Days Of Perdition: Voodoo Plague Book 6 (12 page)

Air Force Captain Tillman circled the large building with
the helipad on the roof, making sure it was safe to land.  He was surprised the
massive building was a casino and couldn’t imagine why the madman in the back
wanted to go there badly enough that he had kidnapped Vanessa and strapped a
bomb to her chest. 

The flight from Tinker had taken a little under an hour and
he was anxious to drop his passengers and get back to the base as fast as the
Pave Hawk would fly.  He felt bad for the woman that Roach had subdued and tied
up to bring along with them, but his only real concern was for his wife. 

A few minutes into the flight the effects of the Taser had
worn off and despite being bound at her wrists and ankles, the woman had tried
to fight.  She’d even landed a solid kick with both feet to the side of Roach’s
head, but the Taser’s metal darts were still embedded in her neck and he’d
pulled the trigger to send another surge of electricity into her body.

Every few minutes for the remainder of the flight Tillman
had heard the rapid clicking of the device as Roach kept her immobilized.  His
heart went out to the woman, and several times he’d thought about making a
sudden maneuver to distract or disable Roach, then he thought about Vanessa and
lost all desire to antagonize the man.

Satisfied the helipad was clear, he transitioned to a hover
and lowered the helicopter until its landing gear settled on the large H
painted in the center of the pad.  He didn’t cut the engines, planning to get
the information he needed from Roach and immediately take off when they exited
the aircraft.

He jumped when Roach suddenly appeared next to him, having
squeezed into the cockpit between the two seats. 

“I did what you asked.  Where’s Vanessa and how do I disarm
the bomb?”  He said, turning to face his hijacker.

Roach smiled and pointed at the ceiling of the cockpit with
his left hand.  Tillman automatically looked, raising his head, and Roach
struck.  A ten-inch dagger was in his right hand and he slammed it all the way
into the pilot’s head, the point going in through the soft tissue under the
jaw, the blade slicing all the way into his brain.  

“Now you’re with your wife again, just like I promised.” 
Roach said, pulling the blade out and wiping it clean on Tillman’s sleeve.

Roach hadn’t been in many helicopters, but he had always
paid attention and knew what to do to safely shut one down.  He followed the
procedure he’d memorized the last time he’d been in a Pave Hawk, a moment later
the engines going quiet and the large rotor spinning down to a stop.  Raising
his short barreled rifle he fired several rounds into the avionics, disabling
the aircraft.

Working his way back he checked on Katie who was currently
immobilized from her most recent shock.  Tears induced by the pain rolled down
her cheeks, but her eyes burned with a ferocity that excited him.  She was a
fighter, he already knew that, but seeing the rage and desire to murder
reflected in her gaze made him smile.  This was going to be fun.

Sliding the side door open, Roach jumped down onto the
landing pad, patted Katie’s hip and slid the door shut.  He didn’t particularly
like the idea of leaving her alone in the Pave Hawk, but there was no way she
was getting out of the thick, plastic ties that secured her. 

Looking around he spotted a small block structure, a
bulkhead, that protruded up from the roof of the casino and held the door that
opened to a stairwell which descended into what had been described in the
scouting report as a VIP area.  As he approached the metal door, Roach heard
several infected female screams and changed direction to the edge of the roof. 

Leaning over he saw about twenty females standing in a
ground level service area, staring up at him.  They had been drawn by the sound
of the helicopter landing and were screaming their frustration at not being
able to get to the prey on the roof.  Roach scanned the area to make sure there
wasn’t an exterior ladder or stairs that they could climb, relaxing when all he
saw was sheer, vertical walls.

He ignored the infected and moved to the side of the
bulkhead, opening the smallest of the electrical panels fixed to the exterior. 
Inside, just as noted by the scout leader, was a large key.  Smiling, Roach
took the key, closed the panel and walked around to the door.  The key fit
smoothly into the sturdy deadbolt, turning easily in his hand.  He twisted the
knob, pulled the door open and looked down a well-lit stairwell.

Red carpeted stairs descended into the building.  Roach
pulled his pistol and fired a single shot in the air, then holstered it and
raised his rifle, aiming into the stairwell.  He stood there for a full five
minutes, waiting and listening.  The air smelled stale and there were no sounds
from below.  No females charging up in response to the report of the pistol
fire.  No males tripping and bumbling as they blindly climbed. 

Satisfied he was safe for the moment, Roach propped the door
open and returned to the Pave Hawk.  When he slid the side door open he was
ready, twisting away to avoid Katie’s two footed kick.  Wrapping his arm around
her ankles he reached for the Taser but stopped when he saw the two bloody
darts lying on the deck.  She had managed to get a grip on the wires and rip
them out of the back of her neck.

Pulling his dagger, Roach placed it against Katie’s face,
the tip hovering half an inch in front of her right eye.  She stopped
struggling against his grip.

“What the fuck are you doing?  What do you want?”  She asked
in a quiet voice.

