Viper Team Seven (The Viper Team Seven Series Book 1) (39 page)

“All VIPER units,
this is VIPER ALPHA,” Parks began. “Be advised, we’re going to commence the
attack after they pull away from the pump. Get ready. Out.”

Parks and the
other two men split off and tried to look like they were merely killing time,
when really, he wanted to shift them to better positions. He knew that Lee and
Samuels were still behind the building and wouldn’t be able to come up as soon
as they were needed, and the same could be said about Solomon. So Parks, Norse,
and Corley had to handle this alone at first.

Parks saw that
as Norse strolled along he pulled out a small camera and discreetly took a
snapshot from the hip, capturing the terrorist that was pumping the gas. Then
just as soon as he’d pulled it out, he put the camera away, as if nothing had
happened.

“Good work, VIPER
ECHO,” Parks commended over the radio. “Stand by; it looks like they’re getting
ready to leave. Over.”

“Yeah I noticed,
VIPER ALPHA. I’m ready for them. Over.”

The Suburban
started up but didn’t move. It was just idling and Parks could see the driver
conversing with someone in the backseat. Then the other vehicle that had pulled
up also started, and began to drive off. A mere second later, the terrorists
started to leave, and the horrifying part was that the two vehicles were
driving bumper-to-bumper, which made it impossible for Parks to do anything.

“Oh...gee...man...gosh,”
Parks grumbled as he helplessly watched the terrorists pull out onto the main
road, protected by the closeness of the other vehicle.

He didn’t move
until the terrorists were out of sight, and then he radioed in to his team.
“All VIPER units, this is VIPER ALPHA. Head back to the vehicles,” he ordered. “We’ve
lost them again. Out.”

Wednesday, March 26
^th
– 1800 hours

Seventy Miles from Washington D.C.

For the first
time since his childhood Sunday School days, Parks began to pray. Not out loud
and definitely not skillfully, but nevertheless it was a prayer. His team was
still following the terrorists and they were somewhere near Front Royal,
Virginia, less than seventy miles from the outskirts of Washington D.C. He knew if he was going to make a move it had to be soon, but he wasn’t sure what to
do. So that’s why he was praying. He was asking God to help him accomplish this
mission no matter what he did.

God,
Parks
started somewhat reluctantly,
I don’t really know how to do this or who
exactly You are, but, well...I really need You to help me on this operation.
I’ve tried my best every single time and I’ve just fallen flat on my face. I
don’t know why. I also don’t know what to do now. I realize I’ve done some
things that You probably don’t like but I believe You are in Heaven or some place
like that. Anyway, I need Your help. Please God, do this for me.

Parks felt
foolish. If what the church lady had said was right, then why would God listen
to his prayer when he wasn’t “saved”? Why would He do something nice for
someone who wouldn’t even accept His gift of Jesus? But Parks wasn’t all too
sure that really
was
right. He believed in the One and Only, true God,
like the lady did, but he didn’t know if he believed everything about Him that
she did.

Interrupting his
thoughts, the radio cracked to life and Solomon’s voice boomed over it. “VIPER
ALPHA, this is VIPER BRAVO. You know how close we are to D.C.? Over.”

Parks concentrated
on his job again and answered the question. “I know, VIPER BRAVO. Over.”

“Well what are
we going to do? Over.”

“Not sure yet.
We need to do something that’ll end this cat and mouse game though. Over.”

“Like what?
Over.”

Parks thought about how to best answer that. “A miracle, VIPER BRAVO. A
miracle. Out.”

*          *          *

Near Centreville, Virginia, Parks really began to sweat. Time was running out. Options were near
zero. Failure seemed imminent. Something needed to happen fast that would turn
the tables for the better, but nothing was working to that extent.

“Hey look there,
KP,” Norse said.

“What? What are
you talking about?” Parks asked urgently.

“The terrorists
just took the exit that goes to Centreville.”

Parks swallowed
hard. “We have to do something now. There’s only one reason why they’re going
to Centreville, and we have to stop them.”

“Yeah but how?”

“I don’t know
how you guys feel about this but I’d rather have all the terrorists dead than
have vun Buvka alive and running loose. What I’m trying to say, is that if it
came down to it we can always kill them all, which would make things easier. I
don’t want to lose my job but there are more important things.”

“I’m glad that
finally dawned on you,” Norse declared quietly. “I decided that a long time
ago.”

Parks didn’t
respond to that statement. He didn’t have time to be squabbling with Norse over
a petty jealousy. Not when lives of Americans were on the line.

“Jim, you mind
radioing in to Solomon and telling him the deal?” Parks asked.

“What deal?”
Corley wondered.

“Tell him how we
may have to resort to killing them all. Get his opinion and get it fast.”

