LITMIR.BIZ

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keyed the headset. “Ace?”

      “Go, Striker.”

      “She’s here.”

      “Roger that. You going in?”

      “Right. Standby. I’ll call for a pickup.”

      Grimaldi acknowledged the radio traffic. Bolan killed the connection. The warrior sheathed the Beretta and unlimbered the sound-suppressed Heckler & Koch MP-5. Bolan came to his feet and, using rocks strewed about the terrain for cover, closed in on the village.

      The crunch of hard-packed snow crushed underfoot reached Bolan’s ears. He whirled, spotted a fifth gunner crouched next to a boulder. The man already had locked Bolan in his sights. The Executioner lunged left and crashed into the ground, the icy snow yielding under his weight. Flame blossomed from the sentry’s weapon and bullets pounded the area around Bolan. Small geysers of snow erupted from the ground as rounds chewed a path toward Bolan.

      Taking aim, Bolan stroked the H&K’s trigger. The initial burst sailed inches past his target’s head. The guard held his ground and laid down another withering hail of gunfire. Correcting his own aim, Bolan fired two more bursts from the SMG. The rounds drilled into the man’s belly, causing him to stiffen and stagger back before he collapsed to the ground.

      Shadows loomed behind Bolan and in the absence of gunfire, he heard more assailants crossing the snow toward him. The Executioner rolled into a prone position, propping himself up on his elbows and clutching the MP-5 in both hands. He tapped out a short burst that chewed into the man’s chest and stomach. Caught by the 9 mm stingers, the man staggered back and his body went limp. Dropping his weapon, he fell to his knees, pitched face-first into the snow.

      More autofire flashed around Bolan. Bullets tore at the smooth, snowy surfaces and sparked off exposed rocks. He was on his feet and running for another position. He switched his weapon to full-auto and laid down a sustained salvo for cover as he ran.

      He caught motion to his right, whirled and spied a pair of shooters trying to acquire him as a target. Orange muzzle-flashes burst from their weapons and lead sizzled the air around Bolan, lancing between his legs and passing close to his ears and shoulders.

      As grim as hell, the warrior brought around his MP-5 and unloaded a burst at the nearest man. The leaden storm ripped ragged holes in the man’s chest, shaking him like a leaf in the wind. As the first shooter fell, Bolan whirled toward the second. Having seen his comrade fall, the man redoubled his own efforts, emptying his rifle in a sustained assault on Bolan.

      The Executioner snap-aimed the subgun and loosed a murderous gale of autofire. The onslaught pounded the man’s center mass and drove his battered corpse to the ground. Smoke curled from the MP-5’s barrel, mixing with the clouds formed by Bolan’s frozen breath.

      The big American snapped a new magazine into the weapon. Legs pumping, he surged toward the encampment, dropping two more gunners as he continued his death march. More gunfire blazed a trail toward him, forcing the warrior to thrust himself beneath a wooden donkey cart. A shower of hellfire pounded into the ancient vehicle, creating a spray of splinters. Bullets tunneled into the ground around him.

      The warrior plucked a frag grenade from his web gear and rolled from under the cart. Popping up from behind it, he spotted two of the shooters—a pair of Caucasians in camouflage fatigues—laying down a relentless hail of lead. Yanking the grenade’s pin, Bolan heaved the weapon toward the shooters and dropped back under cover.

      An orange blast erupted, punctuated with a hellish chorus of agonized screams. Bolan was up and running again, this time beating a path for the helicopter.

      A pilot stepped into view, pistol raised in front of him. Bolan’s subgun came to life, stitching the guy from left hip to right shoulder. The bullets’ impact thrust the man back into the chopper, knocking him from view. Grabbing a thermite grenade from his gear, Bolan activated the bomb and tossed it inside the craft. As a second followed in right after the first, Bolan wheeled and put some distance between him and the chopper. Reaching a line of rocks, he vaulted, hit the ground hard and launched into a side roll.

      The dual grenades ignited one right after the other. Roiling clouds of flame erupted and ripped through the craft. Within a heartbeat, the fire ignited the craft’s fuel tanks and blew it into a supernova of flame, glass shards and twisted metal.

      Bolan took the blitz up a notch and beat a path for the brick building. The MP-5 held in front of him at shoulder level, he weaved a path through the cluster of huts. He detected no signs of life from within, no cooking odors or fires, no noise.

      The source had claimed the place was filled with innocents, but Bolan had seen no evidence to support this. He considered that a stroke of luck.

      He flattened himself against one of the huts and peered inside. He saw blankets, dishes, utensils, radios and a laptop scattered around, but no people. He checked two more structures and found the same.

      Bolan edged along another of the small houses, bringing himself within a few yards of the concrete-block building where he’d seen Stone take the woman.

      A shadow from above overtook the Executioner. Raising his weapon, he spun just in time to see a large, robed man—apparently one of al-Shoud’s fighters—leap from a roof and fall toward him.

      The man dropped into Bolan, wrapped his arms around the warrior’s midsection and took him to the ground. The attacker straddled him and sent a fist rocketing for Bolan’s face. The soldier rolled with the blow, letting it graze his cheek but mitigating the damage. Bolan tried to swing the MP-5 around so he could drill his adversary, but found his arm held fast in the other man’s grip.

      Bolan’s left arm struck out hard, burying a fist into the guy’s soft belly, once, then twice, each blow driven hard into the man’s diaphragm. Breath exploded from the man’s lungs and his grip on Bolan’s wrist loosened. The soldier pressed his wrist against his opponent’s thumb until the Executioner’s gun hand slipped free. With lightning-fast movements, he cracked the man in the jaw with the MP-5 and sent him sprawling.

      His appetite for hand-to-hand combat spoiled, the man grabbed for a pistol. Bolan’s MP-5 coughed out a trio of bullets that struck the man in the throat and robbed him of any remaining fight.

      Bolan reached the brick structure and flattened himself against the wall, taking a moment to familiarize himself with the single-story structure layout. Kurtzman had told him that it had popped up within the last year, supposedly as part of an aid project for the village. The cover story was that it was to serve as a school and a community shelter.

      Bolan dropped the MP-5 and fisted the Beretta and the Desert Eagle. He glided along the building’s edge until he came within yards of a door. He heard the click of a door latch and, a moment later, the steel door opened. A woman half walked, half stumbled out, a baby clutched to her. A bearded man, his red hair trimmed into a crew cut, stood behind her, his forearm wrapped around her throat as he used her for a human shield. She clutched a bundle to her bosom—a baby.

      From behind his human shield, the man aimed an autoloading pistol at Bolan. The soldier’s eyes darted around as he sought a decent shot with Beretta.

      He saw nothing.

      JENNIFER KINSEY WINCED as Jon Stone hit her square between the shoulder blades. The blow launched her into a room that resembled a makeshift command center, with a bank of television monitors, computers and other high-tech equipment.

      Kinsey felt Stone behind her before he touched her. When he did make contact, it was painful. He drove a fist into her kidneys, driving her to her knees. Grabbing a fistful of her hair, he forced her back to her feet.

      Stone took a few steps forward, wheeled and pinned her under his cold stare. He nodded over his shoulder at the security monitors as they conveyed the carnage unfolding outside. A big man had waded into the middle of Stone and al-Shoud’s gunners and, from what Kinsey saw, had unleashed hell on them.

      “Friend of yours?” Stone asked.

      Kinsey shrugged. “Maybe. Does

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