84

I hung up my phone and, shouting over the wind, announced, “Jennifer and Shoshana were successful! Thomas is alive.”

Across from me, his feet splayed out, Aaron smiled and said, “Did you have any doubt?”

“Yeah, I did. Like I do for this ridiculous plan.”

We were racing to the airport with the team in the bed of a pickup, Chris driving and Johan in the passenger seat. I’d looked for something better, but the pickings at the police headquarters had been pretty slim. The back parking lot was full of SUVs and sedans, both marked and unmarked, but I needed something to hide the team.

Our new Lesotho police friend wanted to take the ones with official markings, but I was having none of that. We’d never get down the street without someone waving us over to stop a looting or prevent some other crime. The city was going a little nuts, the population not knowing for sure what was occurring but everyone understanding it wasn’t good, and it had been split between opportunists and dedicated citizens. The longer we remained at the police headquarters, the less likely we’d be able to drive out.

I’d surveyed the lot and said, “This isn’t going to work. We need a Trojan horse. Some way to get us all in undetected while showing Chris and Johan.”

I clicked on the net and said, “Veep, what the hell is taking you so long?”

Johan had told us he had a commercial drone in his ruck, and I’d sent Veep to go fetch it. I heard, “I’m here. At the front. Where are you?”

“Out back in the parking lot. Get that thing in motion.”

He appeared on the lot with a case about the size of a shoe box. I looked at Johan and said, “That drone can reach the airfield?”

He said, “Oh, yeah. It’s pretty good.”

No sooner had I said it than Veep—our millennial genius—had the drone in the air, a little spider-looking thing floating about, waiting on instructions.

Johan said, “You’ve only got about twenty-five minutes of air. Get it going.”

Veep did something with the controller, and the drone flew away, disappearing as quickly as a stone dropped off a cliff.

I said, “Okay, the one thing we know is they’re expecting Johan and Chris. Chris will drive, and Johan will be the prisoner.”

Johan said, “Well, I guess first things first.” He turned to Aaron, held out a set of flex-ties, and said, “Care to do the honors?”

Aaron took them and cinched his wrists together, saying, “I was wrong about you.”

Johan watched him work and said, “No, you weren’t. I’m not a good guy. I haven’t been one in a long, long time.”

Aaron took his knife and slit the attachment for the tie, so that Johan could break it with a simple twist. He held up the blade, letting Johan see it.

He said, “A knife can do both good and bad. It doesn’t understand the difference. You do. You will probably die on this mission. In fact, I can’t think of any way you won’t. Yet you choose to do it. A conscious decision. Before that happens, I just wanted you to know I forgive you.”

Taken aback, Johan said, “Thank you for that. I’m sorry for what I did to you.”

Aaron said, “Just get this done, and know that no thanks are necessary.”

Aaron released his wrists, then said, “But if you fuck this up, Shoshana will skin you alive. And she has every reason to do so.”

Johan gave a half-hearted laugh, wanting to be in on the joke, but unsure of what it was. Aaron looked him in the eyes and said, “That wasn’t humor.”

Veep said, “I’m over the airfield now. And it’s not looking good.”

We crowded around the screen, seeing immediately what he was talking about. The airfield was out by itself, with a two-lane road leading to the front of the building, the lone landing strip in the back. It was a single-story building without any Jetways or other modern airport conveniences. Basically, it had a drive on the front side for letting people off, and a runway on the back side for boarding a plane. It looked like an airport in 1960s Mississippi.

Veep said, “One checkpoint on the way in, sporadic security at the tarmac.”

I said, “Go back to the runway.”

He did, and we saw a C-130 on the tarmac, the ramp down and people loading.

I said, “So Armstrong’s on the ground. Which means the clock is ticking.”

Knuckles nodded and said, “What’s the plan?”

Chris’s radio squawked, and he answered it, looking at us, knowing any wrong word would seal his fate.

“This is Chris, go.”

“Bird’s on the ground. Armstrong’s here. Crew is loading up on a hot turnaround.”

Meaning the aircraft wasn’t even shutting down its engines. Chris said, “We’re supposed to be on it. Is it going to wait?”

“No. You bring Johan. The bird’s leaving without us. Don’t worry, Colonel Armstrong will get us out. Lenatha is happy with the reception. Feed these kaffirs a sacrifice and that’s all it takes.”

The words from the radio caused me to bristle. He was talking about Thomas. Chris said, “So you want me to come out now?”

“Yeah. Get moving. Armstrong’s talking to Lenatha about Johan. I think they want another sacrifice. Mosebo should be here soon. I’ve got his guys from the prime minister’s house holding the airfield. Turns out killing that fuck was a good decision, because we needed the manpower. Johan didn’t take into account the security required here. Either way, we’re about to knit this thing up.”

Chris looked at me, and I said, “Tell him you’re on the way but you don’t trust the guard force protecting the airfield. Tell him you want to be sure you can get in without being killed.”

He did so, and Andy answered, “Just get your ass here. The first vehicle we see is getting through. The next is getting toasted.”

Chris said, “Give me five minutes and we’re on the way.”

He dropped the mic and said, “I did what I could.”

Johan said, “Let Chris take me alone. I’ll kill Armstrong, Lenatha, and Andy. I promise I can get all three before they stop me.”

Chris looked decidedly sick at the suggestion, because he knew he’d be in the middle of that firefight, forcing him to choose a side. I said, “That’s not going to cut it. As much as I’d like to see those fucks bleed, it’s still mission failure for my team.”

Veep said, “Drone’s coming back. I’m out of flight time.”

I racked my brain, trying to come up with something that would get us in. Every infiltration course of action was foiled by that one lone road leading to the airfield. I had no aircraft for a HALO op, no helicopters for a shock assault, no secret newspaper truck for a clandestine entry.

I said, “We need a Trojan horse.”

Knuckles said, “What about that pickup?”

He pointed to a beat-up Ford with more primer than paint. “We can get in the back and cover ourselves with something. Trojan horse.”

Brett said, “That’s the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard.”

I said, “Yeah, and it just might work. Veep, find us something to cover the bed. Everyone else, load up.”

Ten minutes later we were closing on the airport, and I’d gotten the word from Jennifer about Thomas. Knuckles said, “You going to get them rolling here?”

“Yeah. I’ll stage them with the police. Aaron, give Shoshana a heads-up. Tell her to coordinate with Veep.”

Driven by Veep, the SUV behind us was full of Lesotho police, which I was going to leave on the shoulder of the road at the intersection of the airport entrance. Needless to say, Veep wasn’t too keen on the babysitting task, but tough shit. It had to go to somebody I trusted. The intersection was about four hundred meters away from the airport, making it close enough to call them in waving badges when we won.

If we won.

Johan pounded on the glass of the rear window and held up a single finger.

I said, “One minute, one minute. Knuckles, pass to Veep.”

Here we go.

We tucked down in the bed, and I dragged the tarp over us, Aaron and Knuckles working their end of the mission. Brett took the canvas and pulled it tight, saying, “I haven’t done anything this stupid since high school.”

I tucked the tarp over my head, the light now blotted out, and looked at him in our little cave. “How’d that work out?”

He grinned and said, “We went to jail. But I’m sure this’ll be different.”