BRAINRUSH 02 - The Enemy of My Enemy by Richard Bard Read Free Book Online Page B

had surely learned he was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of their jihadist brothers. No doubt they would seek revenge.
    Jake and his friends needed a place to hide until the three jihadists could be found. With the help of Papa’s relatives in Mexico, they’d located a safe house in the desert. As they readied for their clandestine departure the next morning, the major news agencies broke the incredible story about a guns-blazing confrontation between American lawn enforcement and terrorists on the Canadian border. Three Muslim fanatics were killed. Autopsies revealed that each of the men had an unusual implant lodged within his brain. The danger was over.
    Or so Jake had thought.
    Lacey pounded her fists on the table, bringing Jake’s attention back to the group. “No way, no way, no way!” she said. “I can’t leave now. We start shooting tomorrow, for Christ’s sake.” 
     “I ain’t goin’ nowhere without my family,” Tony said. His wife and two children were visiting her mom up at Big Bear. He’d called last night to make sure they were all right, but didn’t tell them anything about what had happened.
     “Don’t worry about it, Sarge,” Papa said, reverting to the use of Tony’s rank when they’d met on active duty with Special Forces. “We got time, man. It’s not like anyone knows where we’re at.”
    Jake shared Tony’s concern for his family. He’d long ago moved his own mom and sister to a small village just north of Pisa, Italy, where they remained safely ensconced with distant relatives. Besides Sarafina, who should arrive any minute with Bradley, Tony’s family was the last of those in the immediate circle of risk.
    “I got it!” Marshall’s pronouncement electrified the room. Everyone stopped what they were doing and gathered around the laptop.
    “Okay,” Marshall explained, “I still haven’t cracked into the list of incoming and outgoing calls. But I was able to reconstitute parts of the final deleted voice mail.” He turned up the volume on the laptop speakers and hit the Play button.
    A stream of static scratched its way out of the speakers, rising and falling with a cadence that hinted at the existence of an underlying voice.
    “Hang on,” Marshall said, pausing the recording. He tapped a quick series of commands and hit Play again. 
    The static dissipated, replaced by a raspy, angry voice speaking Dari. “ …don’t care what you have to do. Bring him to me now. The woman, too. If his friends get in the way, kill them!” The line went dead.
    Every one of Jake’s nerve endings seemed to explode at the same time. He shared a look of shock with Tony, the only other person in the room who understood the Afghan language.
    Francesca gasped. She stumbled backward to get away from the voice. She looked around wildly, her chest heaving. Jake rushed to catch her before she fell and wrapped her in his arms. He knew Francesca didn’t need to understand the words in order to recognize her previous mentor’s voice—the same man who had torn her life apart. The man had kidnapped her and Sarafina, giving them over to his vicious and perverted executioner, Carlo, to do with as he pleased. Her body shook.
    Luciano Battista is alive.
    Jake embraced the burst of adrenaline that prepared his body for action and clarified his thoughts. The scene around him moved as if it were a slow-motion video. The stunned and worried looks on the faces of his friends seemed glued in place. Through a slit in the vertical blinds, he saw Bradley’s Jeep Grand Cherokee come to a stop in the parking lot. Sarafina sat in the backseat, an anxious smile on her face. Max was next to her, his tail wagging in slo-mo. Josh sat on the other side of the dog, his arm around Max’s neck. Back inside, Tony had raised his cell phone to his cheek, his teeth clenched in concern. Papa and Becker were both strapping on weapons and ammo magazines. Lacey and Marshall stared at Jake, fear etched in every line