Page 108 of Shadow Undercover

Two vehicles fell in behind Trace’s SUV from a side road, headlights gleaming in the darkness. The vehicles sped up and pursued them, slowly gaining ground. “Tangos on our six.”

“Perfect. They’re a matched pair to the ones coming at us from the front.”

Fantastic. A classic Pincer move. “Can’t be Hugo’s men in the front.”

“Probably corrupt federales. Get those goons off our tail, Trace. Then we’ll deal with the others.”

“Copy that.” Trace blocked out his worry for Bridget and everything else as he narrowed his world to the target. After a breath in and exhaling partway, he squeezed the trigger.

The windshield cracked, the bullet piercing the glass exactly where Trace had intended. The SUV veered to the left, jumped a curb, and plowed into a tree at the side of the road. “One down.”

The second vehicle maintained course. The passenger rolled down the window and opened fire.

Trace shifted his focus to the new target. Sounded like the shooter was using a handgun. Limited range. The driver, however, was gaining ground. A few more feet and the bullets would start hitting the SUV. He had to stop these thugs before a bullet struck Bridget or Ruth.

He squeezed off another shot, followed quickly by more. The thug in the pursuing car kept firing even as his driver took evasive action. “Ben, shift to the right by two feet.”

The SUV drifted over as Trace began laying down fire. The driver jerked the wheel to the right to evade Trace’s bullets, but lost control of the car. The vehicle spun out, jumped the curb, flipped, and rolled into a culvert. “Two down. Take the side road up ahead on the left. I need a wide-open space without civilians in the line of fire.”

“RPG?”

“Yeah.”

“You have a rocket-propelled grenade?” Ruth’s voice rose to a squeak at the end of her question.

“Yes, ma’am,” Ben said. “We have the best toys to play with.”

“You’re crazy.”

“Some days. Lucky for you, today’s not one of them.”

Trace thrust his hand into the equipment bag and pulled out the grenade launcher and grenades. “We need enough breathing room to get the women into the jet. I doubt these are the only two vehicles tasked with stopping us.”

“Copy that. Hold on.” Ben skidded into the turn Trace had indicated and raced down another street, fighting to put distance between them and their pursuers. He pushed the SUV to its limits, the engine roaring with a throaty growl.

Trace climbed over the seat and lowered the window. “Hold her steady.” With ease of practice, he maneuvered himself and the RPG out the window and braced himself on the frame. Weapon to his shoulder, he waited for the pursuing vehicles to catch up.

Thirty seconds later, two cars came into view, driving on both sides of the deserted street. Trace aimed and fired at the closest vehicle. A split second later, the car exploded in a blinding flash of light with a loud boom.

When the second car backed off, Trace eased into the vehicle. “I doubt they’ll give up. I think we will have more resistance closer to the airfield.”

Ben used speed dial to make a call.

“Yeah?” Adam said.

“It’s Ben. We think Hugo set a trap. You may encounter resistance at the airfield.”

“Figures. Thanks for the warning.” Phantom’s leader ended the call.

Trace called Nico and tapped the speaker button.

“Sit rep,” were Nico’s first words.

“We encountered heavy resistance on the road. Three vehicles down, one left in pursuit. My gut says there’s more ahead at the airfield.”

“Why?”

“Hugo’s statements hinting at knowing more than I thought he did plus the vehicles waiting for us. He knew something was up, might have known about Bridget. Either way, got a feeling we’ll have to fight our way to the jet.”

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