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it's got five people in it? I mean, I know they're hiding out, but . . . "
"You lost me already," Hannah said between gulps of air. "I don't see any
vehicles."
Mac put a hand on her shoulder and turned her toward the side of the shack,
where a small white car sat mostly hidden in underbrush. Hannah nodded. Chloe
hadn't seen it either. "Maybe your eyes aren't adjusted to the light yet," Mac
said, as if he meant it. Chloe nearly laughed aloud. They had all been
traipsing around in the dark.
Mac slipped the Uzi off his shoulder and lay it on the ground. He pulled what
looked like a utility tool from a vest pocket. "I
know this is gonna sound like a cowboy movie," he said, "but cover me."
Before Chloe could ask where he was going, he moved quickly to the car and
went to work on the trunk lock. Every time he made a sound loud enough for the
women to hear, he stopped dead and remained motionless a few seconds.
Eventually came the thump of the lock giving way, and the trunk lid sprung
free. Mac kept a hand atop it so it wouldn't fly open.
He snaked his other hand in as far as he could, then finally had to let the
lid rise another half inch or so. That triggered the trunk light, so he
lowered the lid again. He set the tool on the back bumper, reached in, and
held the lid down with his left hand, feeling around inside with his right.
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Once he found what he was looking for he quickly pulled his hand out, grabbed
the tool, reached back in, let the trunk up enough to give himself room to
maneuver, and as the light came on ground the tool into the bulb, breaking it
and dousing the light.
Now he let the lid open all the way, silently, and felt around inside the
trunk. From where she waited, it looked to Chloe as if the whole top half of
his body was inside.
Suddenly he stopped and backed out, quietly shutting the trunk
and hurrying back. "Just as I thought," he said. "Check it out."
"A twelve gauge," Hannah said. "Learned to use one when I was a kid."
"These GIs love their shotguns," Mac said. "Leaves a DEW and a
Fifty in the plane, brings his double barrel on the job. And brilliant as this
hostage team is supposed to be, they don't even search his car."
"We going in?" Hannah said.
"Yeah, but I still don't like it. Half of 'em take off when they found out we
were comin', or what?"
He clearly wasn't expecting an answer. Mac handed the shotgun to
Hannah. "Makes a lot of racket when you cock it, so do it when I
whistle."
He picked up the Uzi, and they followed him back around to the front and the
darkest area they could find, about twenty feet left of the door. Mac nodded
to Hannah and whispered, "On three."
He counted with his fingers and whistled shrilly twice while
Hannah expertly, and noisily, cocked the shotgun.
From inside the shack came hurried movement, heavy steps, one louder than the
other, like someone limping. The door squeaked open a couple of inches and
someone whistled. Or tried to. It was mostly air. Then came the second try.
"All right!" Mac shouted, so loud Chloe jumped. "You know who it is, so show
yourself and let us in."
The door opened in and struck the man or his weapon as he tried to get out of
the way. "Right this way," he said with a heavy accent.
Mac marched straight toward the door, and Chloe noticed he had a
finger on the Uzi trigger. "Senior Commander Howie Johnson comin'
through with officers Irene and Jinnah. Stand aside, Peacekeeper."
The man, clearly favoring one leg, hopped back against the wall, warily eyeing
them and nodding a greeting.
"So which one are you?" Mac said. "Hercules? Constantinople ?
Who?"
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"Socrates, sir."
"Well, sure ya are. Awright, where is everybody, particularly my prisoner?"
"Not here, sir."
Mac looked as if he were about to explode. He tilted his head back till his
chin pointed at the ceiling. "Not here, sir," he mimicked. He brought his eyes
down to Socrates. "That's all I
git? Where are they?"
"They told me to tell you to read the fine print." That took a second to
register with Chloe, and from Mac's look, with him too.
Mac dramatically moved past Socrates, flattening him against the wall again.
He strode to the front door and kicked it shut so hard the window rattled and
an echo came back from the trees. Mac turned on the man. "The fine print in
what? You think I brought the Sebastian file with me into the woods?"
I die!" Nothing. His shoulders slumped and he bowed his head, weeping.
Mac knelt and put a hand on Socrates' arm. "They're not that far away, are
they?" [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]

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