BooksBarbecue
Back The Asset
Chapters (86)
  1. Foreword
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. 3
  5. 4
  6. 5
  7. 6
  8. 7
  9. 8
  10. 9
  11. 10
  12. 11
  13. 12
  14. 13
  15. 14
  16. 15
  17. 16
  18. 17
  19. 18
  20. 19
  21. 20
  22. 21
  23. 22
  24. 23
  25. 24
  26. 25
  27. 26
  28. 27
  29. 28
  30. 29
  31. 30
  32. 31
  33. 32
  34. 33
  35. 34
  36. 35
  37. 36
  38. 37
  39. 38
  40. 39
  41. 40
  42. 41
  43. 42
  44. 43
  45. 44
  46. 45
  47. 46
  48. 47
  49. 48
  50. 49
  51. 50
  52. 51
  53. 52
  54. 53
  55. 54
  56. 55
  57. 56
  58. 57
  59. 58
  60. 59
  61. 60
  62. 61
  63. 62
  64. 63
  65. 64
  66. 65
  67. 66
  68. 67
  69. 68
  70. 69
  71. 70
  72. 71
  73. 72
  74. 73
  75. 74
  76. 75
  77. 76
  78. 77
  79. 78
  80. 79
  81. 80
  82. 81
  83. 82
  84. 83
  85. 84
  86. Afterword

He could see Laurel in the chopper, holding a gun to the pilot’s head.

“Take off,” he said into his mouthpiece.

That was it.

The chopper’s lift off was the signal the snipers had been waiting for.

Lance felt the impact before he heard it. A high-powered sniper bullet struck Davidov’s head from the direction of the palace. Lance held up Davidov’s dead body and fired his pistol at the elite force. They scattered but the men behind him opened fire with their carbines.

Lance held Davidov’s dead body up for cover and continuously fired at the tactical team as he ran the final steps to the chopper. Sniper bullets continued to pelt Davidov.

When he was six feet from the chopper, he dropped Davidov’s corpse and leapt.

Laurel was firing at the elite force, keeping them at bay, and Lance landed in the back of the chopper as a hail of carbine bullets clanged all around him.

The chopper jerked upward rapidly, gaining altitude as the pilot pulled back on the controls, realizing he would be the logical next target for the snipers.

“Get down,” Lance yelled to Laurel.

They both lay on the ground as the snipers continued to take shots at them. The chopper’s windshield shattered. It was a military-grade craft and had been reinforced, but it wouldn’t stand up to much more of this punishment.

When one of the snipers damaged the back propellor, the chopper veered dangerously to the right and Laurel had to hang on so as not to be thrown out the side.

More bullets rained in on them.

“The pilot’s been hit,” she yelled.

Lance got to the driver’s seat and pulled against the controls, struggling to get the craft back under control.

He managed to stabilize their altitude but as more bullets struck the tail and undercarriage, they began to veer again. They were dangerously close to going into a spin.

“I’m losing control,” Lance said.

They’d drifted over the Moskva River and were finally out of range of the snipers, but as they continued to careen wildly, Lance knew there was nothing he could do.

He turned to Laurel. “You’re not going to like this.”

“Like what?”

“We’re above the river,” he said.

She looked at him and realized what he was saying. She looked down. They were dizzyingly high. The water of the Moskva looked so cold and dark beneath them. She pictured herself landing on the rooftop of one of the buildings by the shore.

“You want me to jump?”

The chopper veered to the side again and it took everything Lance had to get it back out over the water.

Laurel looked at him. “This is it, Lance. If I jump, we may never see each other again.”

He nodded.

“Did Davidov say anything?”