Greenstreets by Jon Frater

Author:Jon Frater [Frater, Jon]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Desperate Measures Press
Published: 2020-01-17T22:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 14

Battle of Harlem River, Part 4

“Son of a bitch!”

Jason fumed, his fists clenched tightly enough to drive his fingernails into the palms of his hands. He had to remind himself to breathe, force himself to focus on his plan. But his anger refused to be denied. “Son. Of. A. Bitch!”

Once again the world had thrown a wrench into his intention. Once again some unseen and unnamed force wanted to screw him up. Same shit, different day.

He blinked to clear his vision and his head. His targets were getting away. Orders. He needed to give new orders.

He reached out and grabbed the radio’s mic. “Take out those fire boats. Use the rocket launchers. And do it now!” He released the button and turned toward Osborne. “Can this boat fit under the Hudson Bridge?”

“It sure can. Is that where we’re going?”

“Yes we are.”

“All right then. Just remember the canal is shallow, we’ll have to stay in deep water if you don’t want to ground her.”

“That’s fine. We don’t need to get far.”

Osborne bobbed his head and did his job. The boat’s rhythm changed as the pilot calculated altered speed and set the Manhattan Elite into a wide, long turn toward Henry Hudson Bridge. Jason spied movement to the left and saw a pair of soldiers move up carrying oblong boxes. He rushed to the window, pressing his face to the glass like he was ten years old again, watching professional killers work quickly and confidently, their practiced hands unpacking their weapons for use. The cold glass ticked and froze his nose.

Suddenly two blasts of smoke and chaff exploded on deck with muffled chuffs. Two pinpoints of flame streaked toward their targets. Jason moved his eyes, trying to track the missiles and lost them quickly. Two explosions blossomed on the dark water, briefly illuminating the targets. One missile hit a fireboat broadside. The other rocket missed its target by a few yards, raising a plume of water. Within a minute the errant water cannons shut down. Unfortunately, not quickly enough to restore his raiding fleet to operations. The repurposed dinner cruiser was all he had.

Well. Almost all. He needed to think about how and where to deploy Larry.

“Shame about those guys,” Osborne offered.

“Don’t care.” If his crew didn’t get them, the Hub would. Things were different now. If you screwed up—disobeyed the Hungry Corp’s orders—you got what you deserved. Firemen were a bunch of overbearing creeps, anyway. Worse than cops. Jason didn’t need them. He needed to find Morbo’s Complaint.

He could see the smaller boat’s wake as it sped up to put some distance between itself and his cruiser. But Osborne slowed the Manhattan Elite even further as he navigated into the Harlem River Canal.

“We’ll lose them,” Jason complained.

“Can’t help it, but don’t worry. The channel is too shallow for them to keep up that kind of speed for long. We’ll catch her. Just takes a little time is all.”

They picked up speed, now firmly on their new course. Jason headed out of the wheelhouse, standing on the forward deck as, damp air chilled his face.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.