Corley obeyed
the order as Parks and Norse watched the terrorists’ every move. They were
barely into the city when Solomon’s opinion was relayed.

“KP, Solomon
says that he fully agrees,” Corley explained. “But he thinks we ought to kill
them now. He also asked how you plan to pull that off.”

“Well, we can
fill their vehicle full of hand grenades – we have those don’t we?”

Corley
half-nodded.

“Good,” Parks
stated. “That’s a sure way to take them out. We’re going to need Solomon’s team
for backup, and we’ll take the front. Greg, Jim, I want you guys to be shooting
those grenades, but I also want you to be ready for a gunfight. We’ll have
Solomon’s guys set up the same way. Pass that plan on to Solomon will you Jim?”

“Hey wait. Look
there,” Norse interjected, pointing to the Suburban ahead of them. “It looks
like the terrorists are going to turn into...into that restaurant. See their
blinker?”

“What
restaurant?” Parks demanded.

“The one on the left
there,” Norse replied. “That big one with all those vehicles parked in front of
it.”

Parks didn’t
have to be told that the terrorists weren’t going there to dine. Given the
number of vehicles in front, it seemed to be a perfect target for a terrorist
attack.

The terrorists
turned off into the restaurant’s parking lot and Parks followed. He knew that
he might be able to take them as they went into the restaurant but he had about
a minute to get ready. Was it enough time? Would he in turn be butchering his
own team?

“Tell Solomon to
forget the last plan and prepare for an outright gunfight,” he ordered to Corley.
“And tell him we’re going to try and capture vun Buvka but not at the expense
of harming civilians. If it looks like he’s going to escape, take him out.”

“You got it.”

“And then both
of you get yourselves ready. We’re going to have to jump into this fight
headlong.”

Parks put his
truck in park right out in front of the restaurant. He could see the terrorists
in their vehicle as he debated his next move.
This is so uncoordinated,
he thought.
Someone’s bound to get hurt doing this.

Corley passed
out a couple of grenades to each man – half of which were CS gas – and pulled
out his pistol. A mere second later, Solomon pulled his Yukon up alongside
Parks’ truck and gave the nod of approval. Parks hit the “unlock” button and
grabbed for the door handle.

“Ready?” he
asked his team.

“Let’s go,”
Norse responded, gripping his pistol with immense vigor.

Parks flung his
door open and that’s when he saw movement at the restaurant’s doors. It was a
large group of people that had just finished dining and were coming out to
their vehicles – which would put them right in the line of fire.

“
Wait,
”
Parks commanded.

Fortunately, no
one else had opened their doors, so to cover things up, Parks
did
get
out and he strolled into the restaurant.

“Where’s he
going?” Norse asked Corley. “Is he trying to get himself killed?”

Corley shook his
head slowly and watched, ready to come up and help Parks if necessary.

As he approached
the restaurant doors, Parks pulled his light jacket down further so his pistol
would be concealed, and reached for the door handle. Before he could grasp it
however, someone from inside swung it open and almost hit him in the face.

“Welcome sir,”
the man who had opened the door greeted with a loud British accent.

Parks nodded but
didn’t say a word, and he stepped in to look things over. It was a large
restaurant, a perfect place for a terrorist attack, and everyone was either
dressed in tuxedos or gowns.

“Can I help you,
sir?” an English-accented hostess wondered.

Parks shrugged
his shoulders. “Yes ma’am I guess so,” he said, wondering what was with all of
the accents. “Do you guys have a carry-out menu?”

The lady scrutinized
him from head to toe before chuckling to herself in disgust and handing him the
menu.

“Well I’m glad
I’m amusing, ma’am,” Parks spat out. “But my money spends as good as any of
these dudes’.”

It felt good to
take out his anger on someone, even though he knew this lady hadn’t anything to
do with his troubles. But her accent was irritating, her scrutiny was annoying,
and she was the only one around at the time for Parks to lash out at.

Parks turned for the door and bumped into someone. When his eyes cast
down to the man’s face, he almost dropped dead with recognition and fear.
Standing before him was Alka vun Buvka.

*          *          *

“Oh, excuse me,
sir,” Parks declared, trying to act as calm as he could.

Vun Buvka patted
Parks’ arm and smiled. “Forget it, my friend.”

Parks suddenly
remembered his pistol. Should he try and take all of the terrorists by himself?
He didn’t think he could. If he tried and failed, then his team’s surprise
tactic would be lost.

“Uh, sir, they
don’t take too kindly to casual clothes in here I’m afraid,” Parks stated,
pointing to the terrorist’s garments. “But hey, if you’ve got money what can
they say?”

