“Shouldn’t you be worried about taking off?” asked Devin, taking a seat with the machine gun pointed toward the forest.
“The Bell 429 kind of flies itself,” said Marnie.
“I’m willing to bet it doesn’t,” said Devin.
His radio squawked. “Marnie. How long until takeoff? We have company coming in from the east.”
She plopped down in the pilot’s seat. “Rotor speed is still building, but it’s starting to level off. Fifteen to twenty seconds max.”
“Copy. We’re on our way back. It’s going to be a close call,” said Rich. “Devin. I need you on that 249. The moment we jump on board, start hosing down the tree line where we pop out. You should be able to see us—right about now.”
Devin looked up and caught the two of them emerging from the forest and sprinting toward the helicopter. Jesus. Here we go. He quickly located the safety button on the right side of the trigger grip and pressed it. Rich and Alex piled into the helicopter moments later, nearly knocking him over.
“Hit the tree line!” said Rich, slapping him on the shoulder. “Marnie. Get us the fuck out of here!”
Devin braced the M249 against the doorframe and aimed at the point where they had emerged, pressing the trigger briefly. The machine gun pounded his shoulder, rattling off a short burst. Marnie hadn’t been kidding. The gun was a beast. He pressed the trigger again, holding it for a full second. The machine gun wasn’t as hard to control now that he knew what to expect. Devin repeated the process six more times before the magazine drum emptied—methodically shifting his aim along a twenty-yard stretch of tree line. The helicopter lurched skyward as he fired the last burst.
CHAPTER 52
Felix Orlov knew they were running out of time when he heard the two suppressed gunshots. His only hope of preventing a catastrophic mission failure lay in reaching the landing zone and surprising the hostile force before they could either take off or put the machine gun to use against the group that had chased them to the helicopters. The race would be extremely close. The helicopter sounded as though it was ready for takeoff.
He weaved around trees, ducked under branches, and brute-forced his way through the brush, single-mindedly focused on catching a glimpse of the helicopter through the thick forest. Once Felix spotted the helicopter, he would halt the team and unleash a storm of gunfire. Two full magazines before moving forward to assess the situation. The rotor pitch suddenly deepened, meaning one thing. Someone on the team knew how to fly a helicopter!
He was about to give the order to fire blindly ahead of them when his satellite phone buzzed.
About fucking time!
He slowed to remove the phone from his vest, the other two operatives burning past him.
“Hold up!” he yelled before stopping to accept the phone call.
Automatic gunfire ripped through the trees, a single short burst at first, passing well overhead. He darted to the right and dived behind a thick tree trunk, barely escaping the longer bursts that followed—which struck at waist height. When the shooting stopped for a few seconds, he peeked around the tree with his rifle and fired on full automatic until the magazine ran dry. None of his bullets hit their mark. A stiff gust of dusty air washed through the foliage, indicating that the helicopter had already taken off.
Felix searched the ground next to him for the satellite phone. He’d dropped it when he slammed into the tree. His hand bumped into it next to his foot. He snatched it up and put it to his ear. “This is Felix!”
“It doesn’t sound like you’re at the ambush site.”
“They got away,” said Felix.
“Not for long. We managed to get a few of our friendlies on the second helicopter. Head back to the ambush site and wait for instructions.”
The call disconnected, and he threw the phone to the ground.
“Valerie. Oksana. What’s your status?” he said over the net.
No response—and he had no intention of breaking cover to check on them visually. He was still well in range of the M249 LMG. A few seconds later, he risked a look, seeing one of them on the ground, arms and legs splayed in a manner that strongly suggested they wouldn’t be getting back up. Ever.
Screw it. Felix launched to his feet and sprinted for the tree next to Oksana, making it halfway before tripping on a pair of legs hidden by the brush. He landed face-to-face with Valerie, the young operative’s lifeless eyes competing for Felix’s attention with the small bullet hole an inch to the side of the man’s nose.