Bloodstorm

25

Murdock judged the man with the gun. A professional. He stayed six feet away when he came up to them.

“Faint,” Murdock whispered to Jeru. She didn’t look at him, but frowned.

“Oh, my,” Jeru said. She put her hand to her head. Then her knees shook and a moment later she fell against Murdock, eyes closed, arms flapping as she went down. She was still dressed as a man.

“Now look what you’ve done,” the doctor barked at the gunman. “You’ve scared him to death. He’s fainted. We were going to his home for treatment. I’ll have to give him some medication and some smelling salts. What in the world are you doing?”

The gunman, who Murdock figured was a Secret Policeman of some kind, hesitated. When he spoke, he stammered, then coughed. He touched his forehead, where sweat had appeared, and he cleared his throat.

“This person is on our list of subversives. He must be watched. All right, treat him. Then all four of us are going to my supervisor and get some answers.”

Murdock didn’t understand any of the talk. He had one chance with the gunman. He crouched beside Jeru, whose eyes fluttered, then stayed shut. The doctor stayed beside her, and took some pills from her black bag.

Murdock moved slowly, his left ankle out of sight of the gunman behind Jeru. He lifted the hideout from its leather holster and kept it behind Jeru.

“Hurry up,” the Secret Policeman said.

Murdock started to stand.

“No,” the cop snapped. He motioned down with his hand. “Stay down, big man. I’ll deal with you later. It is the tall one, Jeru, we are interested in.”

“Cover is blown, Murdock,” Jeru whispered. “Shoot him.”

A siren sounded somewhere far behind them. The Secret Policeman turned, then looked back. Murdock pulled up the short-barreled.32 and fired four times with a point-and-shoot aim. Two of the four rounds hit the cop’s chest and he went down. His trigger finger spasmed and fired two rounds into the pavement as he fell.

“Get the car,” Murdock snapped. “We can’t leave him here.” He hurried to the Secret Policeman on the ground. He hadn’t moved since he went down. Murdock checked him for a pulse. None. He lifted him over his shoulder and carried him into the shadows of a building at the near side of the alley.

No windows had opened when the shots came. No one had opened a door and looked out. No one wanted to be involved. Good, Murdock decided. The doctor was with him in the shadows as Jeru drove her car up to the mouth of the alley. Murdock carried the body to the car and pushed the body into the backseat. Then he stepped in after it.

A moment later the car turned around and Jeru drove it away.

“Where?” she asked Murdock.

“Landfill, garbage dump, river?”

“Nothing nearby.”

“Any old wells, coal mines…”

“Wells. Yes, in an old section. Not used. Yes. About ten minutes away.”

Murdock systematically stripped the body of all identification. There wasn’t much, a wallet with some cards, a pin on the man’s shirt. Murdock had brought the dropped gun. It would go down with the body.

By the time the car stopped, Murdock was ready.

“Let me look around a little,” Jeru said. “We don’t need any witnesses.”

She was back quickly. She helped tug the body from her car. Then Murdock bent, lifted the man over his shoulder, and carried him where Jeru led. She had removed three old boards from the well top, and Murdock unceremoniously dumped the corpse off his shoulder down the hole. It didn’t take long to hit. Thirty, forty feet deep, but it would do. They put the top boards back on the well top and hurried back to the car.

Twenty minutes later, Martha had examined Kat.

Jeru translated. “She says the lady is in good shape. The ricochet caused a lot of bleeding, but the wound isn’t deep and should heal well. The bullet hole is a painful one, but Martha put on some antibiotics and treated both wounds. Kat will be fine on the plane ride.”

Martha took longer with Ron Holt. She shook her head twice and looked up at Jeru. She talked to her for several minutes in Pashto then went back to checking his chest.

Jeru talked to Murdock and Dobler. “Martha says that the bullet definitely hit Holt’s lung. She’s not sure how bad it is. There’s a danger his lung could collapse once he gets to altitude on the plane. The other problem is infection. That and the fact that the bullet did not exit his back. It’s still in there, and will have to be found and removed. Three days, tops, for that. She will load him up with penicillin and antibiotics. He can walk with assistance. No hint of any health problem, or they won’t let him on the plane. She says the shoulder wound was a graze that dug a half-inch groove. It will be fine in a month.”

