Chapter Seven
The area was arid and desert, with no habitation around. This part of the road was sandwiched between two hills and a sharp bend further down forced the cars to slow down. It was the perfect place to hit. Hidden behind a large bush, five hundred yards away from the road, Brown waited for the car to arrive. He knew exactly what to look for and didn't bother when a little Fiat drove past, nor did he move when two trucks snaked along. But when a long black limo appeared, he raised his rifle to his shoulder and peered in the telescope of his weapon. He zoomed in until he could see the licence plate. Satisfied it was the right car, he aimed at the silhouette seated at the back. He couldn't see the passenger's face but he recognised Barbosa's stature and was about to press the trigger when he heard a little "click" behind him. He froze and gripped tightly his rifle, ready to turn around and shoot.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you."
Brown smiled drily when he recognised the voice. "Eppes. You've got guts to come here after me."
"I'm not alone. And I led you here by the way."
Brown's smile disappeared to turn into a snarl. He had been played a second time by the Fed!
He put his rifle slowly on the floor and even more slowly turned around, hands in the air. He saw Don with Colby behind him.
"I suppose it's not Barbosa in the car?"
"Nope. The driver is one of my men and the passenger a dummy. Turn around, hands behind your head."
Brown pursed his lips and nodded slowly. Something in his attitude made Don uneasy. The guy was much too relax for someone who was going to spend the rest of his life in jail. He scanned the area and suddenly a little, very brief light flashed on the other side of the road. Someone was watching them!
"Colby, get down!" Don yelled just as a shot echoed in the valley.
Both agents threw themselves on the floor as a second shot hissed dangerously close to Colby and he took cover behind a large rock. Brown took advantage of the diversion to get up and run, immediately followed by Don. Colby tried to join his boss but a third bullet ricocheted off the rock forcing him to retreat to safety.
"David! I'm stuck here. Get rid of that shooter, for god sake!" he shouted in his microphone.
"We're on it. Hold on."
"It's not me I'm concerned about! Don's just gone after Brown without backup!"
David swore under his breath. They suspected that Timonson would be with Brown but they hadn't been able to locate him until he started to shoot.
He saw Liz crawling behind Timonson. She was so silent and agile that the killer didn't hear or see her. David moved to distract the man's attention and to allow her to get closer and find a better angle.
The man fired at David then at Colby. He was loading his rifle when he felt someone behind him. He gave up his weapon and tried to grab the gun he had at his hip. Two bullets in his shoulder stopped him short.
Liz pushed the gun away with her foot while keeping Timonson covered. David arrived and took the rifle.
"Colby, it's all clear. Find Don." David said on the radio while Liz handcuffed Tim.
"Go help him. I can take care of this scumbag," she told Sinclair, brutally pushing her prisoner in front of her to make him move.
.
Brown turned and fired. Don crouched to avoid the bullet and shot back. The ground was uneven. The deep and sticky mud covering the hill made it hard for both men to run. Brown lost his footing and landed painfully on the floor. Don jumped on him and they wrestled, each of them trying to disarm the other. They rolled down a side of the hill and ended up in a river. It usually was a deep ditch but the torrential rains of the previous days had turned it into a river with a powerful current.
Both men stood up, fighting against the water to keep their balance. Brown aimed at Don who dove to reappear almost immediately and knocked Brown's arm with his gun. The pain made him let his weapon go. Don stepped back and aimed at the other man.
"Don't move!" he shouted, a little breathless.
Brown laughed. "Oh yeah? What are you going to do? Handcuff me? You can try, Eppes. I'm ready for you."
Don knew the other man was right. Getting to close to him would be dangerous. They could hardy keep their balance with the water reaching above their hips. Being armed only gave him a small advantage. Brown had nothing to lose and was ready to take any risk to get away. Don stepped back, making sure to stay out of the other man's reach. He needed back-up. The problem was that his radio had been broken during the fight with Brown and was now out of order.
"David! Colby!" he shouted, hoping his agents weren't too far away.
Brown laughed mockingly but his eyes were hard and alert. Any mistake and it was the end of the agent.
"Colby!" he called again.
"Don!" Colby appeared at the top of the hill, soon followed by David. Don almost closed his eyes in relief. Instead, he held his gun tighter and aimed better.
The two agents were at mid distance.
"Put your hands behind your head," Don ordered.
