Cliff Ryder - Aim And Fire

I’ll do it only because I think it’s the right thing to do.

She considered the issue staring her in the face—the loose nuke. It was simple enough on the surface. Break several laws, circumvent the rules and save hundreds of thousands of people, or do it by the book and take the chance that they could catch the terrorists—whom they still hadn’t identified—before they could detonate the nuclear device that had been smuggled into the U.S.

Nate, even after she had scolded him like an errant child, apparently still thought enough of her to include her in his plan. Of course, you could also be a convenient scapegoat if it all goes wrong, she thought. But that didn’t seem to be Nate’s style. He was direct, abrasive and perhaps working on a hair-trigger, but she hadn’t sensed any sort of machinations when he had made the offer, just an honest desire for her help. From what she’d seen in the short time they had been working together, he truly thought this would be the best way to move the case forward.

That was one factor. The other was her own instinct in terms of analyzing the data she had and reaching a conclusion. She sat down on the bed and quickly ran through everything she knew so far, from when she had first received this case to what they had discovered at the barn. Everything she knew pointed to one very real fact—there was a nuclear device loose in America, and it was going to be used soon.

The longer the terrorists had it, the more likely they would be caught, so they would only bring it in when their plan was nearing its final stages. If it was still in El Paso, then they had a chance of stopping it. If it wasn’t, they had to find out where it had gone as soon as possible. And if it was headed east, toward the White House…

Tracy shook her head, reaching for the phone, then actively restraining herself from calling Paul and telling him to take Jennifer and leave the city. She had no way of knowing that was their final target. Instead, she dialed another number.

“Customs and Border Protection, Agent Spencer speaking.”

“It’s Tracy. I’m in,” she said.

“Good. Everything’s arranged at the hospital, so all we need to do it pick up our source.”

“You set this up already? You knew I was going to agree?”

“Let’s just say I played a strong hunch. You’re smart, aggressive, and I can tell you don’t like to lose. And if we go through the normal channels on this, we are going to lose—I guarantee it.”

“Pick me up as soon as possible,” she said.

“I’m already on my way.”

Tracy snapped her cell phone shut and sat on the edge of her bed, hoping she wasn’t about to flush her career down the toilet.

Nate’s stomach twisted into knots as he drove though El Paso’s south side, working his way toward the Barrio Aztecas hangout. For a wild moment, he considered calling the whole operation off, but knew that was impossible.

They had one shot at a solid lead on whoever had the nuke, and he was going to take it, even if it meant risking everything.

As he headed south on Kansas Street, deeper into the heart of the Segundo Barrio, his gaze passed over Tracy, who was dressed in black sweatpants, a black, long-sleeved T-shirt and black running shoes. His outfit was the same, except he wore steel-toed combat boots. Neither of them had any identification, no badges, not even wallets. If it went wrong, they didn’t want the gangbangers to know who they were.

“You all right? Last chance to back out,” he said as they approached their destination.

Tracy mustered a game smile. “What, and leave you to go in and get shot by yourself? You know the stakes are too high to risk all on this one person. You go—I go.”

“All right, then.” He turned off the ignition and held out the keys. “Take these. If you leave and I don’t, there’ll be a damn good reason for it. And no last-minute heroics, either—if I tell you to get out, you better go like your ass is on fire and your hair’s catching. Get to the truck, get the hell out of here, turn left at the intersection, turn right at the next one, and that road will take you to the highway. That should get you clear. Say it back to me.”

Tracy repeated his directions in a clear, steady voice, then said, “Let’s get on with it.”

Nate nodded. There was nothing left to do but finish their prep and go. He got out, checked his pistol and made sure it was accessible in its holster on his hip. He casually scanned the area, which he had chosen for its lack of nearby housing.

On the other side, Tracy was making her final preparations, including pulling a black knit mask over her face, then securing a strap around her head. Nate did the same, then took a small night-vision monocular from his pocket.

Standing on the running board of the Silverado, he put it to his eye and studied the route they would take to the house. The streetlights in the area worked intermittently at best, which was good, since there were no trees for cover, only the sides of houses. Nate checked the windows for signs of observers, a moving curtain on this breezeless night, a shadow passing in front of a living-room or bedroom window or anything else that tripped his stakeout senses. He saw nothing. So far, so good, he told himself.

With Nate leading the way, they crossed a small median, then entered the block containing the gang house. On one side, one of the single-story homes had suffered a fire and looked abandoned, with empty, gaping window frames yawning wide in smoke-blackened walls. The other house was either deserted, or the occupants were asleep.

Nate crept down the narrow space between the two homes, trying to look everywhere at once, expecting a gangbanger to pop out from the shadow. He reached the end of the space, and peeked out at the gang house, only a few yards away. Putting the monocular to his eye, he scanned the back of the house carefully, finding what he was looking for on the flat roof. A guard had nodded off, apparently exhausted from keeping watch over all the partiers during the evening.

Nate pointed at Tracy, held up his hand to indicate she should stay put, pointed at himself, then at the back door.

After her nod of understanding, and steeling himself for the impact of a bullet out of nowhere, he walked slowly toward the door, every sense alert for the slightest indication they’d been made. When he reached the door, he took up a position beside it, then waved Tracy forward.

When she reached the side of the house, he removed night-vision goggles from a hard-shell container on his left hip and clicked them into place on the hands-free mount on his forehead. After checking to see that Tracy had done the same, he turned them on, and the world around him flared into sharp, brilliant, green-and-black life. They were too powerful to use on the street, where the light from the lamps would have blinded him, but in the dark backyard, they were perfect. Every detail of the squalid area around him was visible as if it were high noon. With the goggles in place over her eyes, as well, Tracy flashed him a thumbs-up, indicating she was ready to go.

Nate extracted a lock pick and torsion wrench from his kit and went to work on the back door while Tracy kept an eye out for anyone. Minutes ticked by, until he finally engaged the last tumbler and was rewarded by the lock opening with a soft click. Nate froze, but when no one showed up after another minute, he put his picks away, drew his pistol and gently eased open the door.

The inside of the house was stifling, with a pall of mar-ijuana smoke hanging over the rooms in a thick haze.

Tracy muffled a slight cough as she came inside, drawing a glare from Nate. The hallway ran two-thirds of the length of the house, terminating in the living room he had been in yesterday. Next to the hallway was a staircase that went up to the second floor. Nate pointed up, where he could hear the far-off rattle of a window air conditioner. Pistol aimed at the second-floor landing, he cautiously stepped on the first stair, near the wall, so it wouldn’t creak. Part-way up, he reached over and unscrewed the single bare light bulb from the hallway fixture. He then proceeded up the rest of the stairs, sweeping and clearing the second-floor hallway before motioning Tracy up after him.