“Now isn’t the time for conversation,” he said.  “We’ll have
plenty of time to get to know each other better.  Right now you need to
understand that if you don’t behave I’m going to cut that pretty face, then I’m
going to start working on your other assets.  Do you understand me?”

Katie stared back at him, eventually speaking through
clenched teeth, “I understand.”

“Good!”  Roach smiled broadly.  “I knew you would.  Now I’m
going to cut your feet free so you can walk.  If you give me any problems,
remember what will happen to you.”

Roach held the blade against her face for a few more
moments, then sheathed it and roughly turned her over onto her stomach. 
Holding her down with one hand he retrieved a length of paracord from his
pocket and threaded it through the plastic tie binding Katie’s wrists behind
her.  Pulling the end, he looped it around her neck and secured it with a
slipknot.  Cutting the tie at her ankles he hauled her out of the Pave Hawk and
onto her feet, spinning her around to face him.

“If you’re not a good girl, I’ll have to punish you.”  He
leaned in as he spoke, smiling in her face.

Katie smiled back at him, snapped her head forward and
delivered a wicked blow with her forehead to the bridge of his nose.  Roach was
knocked back, momentarily stunned and Katie started to move sideways to snap a
kick into his damaged face.  Years of aerobic kickboxing to stay in shape made
her feet more dangerous than her hands, but her ankles had been bound for an
hour, restricting blood flow. 

When she tried to move her left ankle buckled and she fell
to the roof.  The paracord was still gripped tightly in Roach’s hand and pulled
taut as she fell, the slipknot around her neck tightening and cutting off her
air supply.  Trying to gasp even a tiny breath, Katie struggled; panic seizing
her when she couldn’t breathe.  Roach slowly moved over her, blood running
across his lower face and chest from his broken nose.  He smiled, revealing
bloody teeth.

“I’m glad you like it rough, bitch.  I do too.”  

Blanchard drove us across Tinker, careful to stay within the
speed limit and not draw the attention of a Security Forces patrol.  I should
have been relieved to be out of custody and breathing free air, but all my
freedom did was remind me that Katie was still somewhere out there in the hands
of a raving psychopath and I wasn’t any closer to finding her. 

“Captain, did you have any luck finding out where Roach
went?”  I asked from the dark of the back seat.

“I got separated from my laptop in the confusion of your
arrest, but I’ve got the Navy working on reviewing sat imagery and tracking the
helicopter.  I’ll call them as soon as we get to the Colonel.”  He said, never
taking his eyes off the road.  Nodding, I leaned back in the seat and let out a
frustrated breath.

“Who’s Roach?”  Scott asked from beside me.  I spent the
rest of the drive filling him in on who and what was going on.

“He’s got your wife?  Dude, that asshole needs to die!” 
Scott exclaimed when I finished telling him the story.

“He’s slipped away too many times,” I said.  “This time I’m
not stopping until I’m holding his fucking heart in my hand and squeezing every
last drop of blood out of it.”

“Whatever you need, Major.”  Scott said as we pulled through
a double cordon of Rangers and up to a large hangar.

Blanchard parked and we stepped out, Dog running up and
nearly taking my legs out from under me in his enthusiasm.  Rachel walked up
and looked at me, hesitating a moment before wrapping me up in a hug.  I hugged
her back, but wasn’t in the mood to do anything other than start looking for
Katie.  I turned to Blanchard but he pre-empted me.

“On my way to place that call now, sir.”

I nodded as he trotted away, Colonel Crawford walking up and
shaking my hand.

“Good to see you.”  He said.

“Thank you, sir.  And thank you for sending in the cavalry.”

“Her plan,” he said, tilting his head towards Martinez.

“I thought you said it was the Colonel’s idea.”  I said.

“His idea, my plan.”  She smiled.

Crawford escorted us into the hangar where he had set up an
operations center.  I could see Blanchard talking on a satellite phone near an
open door so he could get a good signal.

“How big is the mess, sir?”  I asked Crawford.

“Big enough.  As you know, General Triplett has decided to
follow President Clark’s orders.  So have a few other key officers that still
have intact commands around the world.  At the moment it’s a cold war between the
General and me.  He wants to arrest me, but is smart enough to not try and
fight his way in.

“Admiral Packard has dispatched some SEALs to arrest the
President.  They should be on the ground in Alaska in about six hours.  It may
get really ugly up there, as the General in command of Fort Wainwright has
sided with the President.  The soldiers won’t know the reality of what’s going
on, just whatever the President and their General tell them.  We expect they’ll
resist the SEALs.”

“There’s what… a full Stryker brigade and an entire infantry
division at Wainwright?”  I asked.  “The SEALs won’t stand a chance.”

“They’re not going head to head.  Penetrate and extract are
their orders.  We don’t think General Carey knows they’re coming.  If he does,
you’re right, they’ll be wiped out.  But our belief is that the President feels
secure in the middle of an Army post and the SEALs can get in, get her, and get
out without firing a shot.  We hope.”

We could have continued debating the issue, but Blanchard
wrapped up his phone call and walked over.  Grabbing a laptop he opened a
mapping application, checked some coordinates he had written on his hand and
punched them into the computer.  A moment later he leaned back and waved me
over.

