Search and Destroy by JT Sawyer (top non fiction books of all time .TXT) 📗

bend. Cal charged at him before he could gain his footing on the pavement, tackling him at the waist in a wrestler’s clinch and lifting him before dropping him onto the ground.

The man landed with a dull thud, groaning but struggling to turn on his side. Cal spidered up along the right part of his torso, flinging one arm around the officer’s neck until the crease of his elbow was aligned with the man’s chin while sliding his other arm around the back and interlocking it to secure a rear naked Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu choke.

The man thrashed, trying to escape, realizing that he was about to endure several helpless minutes of unconsciousness.

Once the man slumped back into Cal, he set the officer down then removed his pistol, Taser and OC spray, flinging them into the woods.

He grabbed the officer’s radio on his vest, shining his flashlight across the nametag. “This is Moore. Subject is headed to the northwest corner near the horse barn.”

Cal hopped up, trotting down the hillside just as another patrol car was driving up from town. The car sped up upon seeing him, his face still partly concealed with his hoodie. He darted to the left, running down another rocky slope through the maples then stumbling onto the lower section of the road. He saw more red and blue lights coming up the switchbacks below as the net of law enforcement began flooding into the region.

Shit!

He looked to the left, seeing bobbing flashlights trotting through the trees as more men on foot descended from Burke’s place.

So much for my attempt at redirecting them.

They’d be swarming in on his location in another minute.

The single light of a speeding motorcycle blinded him for a second as it raced down a narrow dirt road to the left that was used by the utility company.

He heard the screech of tires as the bike slowed, pivoting to the left as it came up alongside him. The lithe driver flipped up the helmet visor.

Cal’s eyes widened when he looked at the familiar face.

“Get on. We need to get the hell out of here now!”

45

Cal hopped onto the BMW motorcycle, clasping his arms around the woman’s waist as she sped off. He was as grateful as he was anxious at the sudden appearance of his old teammate.

Viper…but how did you find me?

“Hold on…this is going to be one helluva bumpy ride.”

She wove past a police car, making the sharp turn on the switchback just as a cluster of flashlights from the tree-lined slope to the right came into view. Four officers were heading down the hill, their pistols pointing at the bike.

Viper made a swift left turn, heading down an incline and over a large patch of river rocks put in place for erosion. She pulled onto a small road and sped up then took another shortcut down the steep slope, avoiding the switchbacks to gain some more distance.

She repeated the maneuver two more times, narrowly avoiding the last patrol car that was struggling to turn around on the sharp turns that wound up the hill.

Viper opened up the throttle, speeding down the remaining stretch of straight road until it leveled out, then she turned off her lights and veered down a side street, making several evasive maneuvers until they cleared the neighborhood.

Once she was sure they were free of their pursuers, she flicked on the lights again then made a series of L-patterned turns through the city before continuing north for three miles. She headed onto a secondary highway, driving for another fifteen minutes then turning onto a dimly lit two-lane road southwest of Arlington.

She headed straight for a half-mile then pulled into the driveway of a storage unit, entering the code on the numeric keypad before the sliding gate.

Viper drove down to the last unit on the left then parked the motorcycle. She got off and opened the bulbous lock on the large rental unit, yanking up the door panel.

“If you can get the bike inside, I’ll get the car ready.” She thrust her chin at a white cargo van with a surfboard mounted on the roof rack.

Cal looked over his shoulder in the direction they’d just come as he wheeled the BMW bike inside, noticing the lack of license plate.

“How the hell did you find me?”

“Really…you wanna do this now? I’d rather get on the road, then we can catch up.”

“How, dammit?”

She held up her phone, showing a text with a listing of cross-streets in the area from within the past fifteen minutes. “I got a call then a series of texts, telling me you were here.”

She loaded an elongated duffle bag with rifle barrels sticking out of the end into the back of the van. “Bird-Dog was worried you might need some help and reached out to me. She pinpointed you with the drone she gave you.”

He glanced at his jacket, irritated that he hadn’t considered the device had a GPS chip embedded in it. “Vogel got you into this and put her own neck on the line? Goddammit. She had no right to…”

“Shut up. I know what you’re going to say, but I’m already here, so deal with it. She knew the risks better than anyone, and so do I.”

“And now you’re risking being put away for a long fucking time if you’re caught with me.”

“You’ve saved my life a dozen times over, Cal. I’d say that’s worth it. And Cassie was family. She always welcomed me in your home when I was in between missions, and I’ll never forget that.” She looked at his torn hoodie. “Besides, you’re getting old and slow, and I knew you could use someone watching your back.”

“Hell I am.” He glanced down at her left leg, which had taken a 5.56 round in Algeria eight months earlier. “How’s the war wound?”

“Which one?” She grinned. “I’ve got almost as many as Foley and Patterson now.”

“Hope not, although I think Foley has different genetics than the rest of the human race.”

Cal looked in through the