Corps Justice Boxed Set: Books 1-3: Back to War, Council of Patriots, Prime Asset (70 page)

Daniel knew he couldn’t change Cal’s mind.
They reviewed their maps one last time and went their separate
ways. Daniel watched as Cal disappeared into the squall. He could
only trust that he would see his friend again soon.

+++

Cal felt alive. Being all alone in the
wintery wilderness, he suddenly remembered what he loved most about
being a Marine. He loved the thrill of coming to a brother’s aid,
even in the face of almost certain death. Cal didn’t want to die,
but he wasn’t afraid of it. Like many other warriors, he’d always
hoped that his life would come to a swift end. He’d seen fellow
Marines suffer and fight through horrendous injuries only to
succumb in the end. No, Cal preferred a sniper round to the head.
Instant. No pain.

He shook the macabre thoughts from his head.
It wasn’t his time to die. He had to save Neil and get his men out
alive.

Ten minutes later, Cal knew he was getting
close. He stopped to consult his map and study the terrain. Despite
having an ultra-reliable GPS, Cal still liked to fall back on his
land navigation skills. As long as he had a map and a compass, Cal
could find his way.

Confident that he was exactly where the GPS
indicated, Cal moved cautiously toward his objective. He didn’t
want to approach the hide from the most obvious route. It would
take him a few more minutes to traverse up and over the objective,
but Cal didn’t want to leave anything to chance.

Just as he neared the point where he’d
decided to stage his pack, he caught movement out of the corner of
his eye. He looked around. There wasn’t anything in his field of
view. Turning back to his pack, he took off his skis and arranged
them in a standing X over his gear so he could find it again after
clearing the objective. It wouldn’t help one bit if he lost all his
equipment.

As he stuffed his last spare
magazine into one of his large cargo pockets, he heard what sounded
like an animal roar.
What the
hell?

Weapon out, he spun in a
quick three-sixty. Nothing.
What the hell
was that sound?
His breathing picked up as
he tried to scan through the snow. He’d have to get back at MSgt
Trent for putting the idea of bears in his head. Almost since they
landed, Trent had talked about wanting to see a grizzly bear. He
even kidded about the bears being hungrier than usual. “If they’re
so hungry, I’ll bet one of those grizzlies would love to catch them
some Mexican meat, Gaucho,” Trent had joked.

Maybe my mind’s just
playing tricks on me,
Cal
thought.

Cal did one last check of the area and
picked up the small day pack that had been clipped to his larger
hiking pack. It had some emergency rations and a first aid kit. The
smaller pack came in handy. At least he didn’t have to lug the
larger one around for a few minutes.

Stepping toward the steep
drop, Cal looked over. He couldn’t see more than ten feet
down.
Damn all this
snow
. Cal tested his footing and crept
along the ledge that would take him to a small game path up ahead.
He found the passage and did a quick look around to make sure he
wasn’t being followed. Looking back the way he came, he
squinted.
Holy Shit!
He saw a huge form running toward the ledge. An enormous
grizzly bear was charging straight at him.

Without a moment to think, Cal turned and
sprinted as fast as he could down the game trail. The angry bear
wasn’t far behind.

+++

Daniel had already found three claymore
mines on their approach. Rather than take the time to disable the
booby traps, the expert sniper bypassed them altogether. Trapper
was watching his back and using some heavy firepower to do it.

Just like Cal, Daniel and Lance staged their
gear as they neared their destination. Briggs grabbed his sniper
rifle and handed the smaller H&K submachine gun to Lance.

“You know how to shoot one of these?” Daniel
asked.

Lance nodded.

“Good. Hopefully you won’t have to use it,
but here are two extra mags just in case.” Daniel handed the
ammunition to Lance. As Lance checked their gear one last time,
Daniel pulled out the small radio and tried to reach Cal. All he
got was static. He couldn’t pick up any of the other teams either.
As long as they made their rendezvous, they’d be fine.

Daniel closed his eyes and tapped into his
heightened awareness. He said a silent prayer and then motioned to
Lance that it was time to leave. They moved off quietly, both
wondering if this would be the right place.

