BooksBarbecue
Back Black Flag Save as PDF
Chapters (96)
  1. Cover
  2. Berkley titles by David Ricciardi
  3. Dedication
  4. Epigraph
  5. CHARACTER LIST
  6. PROLOGUE
  7. ONE
  8. TWO
  9. THREE
  10. FOUR
  11. FIVE
  12. SIX
  13. SEVEN
  14. EIGHT
  15. NINE
  16. TEN
  17. ELEVEN
  18. TWELVE
  19. THIRTEEN
  20. FOURTEEN
  21. FIFTEEN
  22. SIXTEEN
  23. SEVENTEEN
  24. EIGHTEEN
  25. NINETEEN
  26. TWENTY
  27. TWENTY-ONE
  28. TWENTY-TWO
  29. TWENTY-THREE
  30. TWENTY-FOUR
  31. TWENTY-FIVE
  32. TWENTY-SIX
  33. TWENTY-SEVEN
  34. TWENTY-EIGHT
  35. TWENTY-NINE
  36. THIRTY
  37. THIRTY-ONE
  38. THIRTY-TWO
  39. THIRTY-THREE
  40. THIRTY-FOUR
  41. THIRTY-FIVE
  42. THIRTY-SIX
  43. THIRTY-SEVEN
  44. THIRTY-EIGHT
  45. THIRTY-NINE
  46. FORTY
  47. FORTY-ONE
  48. FORTY-TWO
  49. FORTY-THREE
  50. FORTY-FOUR
  51. FORTY-FIVE
  52. FORTY-SIX
  53. FORTY-SEVEN
  54. FORTY-EIGHT
  55. FORTY-NINE
  56. FIFTY
  57. FIFTY-ONE
  58. FIFTY-TWO
  59. FIFTY-THREE
  60. FIFTY-FOUR
  61. FIFTY-FIVE
  62. FIFTY-SIX
  63. FIFTY-SEVEN
  64. FIFTY-EIGHT
  65. FIFTY-NINE
  66. SIXTY
  67. SIXTY-ONE
  68. SIXTY-TWO
  69. SIXTY-THREE
  70. SIXTY-FOUR
  71. SIXTY-FIVE
  72. SIXTY-SIX
  73. SIXTY-SEVEN
  74. SIXTY-EIGHT
  75. SIXTY-NINE
  76. SEVENTY
  77. SEVENTY-ONE
  78. SEVENTY-TWO
  79. SEVENTY-THREE
  80. SEVENTY-FOUR
  81. SEVENTY-FIVE
  82. SEVENTY-SIX
  83. SEVENTY-SEVEN
  84. SEVENTY-EIGHT
  85. SEVENTY-NINE
  86. EIGHTY
  87. EIGHTY-ONE
  88. EIGHTY-TWO
  89. EIGHTY-THREE
  90. EIGHTY-FOUR
  91. EIGHTY-FIVE
  92. EIGHTY-SIX
  93. EIGHTY-SEVEN
  94. Children of Fallen Patriots Foundation
  95. ABOUT THE AUTHOR
  96. What’s next onyour reading list?

Jake had known that the black market for arms in Africa was robust ever since he’d joined the Agency, but still he’d been stunned when Pickens had shown him the weapons he’d accumulated in the safe house basement. Jake was on board with the mission—supporting CIA’s African partners and getting dangerous arms out of the hands of terrorists and warlords—but it was still disturbing to know that anyone with the means to pay for it could acquire such a wide range of destructive devices . . . until Jake had learned of the bioweapon.

And then, like everything in life, Pickens’s arms cache became a matter of perspective. A weaponized virus could survive heat, air, and sunlight far better than the natural version. It wasn’t just dangerous, it was evil, just like Yaxaas.

And evil did not die from exposure, or time, or hope.

Evil had to be killed.

EIGHTY-ONE

JAKE REACHED INTO his pack and took out three thermate grenades.

Known officially as AN-M14 incendiary hand grenades, each was about the size of a can of beer. Made from aluminum powder, iron oxide, and barium nitrate, the first one Jake had seen had been in Pickens’s safe. The big man had wired it to the lock, along with an anti-lift switch and enough heavy-load explosive detonating cord to obliterate everything inside. Once ignited, the thermate burned at four thousand degrees Fahrenheit. It even generated its own oxygen so it could work underwater.

Nothing on earth could survive its wrath.

Jake took the grenades, wrapped them twice with detonating cord and a fistful of blasting caps, and duct-taped the assembly to the crate. One grenade probably would have been enough, but Jake wasn’t fucking around.

He unspooled another fifty feet of det cord out the back of the truck just as the helicopter roared by overhead. Bullets thudded into the dirt around him as the helo banked steeply and turned back toward the van. The helicopter’s high speed and rapidly changing angle had probably saved him, but Jake had seen the snipers in action. It wouldn’t take long for them to adjust their aim.

He jumped on the dirt bike and ignited the det cord. Unlike a timed fuse, the explosive cord burned almost instantaneously, detonating the blasting caps and the grenades in a few thousandths of a second. A blinding light radiated from the back of the van as molten slag incinerated the plastic container and began destroying the virus.

The helicopter finished its turn and was zeroing in on his position. Jake twisted the throttle and launched the dirt bike forward. The helo was closing the distance quickly. In another few seconds, the snipers would have his position dialed in. Jake turned the bike ninety degrees and climbed into the hills—toward the oncoming helicopter. The distance closed immediately and the snipers lost sight of Jake as he passed underneath the aircraft.