The Protector (19 page)

Jazz wiped the sweat from his brow with the back of his hand. Adjusting his mike, he said quietly, “We’re ready, over.”

“What’s the delay time before detonation, over?” Hawk asked from the lookout point.

“Five minutes.” He would light the fuse only when Hawk gave the signal. “Has she called yet?”

“Negative, over.”

He needed to talk to her. Where the hell was she? He had the whole thing orchestrated and he needed everyone to be exactly where he wanted them so they could “play off the same sheet of music,” as covert operatives would say.

“We have hours yet. Quit worrying,” Hawk continued.

“You’re pretty confident about someone you never worked with and a team you never saw, bud.” It was totally unlike Hawk.

“The admiral assured me she has run teams before and I’ll take the big man’s word. And being that she has run teams, she would know to communicate her plans to me. It’s a tough call. I know it, you know it. She knows it.”

Jazz understood the meaning behind Hawk’s words. It was because she was a female. There had never been a woman in the teams. Neither he nor his teammates had ever worked with one during a battle before. As coleader, he had to express any discomfort by his team, even if it was against the woman in whom he was interested. And he knew his guys were concerned, more so than Hawk’s men. The latter had, as Hawk had pointed out earlier, seen another GEM operative in action a couple of months ago.

“Jazz, I’ve already said the same things you’re thinking of. You can tell your guys over the mike what Mad Dog said to me.”

“What’s that?” Jazz knew his men would accept Admiral Madison’s instructions unconditionally. Each of them had been hand-picked by the admiral to be in the STAR Force black operations SEAL teams. Every one of them would lay their lives down for their hero and role model.

“When he had told me that a woman was going to be in joint mission with us
and
running a team, I said, ‘I’ll believe that when I see it.’”

“That sounds like you,” Jazz agreed. “And?”

“And Mad Dog said, ‘You’ll see it when you believe it.’” There was total silence before Hawk continued, “Well, shit, that was exactly how I reacted.”

“What were you hoping for—some snide remark?” Jazz countered wryly.

“To the admiral? Nope. I just said, ‘Yes, sir,’ but hey, now that I’ve met our Vivi, I think she can handle it.”

“You think? And what do you mean
our
Vivi?”

Hawk chuckled. “You’re so fucking easy, you know that?”

“Boys, do you know all your channels are pretty much accessible to Satellite’s controls?” Vivi’s voice suddenly popped up. “Please click on channel three so we can have a private conversation, hmm?”

Ah shit. Jazz scratched his stubble. He clicked on the secured channel. “How long were you there listening in, Satellite?”

“Long enough, Lieutenant,” she said noncommittally. “Let’s do a quick run through of what your team is planning to do, shall we?”

“Where are you now?” Jazz asked.

“On the way, of course. Not soon enough to sit around and catch up. It’s best we conference while I’m traveling towards you.” She didn’t interrupt as Hawk laid out what they had planned. Jazz noted that his present location had been omitted by his friend. When Hawk finished, Vivi continued, “We’re in luck. From satellite reviews, we can see that Dilaver is in the third truck with the weapons trailer and the one with the girls is the fourth. He hasn’t changed trucks more than twice and
when he did, he prefers those two trucks, protected from any attack that way. So if things stay the course, the first two convoys are all yours.”

“How many on your team, Vivi?” Jazz asked. He wanted to know how many would be on that one side of the river.

“My men are the ones you saw in the compound.”

“That’s about a dozen,” Hawk asserted.

A dozen. With his set charges and the surprise element, her dozen might be able to take out twenty, maybe thirty men. But there was still the trailer with the women. “How are you going to secure the women?” Jazz asked.

There was a very slight pause. “I can’t risk Dilaver or any of his men to take off with the girls, so my main concern will be their safety. You won’t detonate the bridge until I signal Hawk and Hawk signals you.”

“What are you planning to do?”

“You need a certain amount of distance between the first group of vehicles and the second. The longer the better so you can bring that bridge down and not have the girls’ trailer too close to the explosives, right?”

“Yes,” Jazz said.

“My team will make sure there is enough of a distance.”

“Are you initiating the first attack?”

“Just look for my signal as the convoy appears. This mike is coming in clear, isn’t it?”

“Vivi, don’t change the subject.” Jazz wished he could say more but Hawk was listening and he didn’t want to make it too personal. “I need to know how far away your team is going to be in the kill zone.”

“We’ll be right smack in the middle of it, Jazz. There’s no other way.”

He had a few choice words to say about that plan. “Stay out of the ditches,” he advised instead. “They’re rigged.”

“Anywhere else?” She was cool and businesslike whereas he was sweating bullets at the thought of her out there. She was driving him nuts and she didn’t even know it. “Give me the coordinates. I’ll make sure my men know this.”

