CHAPTER FIFTY-FOUR
Back on foot, Michael heard the whup-whup-whup of helicopter rotors. He knew the sound of the AH-64H, Apache Attack Helicopter, by heart. From the way his captors looked toward the sky, he could tell they recognized the sound, too. Michael felt a tingle run up his spine when the noise grew louder.
Sokic had stopped. He now cocked an ear upward. He looked at Michael. Michael smiled back, watching realization strike.
“Take cover,” Sokic yelled. He dove into a shallow dry ditch beside the road. Dimitrov and Pyotr followed suit. Josef, tugging violently on the rope around Michael’s wrists, dragged him into the ditch on the opposite side of the road and dove on top of him. Vassily dropped into the same ditch, farther down the road.
Helicopter noise grew louder and louder. Then Michael felt the beat of the rotors churning the air above him.
But the choppers moved away, farther down the road, taking Michael’s desperate hope with them.
“Scooter, we’re past the position where those men are supposed to be,” Jess Dombrowsky shouted. “Let’s turn around and make another pass to the north.”
“Roger,” Scooter replied, following Dombrowsky. “We can’t hang around here much longer, though, Jess. Those Serb jets are going to join the party any minute.”
“Damn, that was close,” Josef said, starting to climb out of the ditch.
“Get back down,” Vassily yelled. “The Americans could come back.”
Josef fell back down. “Fucking Americans,” he grumbled. But he raised his head and saw two specks on the horizon about a mile away. They seemed to be getting bigger.
Michael heard the Apaches coming back. It’s now or never, he thought. He snapped his head backward through the half-foot of space Josef had created by lifting his own head. Michael felt the crunch of bone and cartilage when the back of his head smashed into Josef’s face. A sharp pain shot through Michael’s head, neck, and shoulders, making him forget for a moment about his busted ribs. He felt dizzy. Josef went limp and fell with his full weight onto Michael’s back. Michael peeked over at Vassily through his now-cloudy vision. The Serb appeared to be facing away, his arms covering his head.
Rolling Josef off his back, Michael grabbed the Serb’s AK-47 assault rifle and, with his eyes closed, checked the weapon’s safety. It was off. He opened his eyes, then squeezed them shut, hoping to clear his vision. When he opened them again, he seemed to be able to see a lot better. He pulled the knife from the scabbard on Josef’s belt and cut the Serb’s throat.
He wiped the blade on his fatigue pants, propped the knife upside down between his boots and sawed the ropes on his wrists against its razor-sharp blade. The ropes parted while the Apaches roared overhead on their way back to the north. Their screaming rotors kicked up dust devils that screened Michael from the Serbs. Gripping the knife, he crept on his hands and knees toward Vassily, whose shape appeared dimly in the dust cloud. The Serb still had his head down, protecting his face from the blowing dirt. Then, as the choppers passed them, Vassily suddenly turned toward Michael. Shock showed on his face.
Vassily drew his knife – Michael was too close for him to have time to bring his rifle around. The Serb rolled away and came up on his knees.
They grappled, each with a grip on the other’s knife hand. The Serb was bigger and stronger, but Michael was faster. He broke the Serb’s hold on his wrist, twisted him onto his stomach, heaved himself atop, and drove his knife into the side of Vassily’s neck. Pressing down with all his weight, he waited for his enemy to stop struggling, while warm blood splashed over his hand.
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EVIL DEEDS
Misterio / SuspensoEvil Deeds is the first in a 4-book series that follows the Danforth family from the kidnapping of their 2-year-old son in Greece in 1971 to present day. The book (and series) is a roller coaster ride of action and suspense. This book, as with all o...
