The sign above the front windshield read: Hello Soccer Team, USA. The people on those buses—were they the ones he was down here to meet?
The driver pushed a handle forward and the door opened with a hydraulic swish.
“You guys got a few minutes? I gotta do a story on you.”
A moment of awkward silence came and went. Finally the “coach” beckoned the reporter aboard.
He happily climbed up the steps. He saw two dozen dark eyes staring back at him. It was nearly pitch-black aboard the bus. This was not a typical Greyhound. There were actually two compartments onboard.
Strange, he thought.
“We got a real scoop for you,” the coach said. “Some very interesting stuff.”
Tired and clueless, the reporter cued up his photophone and walked toward the rear of the bus. One of the players opened the padlock and pushed the door ajar.
The walls were lined with … weapons, including some kind of missiles.
The reporter could only utter one word: “Wow!” The pistol was against the back of his head a second later. The trigger was pulled twice.
He was dead before he hit the floor.
“Mack Maloney has created a team of realistic characters that pulse with patriotic fervor …Maloney hasn’t just crafted a great war story, he has set a new standard for action-packed thrillers.”
—Robert Doherty, bestselling author of the AREA 51 series