Jazz had no choice. He did so curtly and still left out the part about his current location. If she needed backup, he would be there. That was all there was to it.

“Ten-four. Got it all. Thank you, Lieutenants. Hawk?”

“Yes, ma’am?”

“It’s a matter of faith. If you wait till you see before you believe, then there is no faith.”

“Ah. NOPAIN shit from the admiral. I should have known.”

Jazz didn’t understand what the hell they were talking about. But before he could ask, Vivi said his name softly. His whole body responded to that one word.

“Jazz?”

“Yes?” he said. She had called him by his name. Did she know that?

“Be careful out there.” She had lowered her voice.

“Yeah.” He wanted to say so much more. “You, too.”

She clicked off so quickly, he wasn’t sure she heard him.

Jazz wanted to slam his fist on something hard to vent his frustration. He waited for a moment before asking, “What’s NOPAIN, Hawk?”

“NOPAIN is what she did with that last sentence. She made you think of something else, didn’t she? It’s a GEM thing and I ain’t talking anymore with her listening in. Hell, next she’ll ask whether Cumber’s finished jerking off. Will reconnect in zero-five hundred hours.”

“Yeah.” Jazz leaned back, a smile forming in the dark. She had called him by his name. That meant she did care. If that was NOPAIN or whatever, then she had succeeded.

Tomorrow they were going to face a small army. It wasn’t going to be the cake walk they had originally planned. But as they like to say at BUD/S: The only easy day was yesterday.

The distant low rumble of vehicles was heard first.
Jazz raised his head.

“Target sighted.”

“All operatives acknowledge positions.”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

“Here, sir!”

“Five vehicles, distance apart thirty meters, maybe forty. Jazz?”

“I’m ready. Distance between first group and second group of targets?” That was the key element to the first part of their operation.

“Stand by for confirmation. Unclear for now. Stand by.”

“Confirm stand by.”

“Men, we don’t need to be selective if Dilaver remains on the other side of the bridge. All targets are expendable on our side.”

“Aye, aye, sir!”

“Give or take, fifteen minutes. Lock and load.”

Jazz didn’t need to be there to know what Hawk and the other members of his team were doing. They were in the trees, the bushes, behind a log, bellying the ground. They had their weapons on, in front of, and beside them. Their eyes were focused ahead on the curiously silent bridge while
their ears were alert for the patrol leader’s signal. Six SEALs carried a
lot
of firepower, and he had every confidence that they could take care of two or three dozen hostiles on their side of the river.

On this side of the bridge, they had watched Vivi’s men arriving the night before and had made note of where they were situated. He didn’t want to think about Vivi out there, too.

He signaled to Cucumber, the big operator who had chosen to cross over here with him. They had the big task of timing. Timing was everything. One second too early and the targets might get warned; one too late and the wrong people might be targeted.

Cucumber gave the thumbs-up and started to belly-crawl up the muddy banks, slithering like one big snake that just happened to have a massive weapon. Jazz moved to his position, ready for the signal to blast the bridge down. They had chosen a higher place to hide out so they could see where the targets scattered at the first explosion. Easier to pick them off.

“Oh hell.”

“What is it, Joker?”

“Nine o’clock, over the bridge. What the fuck is that?” It took a lot to surprise Joker. Jazz turned in that direction.

“Do you see what I see?”

“Jazz? Confirm sighting. Nine o’clock, about one hundred meters—”

“I see her, Hawk.” He squinted his eyes. Her hair color was darker, but he would recognize that walk anywhere. “She’s not alone.”

“I believe that’s the cavalry for your side, Team One.”

“Yeah, but what the fuck is she doing strolling her way toward us?” Cucumber chimed in from his end. “With goats.”

There were several repetitions to confirm that last observation.

“Goats?”

“With what?”

“I see goats. Lots of goats.”

“Oh hell. That’s the cavalry?”

“Lock and load, men,” Hawk repeated quietly.

Jazz clicked on channel three. “What’s she up to, Hawk? Over.”

“We continue as planned. I’m waiting for her comm signal. She’ll notify me when it’s time. Wait for my signal, over.”

“She’s going to walk into the kill zone with goats.” He was going to kill her, if she survived.

“Got to admit it’s a good distraction, buddy. Her team is out there somewhere.” There was a pause. “I’m checking with the viewfinder. At her speed, she will make it here just in time for the convoy’s arrival. Our girl has good timing.”

Jazz ignored the admiration in his friend’s voice. “Our girl won’t have a neck left when I’m done with her. She didn’t say goats last night.”

“You didn’t say where you were last night either. Are you ready, Jazz?”

