Chapter 24
Reston, Virginia
Friday
10:41 p.m. Eastern Time
“Copy, Alpha…transferring to Beta track.”
“Be careful, Case,” Frank told him.
“Copy that,” U.S. Army Major Casey Dugan acknowledged. “Alright, Overwatch, I’ve got a vehicle approximately two hundred meters due west of my location. I’m going to designate it. Give me a thermal on it.”
“Copy that, Beta. Go for designator.”
Casey pulled the infrared laser designator from his pack and splashed the car with it. From the rooftop he had a clear line of sight to the front end of the car, but the back half was blocked by a tree and a hedgerow. As far as he could tell it was a newer model electric car. If it was a getaway car, that made sense. Electric cars were quiet.
“Designator detected. Vehicle is occupied. There is one signature in the driver’s seat.” Overwatch alerted him.
“Copy that, Overwatch.”
Dugan rolled over onto his back, pulling the sniper rifle around to his chest and folded the bipod down. Quickly, he slid down the steep angle of the roof to where it flattened out over the back patio area and slung the weapon on his back. He climbed over the edge until he hung from his fingertips and dropped to ground, landing parkour style to catch his balance.
“Follow me, Overwatch, and guide me in. Keep an eye out for signatures that ain’t ours,” he said into the throat mic.
“Roger that, Beta. We have you closing at one hundred seventy meters. Clearest path is between the house to your left and the one in front of you. We have dispatched a support team to surround the area and give you backup.”
Casey paused for a step to get his bearings on what Overwatch had just told him, but only for a brief step. He crossed the street to the sidewalk, avoiding the fire truck by turning left to the west past one house. He cut between the two houses into the drainage cut, splashing in the mud that covered the concrete ditch. He broke through to the cul-de-sac on the backside behind the Watkins residence and through the yard across that street there.
“You are on the side yard of the house behind the house where the vehicle is parked. The backup team has moved into place and awaiting your action.”
“Copy that, Overwatch. Bring them in.” Dugan crouched and slipped past the hedgerow and out onto the street behind the target vehicle.
“Out of the car—now!” Dugan shouted, startling the driver.
Instantly, the car silently shot backward with the silent deadly acceleration of an electric sportscar. Casey barely had enough time to react, jumping up and forward as the car slammed into him, sprawling him across the hatch. He grabbed at the luggage rack for a handhold and managed to wrap his left hand around it.
“Stop the goddamned car!” he shouted.
The tires skidded as the reverse motion stopped instantaneously. The force of it slinging him back felt like it would rip his arm out of the socket. Casey managed to roll his body over and fire his handgun through the rear hatchback window as the car started accelerating forward. The rear glass broke and the thrust of the car forward once again almost threw him off the vehicle. He managed to get a foothold on the bumper just enough to push himself upward and fire two more rounds into the car. The window gave, bringing Casey crashing through it into the back of the vehicle.
The driver swerved the car hard to the left, throwing him into the right side of the cargo area. Casey had had just about enough of that. He flipped the rear seat release and folded it over, sliding forward with a kick of his boot against the broken windowpane of the hatch. This gave him enough stability that he rolled forward, placing the handgun against the driver’s head.
“Stop now, slowly, or I pull the trigger.”
The driver slammed on the breaks, slinging them both forward. Casey pulled the trigger but he was already out of position and he caught an elbow to the side of his jaw. He did his best to block it and grapple as the man continued to swerve the vehicle wildly. With a swerve, they power-slid into the curb and up onto the sidewalk. Casey lost his grip on his pistol. There was a flash of metal that glinted with the passing streetlights that caught his eye. The driver had a gun in his left hand and was trying to bring it around to fire at him over his right shoulder.
Casey tried to roll to the left but his rifle barrel caught on the seatbelt strap. So, instead of rolling to the left he dropped to his back and popped the sling release. Then he rolled just in time as the driver fired two shots where his head had been a second before.
He grabbed the driver’s side rear passenger seat seatbelt and stretched it over the front bucket seat and around the man’s head and left arm. The driver slammed on the breaks again, let go of the wheel with his right hand, and slung his free elbow around at Casey. But this time, Casey was prepared for it and blocked it with a right outer block and then punched the man in the side of the head repeatedly. The armored knuckles of his glove tore the skin with each blow, turning the driver’s face nearest his temple and right ear into a bloody mess.
“I SAID…STOP…THE…GODDAMNED…CAR!” Casey continued to pummel into the man. When it looked to Casey like he had the upper hand he grabbed the pistol, switched it to his right hand, and then hit the driver in the face with the butt of it. The polymer hilt of the weapon tore a gash in his forehead. “Stop!”
The car slammed into a parked pickup truck, causing the airbag to deploy into the driver, knocking him unconscious. Casey was slung forward but he managed to tuck his head and let his body armor take most of the crash. Stunned for a brief moment, he lay sprawled across the middle console, staring up at the bloody pulp of a man in front of him. It took him several seconds before his mind cleared enough to realize he was still in the car with a potential killer. Then the beam from a powerful flashlight hit his face, blinding him, and the driver’s door was slung open.
“Don’t move! FBI!”