Today’s excerpt is from Back
To China, a standalone book featuring Jim Scott and friends. While Jim and his three friends were in the
air flying toward China in the bomb bay of a B-2, Drew and Bear are in Las
Vegas trying to gather more information on the local front…from the man who set
up the ambush earlier in the day. Enjoy
and have a great day.
m.j.
With Jim and his
strike team airborne, Drew and Bear were, also…aboard the helicopter that would
drop them. After the helicopter flew
around checking the wind—including looking at the various flags flying below—it
swooped in over the target building. By
prior agreement, Drew jumped first. This
was done so he wouldn’t have to deal with Bear’s chute, while Bear was trying
to gather it in.
In his days with
the CIA, Drew was considered one of the best parachutists in the agency. In fact, there was even a picture of him in
the office of SIS. The picture, taken by
the RAF plane that had dropped him and an SIS agent, showed him climbing up his
rigging from inside a smoke stack of
an abandoned manufacturing building he had intentionally landed in, with his
chute catching on the top of the stack.
The ravages of
age had dulled his ability, but he felt he’d have no problem with the
jump—especially if he didn’t have to worry about any extra items on the
veranda…like a billowing parachute. He
was correct. He landed without
difficulty, and was gathering his chute as Bear landed some ten feet from him.
When both men
had their chutes gathered and stowed where they wouldn’t be seen, Drew went to
a sliding glass door and tried it. He
shook his head at the stupidity of finding it unlocked. He whispered to Bear, who was standing right
next to him, “Idiot never thought someone might come at him this way.”
Bear just nodded
as they entered the lavish apartment of Sammy Lee. As Bear slid the door shut Drew headed for
one of the rooms adjacent to what was obviously the main living room of the
unit. Bear headed for another door,
leading from the room. After they had
gone through the entire unit, Drew sighed.
“Your idea was a good one, Bear.
Now all we have to do is wait.”
“Where do you
wanna set up, Drew?”
Drew looked
around carefully and pointed at a door neither he nor Bear had tried to
open. “That almost surely has to be the
way in, as we discussed. While it would
be nice to see what’s on the other side, it may have an alarm system we can’t
see—or surely will have cameras between it and the elevator.”
“Hold it,
Drew. I forgot to tell you there is a
similar door…in heft, not design…in the kitchen. Do you think it could be next to a freight elevator?”
“Could be—but
I’m betting Mr. Hotshot Casino Owner won’t be coming through it. But, just on the off chance someone may use
it, how about going back into the kitchen and placing a chair in front of it,
with something that will break as it falls off the chair when the door bumps
into it?”
“Be right back.”
After Bear
returned to the front room, the two men looked around again before Drew
muttered, “Well, since the doors off this room were all closed, to open one and
stand in the doorway probably isn’t too good an idea. As much as I’d hate to hear the smartass
comments of Boris if we did so, I suppose behind the drapes. You on one end of the sliding door and
windows, me on the other. We only have
to avoid being seen for the few seconds it will take Lee and whatever
bodyguards he has with him to clear the doorway.”
“We don’t tell
anyone where we hid, Drew. I don’t want
to listen to Boris go on about it for the next ten years.”
“Oh, when he
gets up here, he’ll look around and make some comment about the only place to
lay in wait would be the drapes…then wait for reaction from one of us.”
Bear
laughed. “At least the drapes are opened
up most of the way, and there’s a wall partway behind ‘em so no one from one of
the other buildings is likely to see us standing there. Speaking of which, I sure hope no one saw our
jump.”
“If they had, we
would have had company by now. We were
no doubt helped by the fact the only light on in this entire apartment was the
dim one over by the doorway. But I’m
glad you mentioned someone seeing in. No
doubt when they come in, someone will turn on brighter lighting. You get the end of the drapes with the pull
cord. When we have things in hand, shut
the damned drapes.”
Bear chuckled as
he walked to one end the opening and found the pull cord. He looked at Drew and nodded. “This is my end. See you later.”
Drew smiled as
he walked to the other end and got behind the drapes there. They waited for the better part of an hour
before they heard the door opening. They
both stood still until they heard the door latch sounding, to indicate the door
had been shut. As Drew predicted, one of
the two bodyguards with Lee turned on brighter lighting in the room.
Drew and Bear
stood out from behind the drapes, within a fraction of a second of one
another. Drew growled, “Freeze or die.”
Neither
bodyguard froze as both went for their weapons.
Both died.
As Drew took
three fast steps toward Lee, encouraging him to stand still as he did so, Bear
hurriedly shut the drapes. With his free
hand, Drew frisked Lee, and on finding no weapon, grabbed him by the silk tie
he wore and led him to a chair. “Sit.”