His mind was on a woman walking into a trap he had set up. Of course he was ready. He had a job to do and he had better get it done right. He smacked at the channel buttons.

“Cumber! Lock and load.”

“Waiting for signal for my side of the ditch, sir. By the way, tell Vivi, nice outfit.”

Jazz snuck a glance with his scope. The woman was…he shook his head. She was close enough to be seen by anyone within firing range, she and her damn goats, moving up from the banks of the river as if they were coming back from their usual watering hole. And her bright flowery top stuck to her body as if she had just taken a bath—like all the local women in the countryside tended to do—right in the river.

“First target vehicle rounding the bend.”

“Second target vehicle sighted.”

The “girl” and her goats moved up the dirt road, seemingly oblivious to the danger ahead, busy with her stick and her dogs, herding the noisy animals. The first vehicle slowed
and passed her. She didn’t pay any attention, yelling at the animals to move out of the way.

“First target moving toward bridge, over. I can see the driver on his cell or walkie-talkie,” Hawk informed over the mike. “He might be saying something about our girl because I can see the hostile on the passenger side glancing back.”

Dust kicked up from the first vehicle obscured Vivi for a moment and Jazz’s hand tightened around the scope as he watched her cough. The second vehicle passed by, swerving awfully close to her as she tried to keep control of her herd. She looked up, as if suddenly realizing that there was yet another truck heading her way and that she wouldn’t be able to dodge dust and keep her animals safe for too long.

“First vehicle on bridge. Second vehicle moving toward bridge. Definitely talking about our girl and her goats. Stand by for signal, Team Two.”

“Standing and Ready,” Jazz said, giving the STAR Force motto. Everything and everyone seemed to be holding its collective breath, just waiting for that one moment in time when hell let loose. Vivi’s colorful blouse stood out against the dirty browns around her and he knew that all eyes—the men in the trucks and those hidden—were on her, as she had planned.

“Third vehicle sighted. Second vehicle still heading toward bridge. I can see the targets looking out of the trucks, sir.”

“Wait for diversion. Stand by for signal, repeat, stand by.”

The third vehicle closed in on the girl. By now the goats were wandering out into its way and she threw her stick at the oncoming truck in frustration, putting up her hand in the universal gesture for it to halt. The stick landed right on the hood and bounced against the windshield. When the truck didn’t stop, she defiantly stood in its path, hands on her hip, glaring at the truck.

“Jaysus!”

Jazz ignored the mutters coming through his helmet inter
com as he held his breath. If Dilaver didn’t stop…for the first time in his career, he was considering leaving his post here and instead picking up his weapon and aiming…

“Target two right at bridge. Stand by for signal, Team Two.”

“Standing and Ready,” Jazz’s reply was automatic, spoken through gritted teeth, even though he was still staring at the oncoming third vehicle. His thoughts whizzed in his head with the speed of a fastball. Everything else, however, was freeze-framed. The sound of the vehicles rumbling on the planks and steel of the old bridge. The stupid goats milling all over the dusty pathway. The huge truck and the tiny woman. It was mere seconds, done in slow motion.

Jazz’s breath hissed out in relief as the vehicle grounded to a halt in front of Vivi, barely missing one of her goats. She screamed in panic, running after the bleating animal, tripping over in her haste. The truck door opened and someone who looked like Dilaver stepped out. The driver also did the same. The weapons in their hands finally clued the “girl” to the fact that she was in danger and she started to back away.

Jazz had killed people before. In the dark, on the run, or in an ambush, like this one. It wasn’t something he was especially proud of, nor had he ever made it personal. Most of the time he compartmentalized—he switched off emotions so he could just focus on getting his job done.

He had never felt as he did at that moment and he would never forget it as long as he lived. Watching Dilaver and his men manhandling a woman as she finally realized they weren’t stopping for her and her goats to cross safely, then watching
Vivi
helpless in their hands, being dragged and slammed against the side of the truck, the rage that burst from his gut almost blinded him. He wanted to go after Dilaver with his bare hands right there and then and rip him limb from limb.

Every cell in him was screaming. He could feel the rage reaching boiling point as he watched the big thug run his
hand over Vivi’s blouse, touching her intimately. Even from here, he could see the dark tanned hand against her bared flesh.

It was startling to hear her calm voice through the intercom as he witnessed the whole scenario. She was over there, acting up a distracting storm, and her disembodied voice in his head was composed as could be. “Activate the fuse.”

“That’s it. Activate, Team Two.”

It was training that moved his limbs because Jazz couldn’t have walked away from the sight of Dilaver manhandling Vivi. Looking down, he noticed his hands had curled into tight fists and he had to mentally relax them. He turned away to execute his mission. Vivi had succeeded in delaying the third vehicle for him to do
his
job.