Murdock considered his options. He would send six men to the airport with first light. Franklin, who spoke Arabic, could get their tickets exchanged for flights going out today.

That would leave five more of them to get out. Jeru would be coming with them. Jeru would be their interpreter at the airport for the last five tickets. Yes, that part would work. Somehow they had to keep Holt on his feet and moving through the lines to the plane, and do it without attracting any notice.

Jeru came back. “Martha says she will go with us to the airport to guarantee Holt’s health if there’s any problem. She’ll ditch my bloody car in the poorest part of town. It will be stripped and trashed within an hour after she leaves it. I have my passport and papers. I’ll fly out with you. I’ve already phoned my control here in town, explaining as best I could over an open line.”

“We could use some ampoules of morphine if Martha can spare any. It may be the only thing to keep Holt from screaming all the way across the continent.”

Franklin left just after 0600. He took with him Khai, Jaybird, Bradford, Lampedusa, and Van Dyke. That left, for the second go, Murdock, Dobler, Kat, Holt, and Jeru. It should work.

It took Jeru two more hours to get her affairs in order, to check out with friends, and to decide what to do with the apartment. It was furnished and rented by the CIA, but she had some personal items as well. She sent the cook-housekeeper home as soon as she arrived for work at 0700. They destroyed the SATCOM. Broke it up and trashed it in a three block area.

“Now, all I have to do is cut my apron strings and I’ll be gone from here while I’m still alive. That missing Secret Policeman is going to set off a firestorm here. His superiors must have known he was watching either Martha or me. She will be able to alibi her way out of it. I would be in Tolkif, the central jail here in Kabul, before noon if I stay here.”

It took Jeru a half hour at two different airline ticket counters before she had their tickets exchanged. It cost extra, but they had enough of the funny-looking money.

Murdock stayed right beside Holt every step. He was ready to grab his arm if he wavered. He didn’t. They sat in the seats waiting. Murdock, Holt, and Kat took the first flight. They were on Iran airlines. They had seats assigned. Holt stumbled on the ramp, but Murdock caught him and they made it to their seats, a three-across grouping with Kat on the window and Holt on the aisle. Murdock sat between them, watching them both like a mother hen.

Kat had yelped once as she walked into the airport, but had been close-mouthed and quiet since then. Once in the seat, she gave a long sigh. “Just a damn little scratch on my shoulder and a small fratulogical hole in my leg,” she whispered to Murdock. “Sailor, there ain’t no fucking way those little scratches are gonna keep down a SEAL.”

Murdock laughed softly, and reached over and kissed her cheek.

“Hey, SEAL, you may win your gold trident yet” he said. “Now settle down and try to get some sleep. Best way to pass the time.”

Kat grinned. “Yeah, you’re right. ’Course, it depends on who you’re sleeping with.” She reached over and kissed him on the cheek, then turned away from him and closed her eyes.

Murdock tried to relax. He had checked both waiting areas for planes leaving for Tehran, and hadn’t found any SEALs waiting. They must be on their way. Good.

The last five should be in the air within a half hour. Now, if he could keep Holt from going critical, all would be fine. Anywhere but here, he would have requested a special doctor to be on board in case Holt turned sour. Now he’d just have to take his chances. SEAL lungs were always strong from all the underwater training they did. Still, lungs were tricky. They could collapse for a dozen reasons. A bullet through one must be high on the list.

Murdock watched the loading. He figured all of the passengers were on board. The attendants were closing overheads and checking seat belts. Then two men in suits came on board, and walked up and down the aisle staring at each person as they passed.

A scream jolted through the air, and a man dove from his seat and scrambled up, running full speed down the aisle. The suit from the other way blocked his way, knocked him down, and handcuffed him. They dragged him off the plane.

No notice was made of the incident, and no PA apology for the delay. Moments later the doors closed and the plane rolled out on the taxi strip.

Murdock watched Holt. The doctor said the decreased air pressure of the cabin, set at about six thousand feet, might trigger a reaction by Holt. Murdock talked with him quietly.

“Look, Holt, this is the tough time. The cabin will be pressurized at the same as six thousand feet as we take off, and remain that way until we land. You let me know if you have any twinges, or if it’s hard to breathe, anything at all.”

