Double-Back (Jake Waters Book 3) (34 page)

At nearly the same time, Jake detected the sniper moving into position at the spot Tony had predicted.  The only clear look Jake got of the man carrying the long dark case showed a thin, black-haired individual.  After that, Jake could spot parts of the man's torso so he knew where he was, but could see no specific details.  The man was still and quiet, which suggested he was good at this kind of thing.  If Jake hadn't seen him move into place, he wouldn't have known he was there.  Jake's rifle was already prepositioned to point to that location, so he would only need a minor adjustment when it came time to shoot.  For now, he left it where it was, assuming the man was scouting the area carefully looking for anyone who might be hiding in the brush.

Then they waited.  It would be a number of hours before Jeff Rineri led Tony to this place.  Jake was surprised these men had moved into place so early, while at the same time he was surprised there were only the two of them. 

Jake wasn't used to remaining so still for such a long period.  The sloped hillside worked to conceal most of his body, and when he heard Susan's voice, he slowly slid backwards in order to put the hill between him and the two men who were in place.

"Jake," we're on the way to the park," Susan said.  "Based on what Shaun has forwarded, we think we should spread our forces in the following way.  I'll explain, and you and Tony can tell us if you agree."

Jake typed, "Go ahead," to indicate he was receiving them and ready to hear their plan.

"We see where you are located based on the information Tony forwarded to Shaun.  Norm and I would like to set up in the trees on the north edge.  We need someone covering that end of the park.  Solly and Lester will move in openly, bringing along a chess set.  Two old men playing chess in the park.  Their arrival will provide a distraction so we can slip into the trees, unobserved by the sniper, assuming he is in place."

"He's here," Jake typed.  "One other with handgun is in the trees to my left covering the south pathway."

"Tony will follow Jeff Rineri on foot, and Jim Laney will arrive just afterwards and watch the parking area for any supporting troops and to keep an eye out for Miss Rineri.  We didn't think we could hide all of us in this small an area without being spotted.  Our position should allow us to watch the north parking lot for any sign of Miss Rineri should she come in that way.  "

"They have to have other people who haven't arrived as yet," Tony said.  "The two that Jake has seen aren't a sufficient force to ensure their ability to quickly take him down."

"There's still some time before Jeff Rineri gets here," Jake typed.  "We'll see who shows.  The key is Natalie Rineri.  If she doesn't show, we might as well abort.  None of the other players are likely to be who we seek, unless you spot someone suspicious in the parking lot."

"Understood," Susan said.  "We'll be there soon."

Early Sunday Afternoon

May 15

Jake settled in to wait.  Nothing happened for some time, then a young woman with a stroller made her way through the park, coming from the north parking lot, slowly pushing the baby carriage along the pathway past the picnic tables and the children's playgrounds, and then along the pathway to the south exit where she continued on her way. 

The next visitors to the park were a couple of tennis players who made their way noisily from the south lot into the park, heading toward the tennis court closest to the center of the small park.  Something in the way the men carried their equipment bags, and the fact they set them close to the net where they would be more readily accessible rather than along the edge of the courts where they would be out of the way caught Jake's attention.  Soon they were batting balls back and forth across the net, but it was readily apparent that neither was very skilled at the game, and they spent a lot of time chasing errant balls.  Dressed as they were they couldn't conceal any weapons, but Jake was convinced there were guns in the bags they had so carefully placed within reach.

"We've arrived," Susan's voice alerted Jake through the earpiece.  "Let us know when Solly and Lester are making their way into the park so we can move into place."

Jake watched as the two retired FBI agents came up the pathway from the south lot, Lester carrying a box that contained their chess set and walking deliberately clumsily with a cane, his artificial leg on display, and Solly, wearing baggy shorts with his white spindly legs showing, carrying a small cooler.  While the cooler might be filled with beer, Jake knew it also carried their sidearms.  The tennis players weren't the only ones who had thought of concealing the weapons they were bringing.  The two older men were as vocal as the two tennis players had been, arguing about the results of a baseball game from the night before and the call an umpire had made that had produced a contested outcome.  By the time Lester and Solly were in place and setting up their board at one of the tables shaded by several of the trees on the periphery of the picnic area, Susan and Norm had moved into place.  Jake had known where to look, and had spotted the briefest movement in the area they were to set up.  He'd watched the sniper for any movement that might suggest he'd spotted something to investigate, but the figure had remained stationary suggesting his attention was focused ahead of him, where the two agents had come down the path and where Tony, dressed as Jake, would soon be making an appearance.

His phone vibrated softly and when he checked the screen he saw the message that Norm and Susan were in place.  That was good.  Jake knew they were both armed with FBI issue M4s, giving his team some serious firepower if it was needed.  He had the range, but they could easily reach the area where Tony would be walking with accurate fire.  For the moment they outnumbered their adversaries, but Jake expected more arrivals.  Paul wasn't here as yet, nor was their primary target Natalie.  Unless they spotted her, there was no point in proceeding and he would wave Tony off before he started down the path.