The first set of charges was linked together closely. Like rolling thunder the bridge roared to life, collapsing inward from one end to the other. Another roar sliced the air, this time followed by the frenzied sounds of battle reverberating from both sides of the river as all the hidden men started the ambush.

Jazz turned his attention back to his side, signaling to Cucumber. The big guy clambered quickly over the bank. Their next target was the ditches.

Mass confusion in the kill zone. There were suddenly men everywhere. Dilaver and his men were on their bellies, their faces mirroring their shock as they shouted at each other. The air vibrated from all the firepower. Vivi’s team was shooting, moving in from their hiding places. Dilaver’s men were firing back. And too many damn bleating goats were in everyone’s way. Vivi was nowhere to be seen.

The fourth vehicle and its trailer stopped in its tracks and Dilaver’s men jumped out to help their boss. Some of the first surviving hostiles dove into the nearby ditches for cover. Jazz twisted the handle of the blasting machine, signaling to Cucumber. Soon, the det cords they had laid the night before exploded in sequence. Screams of pain. Men scrambling in different directions. Vivi’s men picked them off.

Jazz watched the far-off figure of Dilaver running back toward his truck. He had a few men with him, dragging weapons and carrying a few wounded away from the kill zone. At almost the same time, the fifth vehicle sped into view, its occupants firing at their attackers. That one didn’t have any trailers hitched to it. The hidden explosives he had wired earlier went off not too far in front of the vehicle and it careened wildly as it swerved to avoid the craters. He ducked as some wildly aimed bullets hit close by and then started heading down to the smoking and dusty kill zone. Something bright and flashy caught his eye. Vivi’s blouse.

Vivi screamed and struggled, as any young country girl would, when she realized the newcomers were Caucasian men carrying weapons. Dilaver was strong, much stronger than she had anticipated, as she allowed him to overpower her.

“What is she saying?” he asked the driver in a Slavic dialect, amusement and irritation etched in his voice. “Look at all these damn goats.”

The driver was obviously the interpreter so Dilaver could communicate with the Triads. “She just called you a ‘devil.’ That’s what they call white folks around here.”

Vivi kicked Dilaver in the shin to make another universal point, screaming in a panic.

“Ow, the young thing’s got sharp toes,” Dilaver said and some of his men hanging out of the side of the truck laughed as he held her closer and ran his hand over the front of her blouse. “Not too young. Devil, huh? Ow! Damn girl’s got sharp teeth too!”

He slammed Vivi hard against the side of the truck. She gasped out in pain. “Ha, I bet you fucking understand this. And this.” He crudely groped her. “I think I’m going to keep you for a while.” He dodged as Vivi tried to claw at his eyes. “What is she screeching about now? Tell her I’m going to take care of this nice blouse for her.”

He tore the front of it and Vivi kicked at him again. It wasn’t easy pretending to be afraid when all she really
wanted to do was show the brute how she could dismember him with one blow. The slam against the truck had taken the breath out of her and ridiculous as it was, the pain helped her to remember to hang on to her cool. Just one more minute, she told herself, one more minute. She went for an ineffective attempt to escape those horrible hands as the men around her leered and laughed.

“She sure knows a lot of big bad words for a little girl, boss,” the translator told Dilaver with a laugh.
“Binchy-san buku diep. Kontet kolong-doh.”

Vivi turned to the other man and spat in his direction, struggling to go after him. Dilaver laughed at her stream of invectives. “What did you say to her? Look at the spitfire! Man, she’s going to be something in bed.”

“I told her she’s a pretty lady and that we want to put our pricks in her pretty pussy.” The men roared. Minute almost up. Time to plant the seed of suspicion. Vivi’s sharp warning had the interpreter chuckling. “She said, ‘Fuck you and she hopes the Triads kick your ass for going into their territory.’ I guess we have reached the right place, boss.”

Dilaver laughed and reached for the rest of Vivi’s clothes. “Let’s get you out of this thing and see whether you can really fuck m—” His hold loosened as the earth shook with the first explosion. “What the hell—”

Vivi didn’t wait as she tore away from Dilaver, leaving most of her blouse in his hands as she slipped under the truck. Shots erupted. The ground trembled from explosions and weapon fire. Game time.

Where the hell was she? Jazz darted from shrub to bush to rock, moving at a steady rate into the midst of the firefight, his eyes sizing up the situation as quickly as possible. The bedlam of the initial surprise attack was slowing down into a deliberate duel between sides. Many of the enemy lay dead or wounded from the first blast and surprise attack. Vivi’s men had taken out most of the men that were looking out of the truck. The few that had dived into the ditches had a big
surprise from Cucumber’s and his det cord. From what he could gather, most of the surviving hostiles were from the fourth and fifth trucks.