Under Fire by Blackwood Grant

Author:Blackwood, Grant [Blackwood, Grant]
Language: eng
Format: mobi
Tags: Mystery, Thrillers & Suspense, Thriller & Suspense, United States, Suspense, Thrillers, Military, Genre Fiction, War, Literature & Fiction
Publisher: G.P. Putnam's Sons
Published: 2015-06-16T05:00:00+00:00

Georgian Military Road East

AFTER RECEIVING their weapons, AK-47s with three spare magazines each, from Major Asatiani, they set out in the predawn darkness with the GAZ, now emblazoned with the red-on-white flag of the Red Crescent Society, the Islamo-centric cousin of the Red Cross. Whether this garnishment would mean a damn to the OFB was anyone’s guess.

With Jack at the wheel, Ysabel beside him, and Spellman in the passenger seat, they made decent progress for the first hour and then the winding mountain road narrowed, its surface rutted with ice and half-buried boulders. Jack eased up on the gas pedal but still had to fight the steering wheel to keep the truck from sliding onto the shoulder.

Spellman sat with the barrel of his AK resting on the dashboard, his eyes scanning the road ahead. Jack’s and Ysabel’s rifles were propped between her knees, muzzles down.

“Jack, what was that business about how well Medzhid knows General Zumadze?” asked Spellman.

“Probably nothing. But if I had a friend like Zumadze, I’d be rethinking the relationship.”

“What, you thinking he’s feeding us to the OFB?”

“I’m not saying that.”

“Then spit it out.”

“Your plan is partially counting on Georgia backing the coup, and Zumadze won’t even give Medzhid safe passage out of his own country.”

“Yeah, I see your point. But Zumadze’s as savvy as Medzhid; if the coup goes our way, Tbilisi will want to back the winner.”

• • •

BY NOON, having covered half the distance to the border, they reached Chero, a village perched on a slope overlooking a river gorge. Jack steered the GAZ through the village, then down a switchback road to the bottom of the gorge, where the road leveled and began following the course of the river. Through Spellman’s half-open window Jack could hear the rush of water spilling over boulders. Though directly overhead, the sun’s rays didn’t fully penetrate the gorge, leaving the road in partial twilight.

The Velcro flap behind the seat tore open and Seth’s head appeared in the square opening. “We better pick up the pace or we won’t make Yuzhno by nightfall.”

“Any faster and we’ll go into the river,” Spellman answered. “Jack’s doing fine.”

“We won’t be if we get stuck out here. Pick up the pace, Jack.”

Seth disappeared and the flap closed.

• • •

“WHOA,” Spellman called, as Jack rounded a corner. “Slow it down, Jack.”

“I see it.”

Jack slowed to a stop, the truck’s brakes echoing off the gorge’s walls.

Ahead a pair of UAZ jeeps covered in what looked like improvised spray-paint camouflage sat astride the road. They were staggered, one ahead of the other, to lessen the chance of a vehicle’s ramming its way through the roadblock. Jack counted six men, all bearded, four standing before the vehicles and one behind each one’s wheel. They were all armed with AKs.

“The OFB?” Ysabel muttered.

“He’d better assume so,” Jack replied.

He glanced in his side mirror, studying the road behind them. Though they’d passed no turnoffs since entering the gorge, a bracket ambush was the smart move. The road was empty. How fast he could drive the GAZ in reverse while being pursued he didn’t know.

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