"A gray van just pulled into the parking lot," Jim texted from his concealed spot adjacent to the south parking lot.  "No one has gotten out just yet.  Likely additional manpower intended to close the back door when Rineri leads Tony into the park."

Jake recalled the van from when he'd driven by as he'd watched Rineri head into the park.  He guessed that Jim was correct in his assumption.  The question was how many men were in the vehicle.  Assuming there were two, then with the two tennis players, the man hiding in the bushes, and the sniper, Martin had six men in the park area.  With Jeff Rineri, and almost certainly Martin himself, that would mean eight.  Jake and his team numbered seven, so they were roughly equally matched, unless more would be coming.  It would have to be soon if they were, because Jeff Rineri was due to arrive in eight minutes.  The only other people in the park at the moment were a couple of young women who were making their rounds on the jogging track.  They had made nearly a dozen circuits in the last twenty minutes.  If they were armed, their weapons were small, needing to fit into the small fanny packs they both carried along with the usual bottles of water.  He hoped they stayed clear when this went down.

"She's here," Susan texted.  "A car just pulled into the north lot.  Paul Martin is driving, and the woman in the passenger seat matches the description of Rineri's sister."

Susan and Norm's primary responsibility now that they had eyes on the woman was to ensure she was taken down as soon as the action started.  If there was a certain shot, they were to take it even if the action in the park had not started.  She was the primary purpose of their being here after all.  Once she was killed, and they confirmed that she was the Back-Tracker they were seeking, Jake would be able to loop back, deal with her at a much earlier time, and prevent the death of Susan's friend Anne, something that Susan wasn't yet aware of.  If the Rineri woman didn't show herself, both Susan and Norm would unload their rifles into the vehicle where she remained out of sight.  It wouldn't be pretty, and it certainly wasn't in line with FBI protocols, but they had to disable the woman quickly before she could take any action.  After Jake Back-Tracked, the approach used wouldn't matter much.

"Here comes Jeff Rineri and Tony," Jim Laney signaled.

Jake settled in behind his scope and focused on the sniper.  The shooter was the target he needed to disable before a shot could be made at Tony.  Back at the southern entrance where Tony had headed onto the path in pursuit of Jeff Rineri, Jim watched as two men climbed out of the gray van, each carrying an AR.  Jim carried the pump action shotgun he preferred.  Jim settled in behind the large tree trunk that concealed him and allowed the men to pass, then silently stepped out behind them, ready to shoot should either show any indication they were aware of him, or if they prepared to shoot at Tony.

Norm watched as Paul Martin stepped out of the parked car, revolver in hand.  Without hurrying, he headed toward the park, the Rineri woman staying behind in the vehicle.  Paul Martin held a cell phone to his ear.  He was almost certainly speaking with Jeff Rineri, who had to be telling him that their target was following him into the kill zone.  They hadn't caught on that it wasn't Jake Waters they were leading into a trap.

Jake could now see both Jeff Rineri and Tony via his peripheral vision as they headed down the pathway toward the area where Solly and Lester were intent on their game.  A small motion in the distant sniper indicated the man might be preparing to shoot.  Tony would be in view, and with the tennis players flanking his left, the man in the brush on his right, and the men Jim had spotted coming up behind, there was little chance of his getting away.

Tony's .338 was an exceptional rifle, and Jake settled in behind the scope with practiced ease.  He placed the crosshairs on the exposed part of the man he'd decided was the middle of the sniper's back, and applied pressure to the trigger.  The big rifle fired, the sharp crack loud and unexpected in the peaceful surroundings.  His sight picture was knocked off by the recoil, and he fought to quickly regain a picture.  When he recovered, ready to fire a second round if required, he saw that the sniper was now more visible, laying flat, the rifle that had been pointed downrange laying in the open where it had fallen from the man's grasp.

Jake let his own rifle settle in place as he reached back for his Sig.  The barrel of the rifle was threaded through the brush and wouldn't be easily worked loose, nor would he be able to get much of a sight picture in the six power scope on the people who would have to be moving quickly.  His sidearm would be the more effective weapon now.

To the north, Susan was focused on the car, her M4 pointed through the brush toward Natalie Rineri who remained in the front seat.  Norm was focused on Paul Martin, who looked up sharply when the shot was heard.  A shooter himself, Paul realized the shot hadn't come from the direction where his sniper was located.  He took off running toward his sniper's position.

"I've got Martin," Norm said.  "You take care of the Rineri woman."

