C O M B A T
By
DimariS
CHAPTER ONE
A soldier peered carefully through the brush taking in the landscape. Noises made by running feet were converging all around him. At last he could make out his team members dropping to the ground and inching forward. Thank God for night scopes. He spotted his commander checking the area, raising his fist, and pointing two fingers to the right and left. The team quietly dispersed. Their mission for the government had been a success and now they were trying to rendezvous with the extraction team.
Suddenly lights and gunfire erupted near them. Once the night vision had reset from the glare, the soldier could make out about thirty militants attempting to surround their position while raking the area with rapid gunfire. His commander signaled the team to pull back and flank the militants. Then the fire fight began.
Just as quickly as it began the shooting stopped. Most of the enemy had been gunned down, but not all. Apparently, they were trying to regroup. As the team members began to do the same, they determined their losses. They had started this mission with ten men, all of whom were seasoned and skilled combatants. Their leader, specifically selected for this assignment, chose his team of specialists. These men had known one another and fought together for years. They had respect and trust in each member but especially for their leader who was lying at their feet in a pool of his own blood.
The soldier, the leader's second in command, called up the medic to evaluate the leader's condition while he checked on the other team members. There were several men with gunshot wounds, some surface and some severe. However, none were injured as badly as the leader. He knew they had to leave the area before the enemy had time to regroup.
They were about four kilometers from the extraction site and the second in command, who was known as Tank by his comrades, realized that the leader, Ranger, would have to be evacuated by litter. He was unconscious and bleeding heavily. The medic, Bobby Brown, had bandaged Ranger's wounds but it appeared that one or more of the bullets had damaged a major artery. The blood was bright red.
The team quickly and quietly prepared a litter. Four of the unwounded men picked it up and, lifting both the litter and Ranger on their shoulders, followed Tank. The remaining team members took up the rear guard position. They moved at a fast clip as quietly as possible toward the rendezvous site. If they didn't get to the chopper fast, Ranger wouldn't survive.
The communications specialist, Lester Santos, radioed their location, requested medical assistance, and reported the wounded men's condition. Now it was up to the plan, their skills, and the Almighty.
Tank could hear the enemy rushing up behind them. To cover their escape he assigned three snipers. A few minutes later, the sounds of seven single gunshots came from behind as chopper blades reverberated above.
Running flat out, the entire group vaulted into the chopper carrying Ranger with them. They had made it – so far.
CHAPTER TWO
Lula was standing at the Mickie D's counter waiting to pick up her order. Steph was outside keeping the motor running. They were both starving after a long, busy morning trying to put Trenton's bond skipping losers back into the New Jersey penal system. Recently, their efforts were more successful since Steph began using search engines at RangeMan, LLC, to do more extensive background checks on their skips.
When they brought their captured body receipts into the Vincent Plum Bond Agency, the office manager, Connie, had handed them one more file with their checks. After going by the bank they had decided to try to close this file before having a late lunch. Unfortunately, this was one they should have checked.
Heading to a rundown clapboard house near Comstock Street, they exited the car, walked up the stoop and knocked. Stephanie prepared to identify herself to the emaciated, tattooed woman who answered the door.
"Whatcha want?" the woman asked.
"I'm Stephanie Plum of Vincent Plum Bond Agency. I'm looking for Charles Westin. He missed his court date."
"I don't know where he's at" she answered flatly.
"Do you know where he might be?" Stephanie asked.
"Nah, we only hooked up the other day so I don't know much about him."
Stephanie handed her a card and asked her to get in touch if she saw or heard from Westin. As they were walking toward their car, Lula turned to Steph and said, "You know, girl, that chick makes your white ass look fat!"
Stephanie just laughed and said, "I'm starving. Let's go to McDonald's."
When Lula walked out the McDonald's door with their food, a car screeched to a stop by Stephanie's door. A man who looked like Charles Westin pulled up a sawed off shotgun and fired two shots. One was at Steph and the other at the gas tank. What happened next threw Lula into shock. First, the gun blast tossed Stephanie into the passenger seat like a rag doll. When the car exploded, she flew out of the car and up ten feet against a brick wall. Sliding down the wall, her head, chest and thighs were covered with blood as was the wall itself. Lula could only sit there on the sidewalk and scream for help.
Police cars, ambulances and fire trucks converged on the scene in less than five minutes. EMTs fought to stabilize Stephanie, fire fighters battled the car fire, and police officers tried to question Lula as another EMT treated her for shock.
All Lula could say was "Call RangeMan."
CHAPTER THREE
Hal, the acting head of RangeMan Trenton, was sitting in Ranger's office reviewing some of the duty rosters for the remainder of the week. Although he hadn't and wouldn't hear from the team until they finished their mission and were debriefed, he couldn't wait for them to get back so he could stop handling this shit. Every time he had to pull Ranger's duties he was amazed at the mountains of paperwork required. In this one area the boss was not a lucky man.
Simultaneously two phone lines lit up. Groaning, he assumed some client location must have gone FUBAR. After he answered the first call he wished he had been right. After the second call he wanted to throw up.
"Talk," Hal said into the phone on the first line.
"Hal, Ranger's bad." For Tank to give up that much information meant the situation was potentially fatal.
"Where are you?" Hal asked.
"We're en route to Lakland AFB, the closest severe trauma center."
Vince stuck his head into Ranger's office and told Hal there was an emergency on line two and it was urgent. Hal told Tank to hold on and punched the other line. Eddie Gazzara of Trenton Police Department was on the phone and advised Hal that Stephanie and Lula were on their way by ambulance to St. Francis Hospital ER. Lula was in shock but Stephanie was badly wounded and might not survive. Hal needed to get there ASAP. Then he hung up.
As Hal hit line one, he whispered, "Oh, dear God".
Tank asked, "What? We need travel and medical arrangements! "
Clearing his head, Hal said, "Tank, the call was Eddie Gazzara. Stephanie and Lula are on their way to St. Francis. Lula is in shock and Steph is injured. It's bad. Real bad."
Tank just bowed his head and said, "Jesus, what are we going to do?"