Chapter 18

“Sir, we have an update on the Kidman situation.”

“I thought we had finalized that project. What was left?”

“Well, we’ve been monitoring their communication network. Just in case someone we may have missed reveals themselves. Early this morning, there was an e-mail that went to their financial officer. We were able to trace the IP address to a location near Cody Wyoming.”

“OK, it seems that my previous order should have dictated your actions at that point. So send a team in and finish the job.”

“That is what we were in the process of doing, sir. But there were a few logistical issues. The location for the target is in a mountainous location, in the middle of a privately owned ranch. So it was necessary to locate a means to get in and out without compromising our people. We found that we had a security team in Jackson Hole providing special security for a VIP wedding. They had a UH-1 helicopter at their disposal.”

“Again, why haven’t you resolved this issue?”

“We needed to wait for daylight to operate the helicopter safely. It was while we were waiting that a new update came up. The recipient of the original e-mail, the group’s CFO, sent out a mass e-mail to all the group members. There are now additional members that we will have to attend to.”

The Manager lowered his head to his hands, slowly shaking it. “How many?” He quietly asked.

“The e-mail list was for 30 individuals. We have already silenced most of them, but with this list, we are confident that we will be able to finish off the group.”

“This CFO, has he been taken care of?”

“Yes, sir. It was reported in the local news that he had passed away from a massive heart attack. This is what we had planned for him.”

“Very well, let’s quit messing around with this. Finish it, and finish it today.”

“Yes, sir.”

When Matt and Suzy left, Jim’s subconscious noted their departure and dismissed it. Jim had been sleeping much easier since coming up to the line cabin. He was more relaxed and not as jumpy. Of course, some things still startled him, but his reactions had calmed down.

It was just around daybreak when Jim noted the noises of somebody rising. Again, he noted this but wasn’t concerned. Because of the light coming in the window, Jim slowly woke up. His bladder soon made demands that couldn’t be ignored. Stepping into the main room, He found Lieutenant Lance at the computer. “Lieutenant, remember that Matt asked us to stay off the computer.”

“I was just checking the internet news, Jimmy. Don’t worry. I won’t be sending anything out.”

“OK, sir, I’m going to make some breakfast. Do you want something?”

“No, the pantry is kinda bare right now.” He lifted a coffee cup, “I’ve got everything I need right here.”

Later, after showering and getting dressed, Jim came back out to the main room. Lance wasn’t in front of the computer, but Jim could see an e-mail on the screen.

The message was short and had been sent to a bulk list. It read, “Project Compromised, Scatter, Plan A.” there was nothing further, and it looked like a response wasn’t needed.

Glancing up, Jim looked through the window behind the computer. Lieutenant Bordan was talking to Lois, the Taggart’s female wrangler. They were smiling and appeared to be having a good conversation.

Then Lieutenant Bordan pulled a pistol from his back and shot Lois.

Startled, Lois’s horse reared, and Lois fell to the ground. The horse bolted and ran. Lieutenant Bordan took a step or two after it but stopped when it was obvious that he couldn’t catch it.

Turning, Lieutenant Bordan looked at the window and saw Jim watching. A frown crossed his face, and he started walking towards the house.

Jim turned and ran for his bedroom. Grabbing his seabag, he dumped the contents on the bed. Inside was a camouflaged poncho liner, tightly wrapped around something.

Quickly undoing the ties, Jim unrolled the liner and found the disassembled M-4 he had smuggled from the middle east. His Marine training quickly kicked in, and he reassembled the rifle. As he was slapping a full magazine in, He heard Lieutenant Bordan calling.

“Jimmy? Talk to me, Jimmy. Let me explain what just happened. It’s not what you think it was. Say something, Jimmy, let’s discuss this.”

Jim kept quiet and stayed hidden. He was hoping that the Lieutenant would just go away. But he was also realistic enough to know that wasn’t likely. He had just witnessed cold-blooded murder. It wasn’t likely the Lieutenant would leave any witnesses.

“Jimmy? C’mon kid,” Jim could tell that the Lieutenant was in the hallway now. “Listen, kid, why don’t you join up with us? You could make a ton of money. Then, you could head back to the desert, or maybe South America. Hell, there are even some places in Europe and Asia you could sample.”

Lieutenant Bordan was moving slowly. When Jim judged that he was about halfway down the hall, He popped his head out and confirmed that.

The Lieutenant had his pistol to his side. When Jim appeared, he quickly raised the pistol and fired a round. But there was enough time for Jim to duck back behind cover. Fortunately, the bullet missed clean and impacted the back wall.

“You shouldn’t have done that, Jimmy. This could have gone smooth and easy. You wouldn’t have felt a thing. Now, I’ve got to do this the best way I can.”

That was when Jim, who had laid down on the floor, rolled into the doorway with his rifle aimed at the Lieutenant’s last position.

Aiming wasn’t needed at that point. In the second that it took for the Lieutenant to recognize Jim’s new position and start to bring his weapon to bear, Jim fired a 3-round burst into his chest.

At that close range, the bullets knocked the Lieutenant back and off-balance. He was dead before he hit the ground.

Jim knew that there wasn’t very much time. That is, if Lois had survived the gunshot. If she had, she was seriously wounded and on short numbers. If she were dead, Jim rushing wouldn’t make a difference. But, except for him, He knew that he would feel guilty if he didn’t do everything that needed doing.

Grabbing his medkit from the pile of gear on his bed, he ran from the room. When he reached Lois, he did a quick evaluation. He could see that she was still alive, but her breathing was labored, and a pink foam was on her lips. He knew immediately that she had been hit in the lung and probably had a sucking chest wound.

Grabbing a pack of quick clot, he pulled her shirt open and found the wound. He poured the powder into the wound and applied pressure. After a minute, he lifted his hand. It looked like the bleeding had stopped. Ripping open the dressing package, he smoothed the plastic over the wound and then the rest over the dressing over it.

He could see an immediate improvement in Lois’s breathing. Then, while he was securing the dressing, he heard what sounded like a helicopter approaching. “Maybe this day just got better.” he thought to himself.

Looking up, he saw a UH-1 Huey approaching. He stood up and started waving, hoping that they would see him and recognize that there was a problem.

“Pilot to co-pilot, you see him?”

“Yes, sir, looks like a body on the ground too.”

“Well, our orders are to sanitize the situation, so, Pilot to gunner.”

“Gunner here.”

“Pilot here, we’ve got one standing and one on the ground. I’ll be swinging around when we get in range. When you have your target, open fire.”

“Gunner, Aye. Standing by.”

“Co-Pilot to crew, range 1000 meters, 750 meters, 500 meters.”

“Gunner to pilot. I think I can handle it now, sir.”

“You’re sure? I can bring her in a little closer.”

“Gunner here, just keep your approach like this sir, I can start anytime I acquire the targets.”

“OK, Coming about now.”

“Gunner has the targets and opening fire.”

The first burst from his gun was a ranging and targeting burst. Just to see where his rounds would hit. But, unfortunately, those first rounds were well wide of the target.

Jim, the target, was horrified. They were shooting at him. Once again, his training kicked in. He reached down and grabbed his rifle. Ducking, running, falling, and rolling, Jim put distance between himself and Lois. He also was angling towards the firewood pile by the house. As he was doing this, he started returning fire. Rather than using the burst, he had switched to single fire.

He thought that his first rounds were wild, but even a wild round can be lucky. It was the third round that luck smiled on. It entered the Huey’s cabin, just missing the door gunner. But the luck in that round was that it continued on and plowed into the electronic panel over the co-pilot’s head.