Susan was about to unload on the vehicle when she realized the passenger door was opening.  She held her breath and waited as Natalie Rineri emerged from the vehicle.  She was looking toward the park, in the direction Paul Martin had disappeared.  Uncomfortable with what she was about to do, but realizing what was at stake, Susan triggered a three-shot burst at the woman.  The first round hit the roof of the car near the woman, whining off into the distance.  The second round punched through the car frame and struck Natalie in the chest, the impact clearly visible.  The third shot of the burst Susan Carlson fired was a solid hit that appeared to strike Natalie Rineri in the side, just below the rib cage.  Susan watched as the woman spun and crashed hard to the concrete parking lot.  She could see the blood flowing from the side wound, and watching for a moment to ensure there was no movement to indicate life, she concluded the woman was finished.  Her own shots were echoed from the park itself with a surprising number of different weapons being fired in rapid succession.  With another quick look at the dead woman, she hurried into the park after Norm, spurred on by the sound of a couple of shots in his direction which were clearly not from his M4.

Tony heard Jake's shot and quickly flowed into action.  His own weapon was expertly drawn, and he smoothly fired a pair of shots that slammed into Jeff Rineri's back.  The brother of the woman they were after stumbled, and was dead before he hit the ground.  Tony was on the move even as he was shooting.  He knew he was a primary target as those setting up the ambush here in the park believed he was their intended victim.  Also, he'd seen the two tennis players that Jake had warned him about drop their rackets and run toward their equipment bags at the sound of the shot.  Already he was making a move in their direction, his Springfield seeking a target as he ran.

The two tennis players withdrew Glocks with long suppressors on the end of the barrels.  One had seen Jeff Rineri fall, and screamed a warning to his partner as he saw the man they had thought was their target charging in their direction, a small handgun already taking a bead on them.  The gunman managed to get off a couple of hurried shots, but a combination of his nervousness at seeing the man who had almost certainly shot Jeff Rineri charging on him, plus the awkward combination of handgun and suppressor made him fire wildly.  The shots kicked up dirt and grass on either side of Tony.  Even as the gunman's weapon fired, the man felt the bite as Tony's bullet smashed into him.  As he tried to sight his own weapon again, he sensed his partner fleeing, running west toward the perimeter of the park.  Then his vision began to fade and he lost all interest in the proceedings. 

Tony had noted the man losing his grip on the suppressed weapon, and charged after the second of the two men.  That one had ducked around a small building making a shot at him impossible.  Nimbly Tony jumped the net in the middle of the court and hurried after the man.

Lester and Solly had hit the dirt when the sharp crack of Jake's rifle echoed across the open area of the park.  They quickly retrieved their service weapons from the cooler and scanned the area for possible targets.  Rineri was down, and they spotted Tony making his run after the two tennis players.  As they watched, a dark haired man charged out of the brush to the south, a large revolver in hand.  The man paid them no attention, being focused on Tony and the man he had gone after.  With barely a glance at the two aging former FBI agents, he scurried across the open grass, cutting through the edge of the picnic area in his attempt to cut off the former target. 

Solly fired a round that whined off one of the picnic tables near the man's left arm, which caused him to focus on them and reevaluate their threat level.  Solly could see the man's eyes widen as he belatedly realized the two old chess players were armed.  The running gunman tried to adjust his motion and bring his gun to bear, something that was almost assured to cause him to miss any shot he attempted. 

Encouraged by the relative closeness of his target, and the awkward adjustments in his movement the man was attempting to make as he ran, Lester, slower than his aging friend, took careful aim and fired a sloppy double tap.  The first round struck the gunman in the right thigh, and the second slammed solidly into a tree several feet to the man's right.  The shot that connected was sufficient to the task, and the off-balance shooter tumbled to the ground, losing his weapon as he tried to break his fall.  By the time he was able to think about his weapon, he found himself staring into the muzzles of a pair of FBI issue Glocks.

Jim Laney followed behind the two men that were tailing Tony into the park.  When he heard the sharp crack of a rifle, he expected to see Tony fall from the shot, but when that didn't happen he realized Jake must have taken out the sniper the other side had positioned to shoot Tony.  Then all hell broke loose as Tony quickly dispatched Rineri, and other shots were fired from various locations.  The two men raised their rifles in an obvious attempt to shoot at Tony as he headed toward the two tennis players.

Knowing it wasn't what they agreed upon, but finding simply shooting the two men in front of him in the back was contrary to how he'd been trained, Laney raised his shotgun and shouted out a warning.

"FBI, don't move," he said.  "Drop your weapons and raise your hands!"

Of course, they didn't do as he instructed.  Their weapons already in motion, the shooter on the left simply continued the motion that had brought his rifle up to take at shot at Tony, and pivoting, he tried to instead get a shot at Laney.  To his credit, Laney had anticipated such a move, and fired the 12 gauge taking the man in the side, knocking him back and preventing him from firing before he died.