Read Online Sacrifice by Will Jordan - Free Book Online
Authors: Will Jordan
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Contemporary, Thrillers, Crime, Mystery, Military, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Crime Fiction, Contemporary Fiction, Thrillers & Suspense
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world had separated the two men until yesterday. And now here they were, barely 300 yards apart. Drake had arrived just as Kourash had known he would, ignorant of the work and planning and calculations that had brought him here.
As the Explorer roared past on the dusty road below, Kourash reached for the cellphone resting in the depression beside him. It was a specialised encrypted unit, firing off its transmissions in a randomly cycling burst of data that was next to impossible to lock down.
Shielding the screen from the bright shafts of sunlight peeking through the camouflage netting, he powered the phone up. No numbers were stored in its digital memory – they all had to be learned and held within one’s mind. It wasn’t easy, but Kourash prided himself on his mental discipline.
Discipline was the core of a man’s being, a source of strength more potent than the strongest arm or the stoutest heart. Kourash had learned this truth from a young age.
His father had been a common labourer who flattered himself with dreams of success and wealth, lacking both the intelligence and the motivation to succeed. As his fledgling business failed and his money vanished, hehad turned his anger and frustration on his own family.
His mother by contrast had been a quiet, melancholy woman who endured the beatings he doled out without complaint, who would not even say a word against him when those same fists were turned against her own children. She would just get up and silently leave the room, her eyes blank, seeing nothing.
Both of them had been weak and deserving of their miserable lives. Kourash would despise them to his dying day.
Dredging up the familiar number from memory, he punched it in and waited for the call to be answered.
As always, it didn’t take long.
‘Yes?’ came the curt greeting.
‘The CIA are here. They are on their way to the crash site.’
Chapter 7
‘This is it. The chopper’s on the other side of that ridge,’ McKnight said, slowing the Explorer as they approached a couple of armed men up ahead, part of the security detail charged with protecting the crash site.
One look at them was enough to confirm they weren’t US Army, or any branch of the armed forces for that matter.
For a start they were much older than twenty-five, the average age for a US infantryman. Neither had seen less than forty years by Drake’s estimate. Still, they were serious-looking men. Both tall, both bulked up from heavy weight training, both with thick necks and grim, unsmiling faces. Neither man had shaved for several days judging by the thick growth along their jaws.
Instead of the standard MultiCam patterned Army Combat Uniform, they were clad in black T-shirts, with sand-coloured combat trousers and body armour that was some kind of hybrid design Drake had never seen before. There were no identification marks anywhere on their clothing. No unit badge, no rank marks, not even name tags.
Both were armed with M4A1 carbines; a modern replacement for the old M16. Designed around the modular weapons system concept, they were very much the military equivalent of Lego blocks allowing the userto add all kinds of attachments, from silencers to grenade launchers. In this case, both weapons were fitted with M68 close combat optic sights, and foregrips for easier carrying.
‘Who the hell are these guys?’ Keegan asked, eyeing the nearest man as he approached the Explorer, weapon at the ready.
‘Mercenaries,’ Drake said, an edge of disdain in his voice.
‘Private military contractors,’ McKnight corrected him. ‘They work for Horizon Defence. One of our biggest security companies these days.’
‘Creators of all things bright and beautiful, huh?’ Keegan prodded.
She shrugged. ‘Supply and demand, I guess. We supply the war, they supply the soldiers.’
The Explorer came to a halt, its engine ticking over. McKnight rolled down her window to speak to the perimeter guard. Both he and his companion were wearing
As the Explorer roared past on the dusty road below, Kourash reached for the cellphone resting in the depression beside him. It was a specialised encrypted unit, firing off its transmissions in a randomly cycling burst of data that was next to impossible to lock down.
Shielding the screen from the bright shafts of sunlight peeking through the camouflage netting, he powered the phone up. No numbers were stored in its digital memory – they all had to be learned and held within one’s mind. It wasn’t easy, but Kourash prided himself on his mental discipline.
Discipline was the core of a man’s being, a source of strength more potent than the strongest arm or the stoutest heart. Kourash had learned this truth from a young age.
His father had been a common labourer who flattered himself with dreams of success and wealth, lacking both the intelligence and the motivation to succeed. As his fledgling business failed and his money vanished, hehad turned his anger and frustration on his own family.
His mother by contrast had been a quiet, melancholy woman who endured the beatings he doled out without complaint, who would not even say a word against him when those same fists were turned against her own children. She would just get up and silently leave the room, her eyes blank, seeing nothing.
Both of them had been weak and deserving of their miserable lives. Kourash would despise them to his dying day.
Dredging up the familiar number from memory, he punched it in and waited for the call to be answered.
As always, it didn’t take long.
‘Yes?’ came the curt greeting.
‘The CIA are here. They are on their way to the crash site.’
Chapter 7
‘This is it. The chopper’s on the other side of that ridge,’ McKnight said, slowing the Explorer as they approached a couple of armed men up ahead, part of the security detail charged with protecting the crash site.
One look at them was enough to confirm they weren’t US Army, or any branch of the armed forces for that matter.
For a start they were much older than twenty-five, the average age for a US infantryman. Neither had seen less than forty years by Drake’s estimate. Still, they were serious-looking men. Both tall, both bulked up from heavy weight training, both with thick necks and grim, unsmiling faces. Neither man had shaved for several days judging by the thick growth along their jaws.
Instead of the standard MultiCam patterned Army Combat Uniform, they were clad in black T-shirts, with sand-coloured combat trousers and body armour that was some kind of hybrid design Drake had never seen before. There were no identification marks anywhere on their clothing. No unit badge, no rank marks, not even name tags.
Both were armed with M4A1 carbines; a modern replacement for the old M16. Designed around the modular weapons system concept, they were very much the military equivalent of Lego blocks allowing the userto add all kinds of attachments, from silencers to grenade launchers. In this case, both weapons were fitted with M68 close combat optic sights, and foregrips for easier carrying.
‘Who the hell are these guys?’ Keegan asked, eyeing the nearest man as he approached the Explorer, weapon at the ready.
‘Mercenaries,’ Drake said, an edge of disdain in his voice.
‘Private military contractors,’ McKnight corrected him. ‘They work for Horizon Defence. One of our biggest security companies these days.’
‘Creators of all things bright and beautiful, huh?’ Keegan prodded.
She shrugged. ‘Supply and demand, I guess. We supply the war, they supply the soldiers.’
The Explorer came to a halt, its engine ticking over. McKnight rolled down her window to speak to the perimeter guard. Both he and his companion were wearing
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