun-carrying Cambodian directly behind Robert with his weapon pointed at the colonel's back.

Taking a breath, Eli answered. "Agent Tanner."

He listened for only five seconds and lowered the phone to his side as he took a step back and nodded to Jean Paul. "Mr.

Devoe, the ladies are safe. Thank you." Eli screamed at himself: Focus, focus, be ready, be ready!

Jean Paul allowed himself a smile. "You may leave now, Agent Tanner, your duty is ov-"

Jean Paul heard a high-pitched scream like nothing he'd heard before, and suddenly the ground shook and his ears seemed to explode in pain.

Eli was in motion the instant he heard the jet's approach, but still wasn't prepared for the violent ear-shattering cracking sound as the jet fighter streaked overhead just above the treetops. He winced in pain but was already on the crouching Cambodian, who, like all the others, had instinctively ducked down.

Grabbing the barrel, Eli jerked the weapon free from the stunned man, who still had his eyes closed in pain. He butt stroked the man across the face just as another jet swooshed over just above the treetops at over five hundred miles per hour.

Again the ground rumbled and the shattering, cracking sound reverberated in his head as Eli swung around, pointed the barrel at the crouching man behind Anderson, and fired. Half the man's head disappeared. Screaming to alleviate his pain, Eli jacked in another round, leveled the barrel at his next target and fired. He took another step as he pumped and fired, working right to left on the targets as yet another jet screamed over.

Having seen two of his men propelled backward by the shotgun blasts, Hu Nim grabbed Devoe's arm and pulled him back. He fired his pistol as fast as he could pull the trigger.

Eli was spun around by the impact of a bullet that passed through his left bleep. He screamed as another jet streaked over, and spun back facing Kenny, who was running toward him with his pistol raised. Eli fired, and Kenny's eyes bulged and his big hat flew off as he doubled over in midair and was flung back four feet. Unable to lift his left arm, Eli dropped the shotgun and scooped up Kenny's dropped pistol, spun and fired at the man who was already firing his Mac 10 submachine gun at Anderson, who was trying to roll away from the small eruptions kicking up around him. Eli's bullet tore through the man's stomach, but the man kept his finger on the trigger as he staggered back. Eli charged forward, firing with each step, and finally the small Cambodian fell to the ground in a bloody heap.

Unable to hear, Eli felt the heat as the ground shook beneath his feet as yet another F-15 streaked over, causing another blizzard of falling leaves to swirl as if caught in a hurricane. He dropped to his knee, glanced over his shoulder and saw that Anderson had been stitched across the legs. The colonel's mouth was open but Eli couldn't hear what he was saying or yelling. He knew the look, however. It was fear. Eli threw himself forward and rolled just as bullets tore at the ground where he'd been. He came up in a shooter's crouch and saw Devoe and another man firing their pistols. He returned their fire and both men ducked behind the crest of the ridge. Something struck the back of Eli's foot and he glanced down. Another Sig Sauer was laying by his heel. He looked over his shoulder and saw Anderson lower his arm and fall back to the ground as if unconscious.

Eli rose up again, firing his entire magazine, then dropped down, picked up the pistol, jacked a round into the chamber, and broke into a run toward a nearby tree. Just as he'd thought they would, both men rose to fire again. Not seeing their target, they stepped forward. Eli stepped away from the tree, aimed and squeezed the trigger. The man beside Devoe jerked, staggered back, and fell to his knees. Eli moved the barrel to aim at Devoe, but Devoe fell to the ground and crawled back out of sight. Eli walked forward, leveled his pistol at the kneeling man, and fired. The bullet blew through the man's head and exited taking a portion of his skull. Devoe suddenly rose up covered in the man's blood and brain tissue and fired.

Eli jerked from the bullet's impact but remained on his feet and continued walking forward, pulling the trigger. "Die, die, die, die!" he screamed.

Jean Paul was thrown back against a tree trunk by the first bullet's blow to his chest and jerked spasmodically with each additional strike. He began sliding down the trunk, but his shirt collar caught on a knot.

Eli staggered forward, and the empty pistol dropped from his hand. Barely able to stand, he looked into Jean Paul's eyes.

"You-You bastard, die."

Jean Paul's eyes lingered on Eli for a moment before shifting to Anderson's still body. Blood dribbled from his mouth as he spoke in a wheezing whisper. "It is over." He tried to lift his trembling hand to his blood-soaked shirt, but too weak, his hand fell back to his side.

Eli blinked to keep the blood running down his forehead out of his eyes. With a shaking hand he reached out, lifted the dying man's gold chain and placed the ivory Buddha between Devoe's trembling lips. His knees weakening, Eli sank to his knees and fell forward into a golden pool of light. Incredibly tired, he couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. The pain suddenly subsided as he sank further down into the cold darkness.

In the airborne command post O'Malley sat with his eyes closed, listening to the strike leader's heavy breathing as he ran from the helicopter with his detachment. "We're seventy five . . . meters clear of bird and . . . running toward ridge .. .

We . . . we . . . are . . . receiving no fire. . . . We're entering tree line . . . going up ridge . . . still no incoming fire. . . We're almost . . . on top. . . . Jesus H. Christ . . . all targets are down .

I say again, all down . . . We're looking for ... I see one friendly down here. Need medic ASAP . . . We're looking for other one . . . Found him . . . He's down too . . . everybody down .. . need medic . . . I say again need medic, all targets and friendlies are down."

FBI Headquarters The helicopter settled onto the roof pad and the chopper's door slid back. Ashley jumped down and ran straight to the steps leading to the doorway. Four minutes later she pushed open the operations conference room door and saw everyone in the room sitting, staring at a large black speaker on a table beside a huge television screen filled with a computerized map display. She turned, saw a friendly face, and strode to Ramona, who like the others was staring at the speaker. Suddenly, a voice came over the speaker.

"Delta Six, this is the strike leader. Medics are working on friendlies at this time. Preliminary report is as follows. Colonel Anderson received multiple gunshot wounds to lower legs but is stable. Agent Tanner received gunshot wound to left arm and forehead. Head wound is not serious, I say again not serious, it appears bullet grazed him. He is unconscious at this time but he is stable. Report on terrorists is as follows: five dead, two wounded. Both wounded are stable. Be advised an eighth terrorist was spotted by scout bird and neutralized on adjoining ridge to our west. Terrorist is confirmed KIA. Strike force casualties are one twisted ankle. We are moving wounded to birds now, over."

Ashley stood frozen in place as the deputy flipped the switch on his console and the static coming from the speaker ceased.

He stood and faced the director. "Sir, I believe this operation is over. Devoe and his men are no longer a threat."

Chapter 22.

Walter Reed U. S. Army Hospital, Washington, D. C.

With a shopping bag at her feet and a bandage around her forehead, Ashley leaned against the wall of the emergency room's waiting area. Brad Brewer pushed through the crowd of agents and reporters, entered the small room and walked straight up to her with a lopsided smile. "Agent Sutton, I have good news for you-he's fine, can't hear very well, but he was on his feet when I saw him ten minutes ago. I told him the good news about Anderson's condition not being life threatening.