Dark Alliance

The Executioner knew he would have reacted the same way given the circumstances.

Eventually, hatches opened and the pilot and his passenger climbed out. Both men were armed. Huddled together at the front of the chopper they discussed how to handle the situation. There was no doubt they had spotted the dead men.

Bolan ran a double check of his weapons. The reloaded Uzi was set to one side. He set an AK-74 for full auto mode. He knew the men were not there to ask after his welfare. He saw them move, AK assault rifles in their hands as they double-timed in the direction of the camp. They were aiming directly for the hut where Bolan was waiting.

He watched the two men as they closed in.

The lead man opened fire as he approached the hut. Bolan saw the wink of flame from the black muzzle.

He snapped up his own weapon, returning fire that ripped splinters from the door frame, then continued on to puncture the gunner’s torso in a bloody spray. The man stumbled back, face contorted, mouth open in a warning shout. Bolan hit him with a second burst that rolled him along the side of the hut and dropped him facedown on the sodden ground.

A blur of movement showed in the open doorway. The second man ignored his partner’s warning and ran directly into Bolan’s line of fire. The Executioner held his finger on the trigger and cleared the magazine, blowing his target to shreds.

Crouching, he fed in a fresh magazine and cocked the assault rifle before he did anything else. He climbed to his feet, feeling the overwhelming fatigue returning, and knew if he didn’t get some rest he was going to fall flat on his own face. He had to find out why he’d ended up at the camp and what Raul Manolo was planning. But first he had to make his final escape.

6

Florida

It was late by the time Bolan arrived in Riba Bay. He pulled in at the first motel he saw, took a room and slept through to morning. A long shower helped to clear his head. After a shave he dressed in fresh clothing, hung the shoulder rig under his jacket and walked to the diner across the road. He sat down and realized how hungry he was. The previous day had been too busy to allow him to eat. He ordered a solid breakfast and coffee.

While he waited he called Hal Brognola. The big Fed didn’t sound too happy and grouched his way through the preliminaries.

“That set-to on the highway is going to take some time to settle. I didn’t expect a small war to break out when I asked you to look for Maggie.”

“Same goes for me.” Bolan paused as the waitress brought his coffee. “Has Bear picked up anything else from her intel?”

“A couple of Cubans. Chico Delgado. Turns out he’s a wheeler-dealer. And there’s a government minister. Santos Perez.”

“Mixed up with Colombians?”

“Struck me as curious.”

“Anything on the crew who pulled the roadblock?”

“Bear pulled the rap sheets of the perps from the Florida State Trooper’s database. Fingerprints identified three of them. They were all hard cases with records going back years. All had done time. One of them was linked with Raul Manolo a couple of years back.”

“It’s starting to look like Manolo doesn’t want me treading on his toes.”

“Striker, watch out for Manolo. His sheet reads like he’s a career psycho. He’s literally got away with murder on a number of occasions. It’s like he’s untouchable.”

“Candidate for a visit, then,” the Executioner said.

“Maggie made some mention of weapons trading. She hadn’t pinned it down when her notes ran out.”

“Colombian drug dealers. Cubans. Now guns. This is getting heavy.”

“Yeah, tell me about it. I’m going to pass you over to Bear. He wants to download some images to your cell.”