The other terrorists
surrounded Parks and stared at him intently. He could feel their eyes scanning
him, and it made his stomach knot. Were they on to him? Did they know who he
was and were they going to kill him right then and there?

“Have you ever
eaten here?” a terrorist questioned from behind Parks.

“Nope, never.
I’m going to though; I just have to go back to my vehicle. I forgot my wallet.”

The restaurant’s
doors opened once more and Parks saw Samuels enter. Parks wasn’t sure if he had
come in to help or if he had something else up his sleeve. There was no way of
telling.

“Have a good
meal, gentlemen,” Parks said.

The terrorists
began to walk for the counter and Parks knew he had to make a decision. He
realized that they could blow up everyone in the building in a heartbeat whenever
they wanted to, and he needed to stop them. But if he tried now, at best he and
Samuels could only kill a few of them before one of them ignited their C4. The
catch was, he wasn’t sure if he had time to get backup before the terrorists commenced
the attack.

Parks glanced at
Samuels who was slightly shaking his head. Then he pointed back to the door.
Parks knew Samuels wanted him to leave, but why? Did he have a plan?

Hoping for the
best, Parks started for the door. He reached Samuels and once outside, both men
made a dash for the vehicles. When they reached them, they leaped inside and
Parks and Solomon parked them around the corner.

“The terrorists
are inside and we need to take them out before they attack,” Parks told Solomon
as everyone began piling out of the vehicles. “They saw me and they might know
who I am from the gas station incident. But I can’t afford not to go back
inside.”

“Why?” Solomon
asked.

“Two reasons.
One, I need to lead this team. Two, I told them I was coming back.”

“You what?”

“Forget it.
Anyway, I don’t have a clue as to how much time we have, but we sure can’t just
storm that place with guns blazing. They’d blow their C4 instantly. We need to
infiltrate the building and close in on them inconspicuously.”

“Yeah but that
isn’t going to be very easy,” Samuels pointed out. “The only way into that
building is through those front doors. Like you said, we sure can’t come
charging in there all at the same time or the terrorists will be suspicious.”

“You’re right about
their suspicions. You’re wrong that the front doors are the only way in
though,” Parks countered quickly. “There have to be fire exits and employee
entrances. Who wants to be a waiter?”

“I’ll do it,”
Solomon offered without hesitation.

“Thanks. You’ll
need to speak with the manager and flash a badge in order to get the job. Once
inside I want you to take the terrorists’ order.”

“You think
they’re really going to sit down and eat?” Lee asked. “If I were them I’d just
blow the C4 and be done with it.”

“Well I’d say
the same thing if they were normal suiciders. But they’re not. Vun Buvka’s with
them and he doesn’t want to die.”

“Then what’s he
planning?” Norse questioned.

“I’m not sure
but it doesn’t really matter,” Parks replied. “By the way, another reason why
I’m guessing they’re going to stay a while is that there aren’t that many
people in the restaurant yet.”

“Solomon,” Parks
began, “you’ll have to work alone, but we won’t start anything – if we can help
it of course – until you’re around. Oh, I also need someone to be a cleanup
man.”

“Right here,”
Norse offered. “My wife taught me how to use a broom and vacuum pretty well.”

“Fine. You’ll
need to stick close to the terrorists’ table while you’re cleaning, okay? But
make it look as natural as you can. Now I also need someone to hang around the
main entrance just in case.”

Marler cleared
his throat. “I’ll take that job, KP.”

“Good. Now I
need the rest of you to go in there and have a nice meal by the terrorists’
table. Don’t even look at them until I give the word. Got that?”

“Where’ll you
be?” Norse asked.

Parks double-checked
his pistol and then spun it on his finger. “I’ll be dining right next to the
terrorists – alone. When you guys see me make a move, then open fire. I’d like
vun Buvka alive but kill him if necessary.”

“What qualifies
as necessary?” Solomon wondered.

“If he’s going
to harm any of the civilians inside, or if he’s going to escape. Then and only
then can we take him out. I hate to order that, but...”

“We understand,”
Norse assured him.

“All right then let’s get moving before it’s too late,” Parks ordered.
“And remember hunter safety, ‘Be sure of your target and beyond.’”

*          *          *

“May I take your
order?”

Vun Buvka looked
up from his menu and stared at the tall, jolly, black man in a white shirt and
black tie. Then he scanned the room and suddenly noticed the man sitting alone
behind him. His face was familiar, but why? Where had he seen that man?

Vun Buvka’s
terrorists began to order and out of nowhere there came another neatly dressed
man pushing a cordless vacuum. He was less familiar but still somewhat
recognizable. Where had vun Buvka seen these two men? Of course he’d seen the
tall one sitting behind him recently. They had collided earlier, but that was
not what was familiar about him. Something else was. But what?