+++

Cal’s lungs burned as he ran. He could hear
the bear getting closer and closer. The path was getting narrower
as he moved. He had to be careful not to get too close to the
edge.

Ducking under an overhanging tree branch,
Cal stopped suddenly. Two inches from his face was a thin wire. Cal
traced it to its origin on the rock wall and found a claymore mine
carefully concealed behind debris. He’d come within inches of
having his head blown off.

The grizzly was closing in
despite the size of the path.
Maybe I can
use this
, Cal thought. He eased his way
under the tripwire. Although he hated to do it, Cal unslung his
pack and placed it under the deadly trap. Cal quickly opened the
main pouch, took out his small emergency kit and stuffed it in his
cargo pocket. Next, he extracted one of the compact bags of cold
weather rations and tore it open. He ripped each small food packet
open and threw it on the ground.
Maybe
that’ll give me a couple extra seconds.

Not waiting to see if his trap would work,
Cal turned and moved away from the roars of the angry bear.

+++

Daniel was the first one to see the small
hide. It was obvious that someone had been there recently. Despite
the heavy snowfall, he could see boot prints. The sniper slowly
stalked toward his objective, checking for tripwires as he
went.

“Move another inch and I’ll blow your
fucking head off,” came a voice above the cave. Daniel halted and
looked up. He could just make out a white form sitting on the
branch of a large pine tree. Daniel couldn’t see the man’s face but
he knew it was Trapper. “Put your rifle on the ground and puts your
hands up,” Trapper yelled over the howling wind.

Daniel did as ordered. He couldn’t believe
he’d walked right into the trap. The only consolation was that
apparently Trapper hadn’t seen Lance yet. As his enemy climbed down
from his perch, Daniel hoped Lance would have the sense to stay out
of sight.

+++

As luck would have it, Lance had just bent
down to examine something on the ground when he heard Trapper’s
voice. Lance froze as he strained to take in the unfolding scene.
He couldn’t see his former co-worker, but Lance could just barely
observe Daniel putting his weapon on the ground carefully and
placing his gloved hands on his head.

Lance flattened himself on the ground and
started to crawl toward the hide. He stopped again as another
figure walked into view. Trapper had his weapon trained on the
Marine sniper. Lance didn’t know what to do. He wasn’t smart enough
to come up with some elaborate play to help his friend. Lance
decided it was better to sit back and wait. Maybe an opportunity
would present itself.

+++

Daniel breathed a quiet sigh of relief as
Trapper kept his submachine gun pointed at him. Obviously the man
hadn’t seen Lance yet. Daniel prayed for guidance.

“Where’s the rest of your team?” Trapper
asked.

Daniel stood silently.

“I said, where’s the rest of your team?”

Daniel smiled. Trapper responded by
adjusting his aim and firing a round into the snow next to Daniel’s
left foot. The sniper didn’t even flinch.

“I can’t wait to beat that smile off your
face, Marine,” Trapper said. “Now move.”

Trapper motioned toward what Daniel
correctly assumed was the hide that he and Lance had been looking
for. Like all the others, the observation point was situated along
a small path overlooking the ravine.

Daniel ducked his head and entered the
alcove. He saw a radio, extra ammunition and claymores lying on the
far side of the depression. There was room for almost twenty men to
stand comfortably. Daniel was surprised by the size.

“Turn around,” Trapper ordered.

Daniel turned and faced his enemy.

Trapper moved into the hide. “Last chance.
Tell me where the rest of your men are.”

Daniel didn’t see the harm in telling the
man ‘most’ of the truth.

“We split up. Some of them are on the other
side of the ravine. The rest are probably a mile behind me.”

“Why are you by yourself?”

“I’m a sniper. I’m used to being on my
own.”

Trapper took a few seconds to respond. He’d
thought the blonde Marine would have resisted more.

“What did you do with Lance?”

“He’s still tied up at the house,” Daniel
lied.

Not that Trapper necessarily cared about
Lance’s well-being, but he had been curious about his former
colleague’s whereabouts.