“Yeah, sure, Cap. Hey, I’m a fucking SEAL, remember? No little scratch like this gonna hurt old Ron Holt. You can count on that.”

He frowned.

“What, you hurt somewhere?”

“Yeah, my shoulder burns like hell. Not all that bad a hit either. Doc told me it would hurt, but my buddy Morphine is a big help.”

Murdock could tell when the plane stopped climbing. Cruising altitude was maybe 31,000 feet or so. He looked over at Kat. She was watching him.

“So far, so good,” she said. “Ron seems to be making it fine.”

“For now, just so he doesn’t try a hundred-yard dash.” He watched her. “Pretty lady, how are you doing?”

“Better. That morphine did help.”

“So will a Purple Heart. I don’t see why we can’t put you in for one.”

“Because we’re covert, that’s why. Where would I wear it, on my jogging bra?”

“Good place.”

“We aren’t done with this one yet, are we? There’s that Chinese destroyer with all the rest of the warheads.”

“True. And there was some worry that the chopper we missed in Athens airport might have been bringing in more than just one warhead for sale. It could have had four or five. That has to be checked out. NATO was running a trace on the chances.”

“We might have three or four more Afghanistans to deal with?”

“We could.”

It was the deluxe flight with lunch served. It came in the form of a plastic-wrapped sandwich, a cookie, and a cup of coffee.

They landed in Tehran, and Murdock watched Holt like he was a precious jewel. He never flinched or burped. Many passengers left the plane, but through passengers could not.

Murdock watched the usual two Iranian police work up and down the long aisle. They didn’t talk, just stared at the people. Kat had gone back to sleep. Murdock tried, but couldn’t. When the cops passed him, he stared back at them as fiercely as they looked at him. The plainclothesman eased up on his stare, grinned, and said something, then passed on by. Murdock let out a held-in breath. One more milepost passed.

They stopped in Ankara, Turkey, and as they came down, Holt wheezed and grabbed his chest. Murdock came alert at once and leaned over him. Holt could hold it only a few seconds before he began guffawing.

“Gotcha, Skipper,” he said. Then he frowned and stopped laughing. “Hey, that laughing hurt more than anything. Remind me not to do that for a while.”

“You must be feeling better if you can play the clown. Easy now, and we’ll have you in white sheets within a few hours.” The hop from Ankara to Athens wasn’t that long. Murdock wished he had a cell phone or the SATCOM so he could have NATO meet them at the airport with an ambulance. There must be one on duty there close by. He’d raise all sorts of hell at Athens until he got an ambulance to that hospital they had used before.

On the last hop to Athens, Kat watched him. “Hey, this is the first time that I’ve slept with you.” She grinned. “In a manner of speaking. I wanted to tell you it was extremely good for me.” Kat laughed. “I’ve always wanted to say that to a man. Yes. Now for your sparking comeback.”

“Hey, it was good for me too.”

They both laughed.

“I just hope the printing on the rain check I gave you doesn’t fade out over the years.”

“No chance. It’s under lock and key in a humidity- and temperature-controlled environment, just like the Declaration of Independence.”

“Good.” She sobered. “What’s going to happen to that Chinese destroyer with the other warheads?”

“Wish I knew. Depends on how tough NATO has been since we left. They might have it bottled up right now. We’ll find out as soon as we get you two into the medics.”

“Me? I’m all right.”

“Hey, you’re better than that. But you get checked over by the local medical guys anyway. They like working on pretty girls.”

“Check me over and release me. I’m not staying there overnight.”

They landed on schedule in Athens. Murdock told the attendant that they would need a wheelchair. They waited to be last off, and a chair was at the gate. Holt protested, but Murdock insisted. Kat could walk with only a slight limp.

Just forty minutes later both patients had been checked out in the Athens hospital. Kat was looked over quickly, the dressing on her shoulder changed and the leg wound treated, and she was released.

They waited for word from the doctors about Holt.

A harried-looking doctor came out of the operating room.

“Commander Murdock?” he asked.

“Right here.”

“Your man, Holt, is not the best. His lung collapsed as we were examining him. Lucky it waited until now. We have to get that lung working again, patch up the hole in his lung, and find the slug that caused it. We don’t know where the slug is. We’re listing him as critical right now. We should know a lot more about his condition in twenty-four hours.”