Part 29 (1/2)
Olmos elbowed him again, whispering, ”Turnoff for 82.”
Leeds nodded, slowing for the upcoming turn.
”Any way the local cartel could have been directly involved?” said Flagg.
”I think it's unlikely,” said Leeds. ”The cartel took a beating.”
”Where is El Pedro now?”
”Last I saw, he was in hot pursuit of the two SUVs.”
”Sorry to bring up an indelicate topic in front of Ray,” said Flagg, ”but why aren't you with them?”
”They left me in the dust long before I found Ray,” said Leeds. ”I got lucky with this car. Had to create a roadblock with dead bodies to get one of the cartel stragglers to stop.”
”All right. I need to get on the line with El Pedro and my primary cartel contact. It sounds like the Mexicans are our only hope at this point.”
”If it's any consolation, Petrov can take the money he saved on Chukov's contract and contribute it to the effort.”
”Oh, he's going to open his wallet. They all are,” said Flagg. ”I'm taking a different approach with this, based on what happened in Nogales. I'm going to tell the ONC council that we received a tip from one of our cartel contacts that some gringos were smuggled over the border in Mexicali on the same night as the Marine convoy ambush. Further digging suggested the presence of a CLM covert operations group operating out of the city, moving back and forth into California through a series of tunnel systems. I'm bringing the Fishers and David back to life. Basically saying that they somehow escaped the ambush and were spirited away by CLM.”
Leeds was stunned by the idea. It made sense. Quinn and Fisher had so far demonstrated an uncanny ability to slip out of Cerberus's grasp, and there was no reason to think it couldn't have happened again, especially with CLM on their side.
”You could use this to justify escalating hostilities against CLM, and accelerate the timeline of our California operations,” said Leeds. ”I don't think this would be a tough sell, especially with Petrov's tacit support.”
”I could pitch this in my sleep. How does this sound?” said Flagg. ”It's obvious that the secessionist movement has progressed far beyond a gra.s.sroots political movement. The days of organizing rallies and pressuring voters has yielded to hijacking police drones and fielding special operations teams. If we don't take broad, decisive steps today to combat their s.h.i.+ft in tactics, we risk losing everything. Pull out your wallets.”
”Not bad at all. Here's a question, though,” said Leeds. ”Aren't they already paying a small fortune for Cerberus's services?”
”Things have drastically changed over the past few days. CLM is up to something on the California border, and they just ambushed a Cerberus team in Nogales.”
”I'm not following,” said Leeds.
”I didn't report all of our casualties from the Marine convoy attack. I had a feeling those lost bodies might come in handy to explain my sudden interest in Mexico. I'll report that a four-man team, led by Olmos, was ambushed while investigating a lead in Nogales. Is Olmos capable of verifying that story?”
”I'm sure he won't have a problem with that,” said Leeds.
”Good. With enough money, One Nation, through Cerberus, can order carte blanche from the menu. They can put a nationwide price on Fisher's head. All of their heads. Lock down the CLM movement in the Wastelands and beyond. This allows us to refocus our efforts on California, where the real battle will be fought.”
”What if Fisher, or any of them, slips through the cracks?” said Leeds.
”With the cartel on the job, they'll be dead within a few hours of surfacing,” said Flagg. ”I don't think a cop killer will pull at any heartstrings. Neither will a Marine deserter with ties to CLM activists. Not before they succ.u.mb to unnatural causes.”
”Sounds like a welcome s.h.i.+ft in strategy. We're coming up on the airport,” said Leeds. ”You don't think Petrov will have a problem with us borrowing his jet, do you?”
”I'll call Petrov and square away the jet,” said Flagg. ”And don't get comfortable after you land. I need you at the Mojave site as soon as possible. That will be the next domino to fall.”
”That's a big domino.”
”We need something big right now,” said Flagg, then disconnected the call.
Leeds craned his neck, looking past the hangar buildings for the white jet that would deliver them from this h.e.l.lhole.
CHAPTER 48.
David studied the line of cars ma.s.sing a few hundred yards behind them, trying to guess the cartel's new game. Up until a minute or so ago, they had sent one or two cars forward at full speed, trying to ram their SUV off the road. He'd been able to repel each attempt by focusing long bursts into each vehicle, until the approaching cars swerved off the road with a presumably dead driver or dropped back after absorbing casualties.
Only one of the dozen or so vehicles sent had made it far enough to hit the SUV, nearly knocking them off the road. He'd emptied a full ammunition drum into the truck when it tried for a second hit, stopping it dead in the middle of the highway. The swarm of vehicles opened to let it through their ranks, closing up as soon as they had raced past. Now he sensed a different strategy forming.
”I think they're getting ready for a ma.s.s attack,” yelled David.
”I'm surprised they waited this long,” said Alpha. ”How are you doing for ammo?”
”I used the last drum on the pickup that hit us,” said David. ”I'm set for magazines.”
He'd replenished his tactical vest with spare magazines from one of the duffel bags pulled from the cargo compartment, stas.h.i.+ng the rest throughout the backseat area. Any magazines he couldn't stuff in a cup holder or door had been dumped onto the seat. Running out of ammunition would not be his problem. Putting it to effective use against a coordinated attack was the challenge.
Each magazine held thirty-five rounds, which he could burn through in seconds, requiring him to pause for a few seconds to reload. With all of the vehicles advancing simultaneously, he'd be lucky to knock two or three of them out of commission before they overwhelmed the SUV and moved on to overtake the Fishers' vehicle. Maybe these crazies were smarter than they acted, luring him into expending all of his higher-capacity ammunition drums before the big attack.
”Switch to three-round bursts,” said Alpha. ”Take one vehicle down at a time.”
”Got it,” he said, flipping the selector switch to burst.
Dozens of cartel gunmen simultaneously leaned out of the windows and stood up in pickup truck beds behind them and began firing on full automatic. Bullets pinged against the back of the SUV and cracked past the side windows, some rattling through the cabin.
”Here they come!” said David, pressing his rifle's fore grip against the seat back.
Before he stared firing, the SUV veered left, and for a fraction of a second, he thought Alpha had taken a ricochet to the face. When he looked over his shoulder to check, he saw the Fishers' SUV drop rapidly into place next to them.
A puff of white smoke left the back of the adjacent SUV, trailing away behind them as the Fishers' SUV rocketed ahead of them again. David turned his head toward the approaching swarm in time to see the chrome grille of a black lowrider pickup truck explode. The truck instantly swerved right and decelerated, barely clipping the back end of a red sedan before disappearing behind the swarm.
”Direct hit!” yelled David.
A white SUV raced from the back of the pursuing pack to take the lowrider truck's place. One down. Too many to go.
David fired, concentrating his bursts on the raised yellow pickup in the middle. The pickup took several hits across the winds.h.i.+eld before it slowed and tucked behind the front line. He switched to the adjacent sedan, placing his first burst into the gla.s.s directly in front of the driver. The vehicle swerved left into the void left by the yellow pickup, dropping out of formation.
Two down. And the cartel had closed two-thirds of the gap. This was about to get interesting.
Alpha changed lanes again, letting the Fishers' SUV fall rapidly into place next to them. Another puff of smoke sailed toward the advancing horde, followed by a crunching detonation at least twenty feet behind the farthest cartel vehicle. s.h.i.+t. Fisher had gotten lucky with his first shot. A dozen bullets slapped into the back of the adjacent SUV before it sped forward again, leaving David's vehicle to absorb the brunt of the cartel's fusillade.
They were about to take more than bullets. A white truck veered diagonally from the left side of the formation, heading straight for the SUV.
”Speed up and turn right!” yelled David.