Brown obeyed the best he could, the current and the cold making it more and more difficult for both men to stay steady. He turned around to see where the two agents were and started to walk toward the bank. But suddenly, he took one step back and threw himself at Don. Both men lost balance and disappeared under the water.
Colby and David were ready to shoot but the risk of hitting their boss was too great and they watched, helpless, the two men being carried away by the current while still fighting: Don to keep his gun, Brown to grab it. The two agents ran along the shore in hope that the river would quiet down at some point so that they could help Don, but instead, they discovered that the land was turning into a sharp slope, creating a seven foot high waterfall and increasing the strength of the current. It wasn't so much the falls that worried the two agents than what was at the bottom. The whole area was extremely rocky. The waters were not deep enough to protect the two men from any medium size or large stones that could lie beneath.
Brown grabbed Don and kept his head under the water. The agent fought back but swallowed water, again and again. He could hardly breathe, his nose, his throat and his chest were on fire and he was starting to panic. He punched the man in the stomach and broke free, gasping for air, trying to get his breath back.
The river was getting deeper and rougher and the current stronger, exhausting both men. The killer had tried several times to pull the agent under but now he was mainly trying to find something or someone to hold on to prevent him from drowning.
"Don, grab the branch!"
Don recognised David's voice although his ears were filled with water. He blinked several times, coughed up some water, swallowed some more that he spat out again. His Kevlar vest acted like a weight and he had to fight hard to keep his head above the surface. The water in his eyes made everything blurred but he just made out a long brown form. In a desperate effort, he threw himself in its direction and grabbed it as strongly as he could. David carefully pulled the branch, any brisk movement and Don would lose his precarious hold. Colby laid flat on the floor and reached out to catch Don's hand. Brown managed to clutch onto Don, but the branch didn't stand the weight of both men. It cracked suddenly, letting Don hang on Colby's hand, with Brown holding firmly onto the lead agent.
David tried to help Colby but the edge of the slippery bank was giving up and Colby started to slide.
"Let me go!" Don ordered.
Colby tightened his grip on Don's hand while David tried to pull him back.
"Let me go," Don repeated.
"No! Don't!" Brown screamed desperately.
Seeing that his men were at risk to fall in the river with him, Don let his hand slip between Colby's fingers. He took a deep breath before he hit the water again, taking Brown with him.
"No!... Damn it! Don!" Colby yelled.
The two agents watched horrified as their boss and Brown disappeared in the roaring waters of the torrent. They ran down the slope and observed anxiously the foam at the bottom of the waterfall in search of the two men, each of them praying not to see the dead body of their leader coming up to the surface.
"There!" Colby pointed at a man floating on the other side of the river.
From where they stood, they couldn't tell who it was, nor if he was alive. They crossed the river with difficulties, the eddies forcing them to hold on to each other to keep a semblance of balance. They finally reached the man: he was face down but they recognised Brown and the crack at the base of his head left no doubt about his state: he was definitely dead.
They left his body and looked for their boss without hesitation. There was nothing they could do for Brown anyway. They walked along the river and almost missed Don. He was tangled in the roots of a tree, along the shore, that were preventing him from drifting away. He wasn't moving.
They pulled him to the bank carefully, checked his pulse and let out a breath of relief: he was alive. He looked battered, had a cut across his brow and several others on his arms and legs. His Kevlar vest had a large laceration across the chest but it had protected him in his fall. Colby called an ambulance while David unbuckled the vest and tried to rouse him.
"Don? Don? D'you hear me?"
Don groaned, his eyelids fluttered and he tried to turn away. The two agents rolled him onto his side and he coughed up some water. After a while, he opened his eyes slowly but said nothing, too exhausted to speak.
"Hey Don. How d'you feel?"
Don blinked very slowly and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.
"Man, you're lucky," David commented, shaking his head in disbelief.
"Brown?" the team leader croaked.
"Not so lucky."
Don coughed again and tried to sit up.
"Hey, take it easy, okay?" David ordered.
"M' okay... Help me up... I'm cold on the floor," Don said in a tired voice.
Colby and David helped him stand up. He made a few steps before his legs buckled under him. They caught him before he fell onto the ground. Don raised a shaky hand.
"I can walk," he advised stubbornly.
"Sure you can but not alone. Come on Don, don't fight us on this." Without waiting for an answer, David and Colby each grabbed one of his arms to support him and the little group started to move – very slowly.
The river had brought them back near the road and after a short walk, they reached their cars where Liz and an ambulance were waiting for them.
To be Cont'ed
