SMK: In Due Time

Prologue

Monday, September 14, 1981

Sweat, like the tiny feet of an insect tickling his skin, trickled down Lee's temple, just missing the corner of his eye. The day had been blistering hot, especially for September. Ninety-four degrees was no laughing matter, and it seemed like even though things had cooled to a much more manageable seventy during the evening hours, this old warehouse had soaked up all the afternoon heat and saved it just for them. Careful to not allow the fabric of his Agency-issue protective jacket to swish against itself, he reached up and brushed away the droplet. He'd needed to remove the distraction, but absolute quiet was of utmost importance. The last thing he or his team needed was to alert anyone to their presence.

About a month ago, they'd uncovered a plot by a government contractor to sell top-secret military weapons blueprints, but they hadn't been able to figure out to whom. Today, Max Bateman, otherwise known as Viper, had gotten a tip that an East German spymaster by the name of Kirk Neumann would be here tonight with his goons to meet the middle-man and make the exchange. So, here they were – all nine of them – in this hot, dark warehouse waiting for it all to go down.

"Scarecrow..." The crackly, staticky voice of his partner, Jim Beckett, came through his headset and whispered into his ear. "I've got movement in sector 1. Time to go contact zero."

"Roger that, Timber Wolf. I'll pass the signal on to Viper." Viper was the only team member in visual range. After Lee signaled Viper, Viper would signal Seadragon, and it would be passed on to the others like a domino effect. Lee looked to his right. Viper's position was hidden behind a load-bearing pillar near the middle of the cavernous room, but there was nothing there except dark-gray emptiness. At first, Lee thought his eyes were playing tricks on him. Viper was, after all, known for being able to blend into any environment. But after only a moment, Lee was sure he wasn't there. What the...he needed to alert Jim. "Timber Wolf, Viper is..."

The deadly crack of a weapon firing reverberated throughout the warehouse – but it sounded close. Way too close. Crack...crack...The echoes made it difficult to trace the genesis of the sound, but Lee was sure there was only one gunman. An advance man for Nuemann? Crack... Had Viper seen him and moved to take him out? That seemed likely. Lee turned on the com-link to the other team members. "Sitreps?"

Crack. The gunman was still out there. What was going on? "Viper, reporting in..." "Seadragon reporting in..." "Timber Wolf, reporting in..." That was three, where were the other five?

"Viper to Scarecrow: It sounds like the gunman is headed your direction. I've got your six..."

At the almost non-existent whisper of soft-soled shoes behind him, Lee's instincts kicked in, and he started to roll to his right. Crack. Pain slammed into Lee's left shoulder with enough force to propel him forward and cause his forehead to make bone-crushing contact with the concrete floor. Voices registered in his mind, but blackness swirled around and through him making them sound like they were coming through a long tunnel.

Then his head cleared, and the conversation happening behind him registered on his consciousness as he silently turned over despite the fiery pain ripping through him.

"Put your gun down, Viper."

Viper?

"That's not part of the plan, Timber Wolf."

"Come on, Viper. Talk to me. What's goin' on, man? Whatever it is, we can fix it."

"No can do, Beckett. I've already killed six men. I thought it was seven, but I can see Scarecrow still has some straw left in him, and he's the one I really wanted."

Six? Dear, God.

"What are you going to do, man? Take us all out?" Lee watched Jim take a step closer to Bateman, blocking his ability to see Lee's movements. He realized Jim was trying to give him a window of opportunity; they'd played out this kind of scenario multiple times in training. Jim would try to talk the perp down, giving Lee time to get his gun in position. Then Jim would drop, and a split-second later Lee would fire; they had it down to a science. But Viper knew the routine, too.

"Max, talk to me. Help me understand..."

Lee's gun was in position and ready to fire. He needed Jim to drop quickly because darkness was dancing at the edges of his consciousness again, and he wasn't sure how long he could keep his weapon up.

"No!" Suddenly, Jim lunged to the right just as the boom of Max's firearm ripped through the space between them. The same second it took Jim's body to fall limply to the floor beside him, Lee made eye-contact with the man who was supposed to be a trusted colleague and, without hesitation, fired.

Chaos descended upon the warehouse as multiple agents breeched the building, guns up and ready. Unable to hold his head off the floor any longer, Lee dropped it back onto the concrete and stared at the ceiling. Funny. He hadn't noticed before just how high it was. Vaguely, he wondered if God was up there somewhere...watching him. He must be. If Lee hadn't moved a fraction to the right just before he was shot, Max would have found his mark, and Lee wouldn't be able to be thinking about God at all.

"Over here!" The voice was muffled, like it was filtering into his ear through cotton. He remembered his mom putting cotton soaked with something funny smelling into his ear when he'd had an ear-infection once. Wow. He hadn't thought of that in over 25 years. Interesting the things you remember when you're bleeding out...

"One, two, three...lift." The sensation of his body levitating should have startled him, but it didn't. His spirit must be leaving his body. He felt shockingly numb at this realization. Did it even matter, anyway? He had nobody to live for – nobody who would miss him...not really. His best friend had fallen dead at his side, Crystal would move on within a week, his parents were long gone, and he was an only child. He supposed his uncle, the Colonel, would grieve him in his own way but only because it was his duty. Besides, he was tired. So-very-tired...