“We’ve got them, Major.”  He said, pointing at the screen
where a red dot pulsed to indicate the location he had entered.  “The Navy
tracked the Pave Hawk they left in and it’s still sitting where it landed. 
They just looked in real time to verify.”

“Where the hell is that?”  I asked, trying to make sense of
the map.

“About a hundred miles north-northeast of us.”  He said,
adjusting the zoom on the map and pointing at our current location in relation
to the red dot. 

“What is it?  Why did he go there?”  I asked, staring at the
map and already thinking about how I was going to get there.

“It’s an Indian casino.  Huge.  Something like forty or
fifty thousand square feet.  There’s a helipad on the roof, and that’s where
the Pave Hawk is sitting.”  He answered.

“OK, point me at some weapons and let’s go.  Martinez can
fly me there in under an hour.”  I said, straightening up, ready to start
moving.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a few moments before
Colonel Crawford spoke up.  “We can’t get to any of our aircraft.  The Air
Force is guarding them.  It’ll be a full on fire fight if we try.”

“I don’t give a fuck,” I said.  “My wife is out there with
that freak.  She’s already been out there for over twelve hours.  I need to go get
her now!”

“Stand down, Major.”  Crawford’s voice hardened.  “I
understand what you’re feeling, but we can’t start shooting Air Force
personnel.  We need to give the SEALs time to do their job and take the President
into custody.  Once that happens we can probably break this stalemate and the
first thing we’ll do is get you on a chopper.”

“That’s not good enough…” I started to say.

“It’s not open for discussion, Major!”  Crawford snapped and
stepped up to face me.  “Is that clear?”

I seethed.  Anger rocketed through me; churning my stomach
and making my face feel like it was on fire.  But Crawford didn’t flinch and
didn’t back away.  He stood there and held my eyes with his.

“I’m sorry,” he finally said.  “I don’t like it either, but
we’re not going to start killing our fellow service members if there’s any way
around it.”

“Yes, sir.”  I finally said.  “You’re clear.”

Without waiting to be dismissed I turned and walked out of
the hangar, Dog trailing along behind me.  I spotted a Ranger that I knew
smoked and asked for a cigarette.  He gave me the whole pack, saying he had
more.  Thanking him, I wandered over to sit on a low wall at the edge of the
parking area.  Dog rested his chin on my leg and watched my every movement as I
lit a cigarette and took my first drag.

Less than a minute later Rachel walked up and sat down next
to me, taking the cigarette out of my hand and smoking it.  With a snort I lit
another, blowing smoke at the dark night sky.

“You OK?”  She asked.

“Not really,” I answered.  “I’m about ready to lose it, to
tell the truth.”

Rachel reached out and took my hand in hers.  “What do you
want to do?”

“He wants to get his wife.”  Martinez spoke from the
darkness behind us.  I looked over my shoulder to see her and Scott standing
there.  Irina and Igor were with them.

“Let’s go get her.”  Scott said.

“Da!”  Igor said after Irina translated for him.  “I help
too.”

“How?”  Rachel asked.  “You heard the Colonel.  We can’t get
to a helicopter, and there’s infected at the fence.  We’ve got no way off the
base.”

“We can get a helicopter.”  I said, looking at Scott and
Martinez.  They both nodded.

“How?”  Rachel asked.

“We take one.”  I said.  “I don’t like the thought of
hurting some Airman that is just doing his job, but I’ve got to get to Katie
before it’s too late.  If it’s not too late already.”  The thought soured my
already piss poor mood and I threw my cigarette down and ground it under my
boot.

“Fine.  Say we get one.  Did anyone get the coordinates
Captain Blanchard typed into the computer?  I sure didn’t.  How do we know
where to go?”  Rachel asked.

Martinez recited a set of GPS coordinates without
hesitation.  Rachel turned and looked at her, amazed.

“I’m a pilot,” she explained, shrugging.  “It’s an occupational
hazard.  Get a set of coordinates within range of my eyes and I remember them.”

“Crawford’s going to be pissed.”  Rachel said. 

“He’ll either get over it, or arrest me when I get back.  If
I get back.”  I said.  “Either way, I don’t care.”  Rachel nodded and squeezed
my hand.  

“We’ll be back,” Martinez said, slapping Scott on the
shoulder to get him to follow her.  They walked away in the dark, taking Irina
and Igor with them, heading to the hangar.

“Do we need to talk about us?”  I asked Rachel, dreading the
answer.

“No.  Not now.”  She said after a long moment.  “We get
Katie back.  That’s the priority.  We can worry about everything else later. 
Besides, if we talk about it now I’ll probably go into a funk and not be any
use to you.  And before you say it, I’m coming along.  I made you a promise
right after we met that I’d help you find your wife.  Nothing has changed in
that regard.  I’m keeping my promise.”

I looked at Rachel for a long time, finally wrapping my arms
around her and holding her close.  She circled her arms around me and held
tightly.  We were still sitting like that when my small team of rebels
returned, arms loaded down with gear and weapons.