“So here’s what’s going to happen. I’ve
gotta go find the rest of your friends and kill them. Since I can’t
drag you along, you’re going to kneel down right there and I’m
gonna put a bullet in your head.”

If Daniel was frightened, he didn’t show it.
He knew that when his time came, he would be prepared to meet The
Almighty. But something told him that it wasn’t his time to go. It
might have had something to do with the flicker of movement he saw
behind Trapper. Daniel smiled again and kneeled down on the
ground.

+++

Lance had silently followed Trapper and
Daniel. He’d overheard snippets of their conversation. Lance knew
he had to save Daniel, but he didn’t know how. His mind worked
desperately to come up with a plan. His lack of brainpower and the
uncertainty he felt toward harming Trapper kept Lance from making a
decision. He knew deep down that Trapper would shoot Daniel.

Stepping up to the alcove’s entrance, Lance
took a quick peek into the space. Daniel was slowly kneeling onto
the floor. Lance knew he had to move fast or his new friend would
die. Knowing it would slow him down, he placed his weapon against
the rock wall. Lance paused to steady himself and then ran into the
cave.

+++

Trapper sensed the movement coming from
behind. Moving to his left, he pivoted away from the cave’s
entrance. He stood in shock for a protracted second as he
recognized Lance barreling into the room. His surprise didn’t last
long as he quickly depressed the trigger and rounds reached out at
his target.

+++

Daniel didn’t have time to watch. He
extracted the blade strapped to his left wrist. Daniel silently
thanked Cal for the welcome gift he’d gotten when he joined SSI.
Cal had an identical blade that had been put to good use in the
past.

The sniper gracefully hopped to his feet and
moved toward Trapper.

+++

Lance grunted away the shock as he felt the
rounds tear into his body. The room seemed to move in slow motion
as he kept his focus on the wild-eyed Trapper. It seemed like a
never-ending stream of bullets coming his way, violating his
muscular body. Lance pressed forward through the pain.

+++

Trapper knew he’d hit Lance with at least
ten rounds, but the man kept coming. It was too late when he
finally remembered the other man in the room. Turning back to where
Daniel had been, Trapper’s eyes went wide. He struggled to swivel
his aim as Daniel closed the remaining distance, blade leading.

+++

His heartbeat barely elevated, Daniel
silently slid his blade under Trapper’s chin to the hilt and
twisted. Trapper dropped his weapon as he moved his hands to stop
the blade. While the two men locked eyes, Lance barreled in,
knocking all three to the floor in a bloody heap.

Chapter 31

Grand Teton Mountain Range, Wyoming

3:56pm, September 28th

The bear had stopped its
bellowing.
He must have found the
pack
, Cal thought as he inched his way
forward. The satisfying boom he was waiting for never came as he
sat and listened again.
Maybe it was a
dud.

The Marine hadn’t found any other tripwires
so far, but he wasn’t taking any chances. He had to be careful. The
thin path was too easy to booby trap.

Just as he started forward again, he heard a
loud explosion followed by a frightening scream from the injured
grizzly. Cal didn’t like killing innocent animals, but if it came
down to a fight, he sure as hell was going to do his damnedest to
win, even if it meant killing the bear. Cal closed his eyes,
waiting for the grizzly’s screams to subside. Instead of stopping,
they became angry roars and seemed to be getting closer.

Cal hurried to try to close the remaining
distance to the hidden alcove. He glanced back and saw the bear
moving effortlessly along the ledge. Cal had no choice but to turn
back and defend himself.

His submachine gun felt pathetically small
as he looked up at the gigantic bear that had now reared up on its
hind legs. Cal fired his 9mm rounds into the grizzly’s body. The
bullets didn’t even seem to slow the bear. With lightning speed, it
swatted the weapon out of Cal’s hands. The gun fell into the
whiteness of the deep ravine.

The bear looked at Cal as if
to say,
you have two seconds to
run
. Cal took the hint, turned and ran. The
grizzly paused for a moment to lick its bloody paw, roared, and
then followed. It seemed to recognize that its quarry was cornered.
The large male knew every inch of its territory. The path ended
soon and Cal would have nowhere to go.