Iron Wolf by Dale Brown Read Free Book Online Page A

Lytvyn’s carbine.
    â€œFrom you? Nothing,” Kravchenko said. He shrugged. “We are not your enemies. Once we’re done here, you will be released safe and sound. Why, with a bit of luck, none of your men have even had their hair mussed.”
    â€œThen I suppose you want me as your hostage,” Voronov growled.
    With a faint smile, Kravchenko raised his Makarov and shot the Russian in the back of the head. “Wrong, General,” he said quietly. “Dead men are useless as hostages.”
    Two minutes later, he led his strike team at a steady lope northwest across the tarmac. Skirting the burning Russian helicopters, they entered the forest, heading toward the Bug River several hundred meters away.
    â€œYou know those arms inspectors are going to start screaming for help over their cell phones any second now,” Pavlo Lytvyn said.
    â€œYes, I know.” Kravchenko nodded. He glanced at his subordinate with another quick, humorless grin. “In fact, I’m counting on it.”

O FFICE OF D R. H UNTER “B OOMER ”
    N OBLE, C HIEF OF A EROSPACE
    E NGINEERING, S KYMASTERS, I NC.,
    B ATTLE M OUNTAIN, N EVADA
    â€œThanks, guys!” Brad said cheerfully to the stone-faced corporate security guards who had just ushered him into the office. “I probably would have gotten lost without you.”
    The tall, lanky man sitting on the other side of the desk frowned. “Put him in a chair and get out,” he told the guards. “I’ll handle this.”
    Once the security personnel were gone, Brad looked across the desk with a wry grin. “Hey, Boomer! Long time no see.”
    Hunter “Boomer” Noble shook his head in disgust. “Christ, Brad. I thought you had a handle on that dumb-ass McLanahan temper of yours. And then you pull a stunt like this?” He leaned forward. “Do you have any idea of the kind of money Sky Masters is going to have to lay out to keep this son of a bitch Carson from filing criminal assault charges against you?”
    â€œA lot?” Brad guessed.
    â€œYes, a lot,” Boomer said. “As in free tuition for his courses and probably at least a six-figure, tax-free settlement.”
    â€œOuch.”
    â€œYeah. Ouch,” Boomer agreed. He sighed. “Look, I went to bat for you with Richter and Kaddiri for this internship. They admired your dad, but they didn’t always see eye to eye with him. And they are not going to be real happy to hear that his son shares his less appealing qualities.”
    Brad nodded. As chief executive officer and chairman of the board respectively, Jason Richter and Helen Kaddiri ran Sky Masters as a tight-knit team. They didn’t exactly manage business matters with a nakedly iron hand, but there was definitely a touch of something hard and inflexible inside the velvet glove. According to the corporate rumor mill, they were also a heck of a lot more than mere business associates, but nobody had any hard evidence of a romantic affair.
    â€œSorry, Boomer,” he said, trying to put a little sincere contriteness into his voice. In truth, he was genuinely sorry. Despite the long hours and lack of pay, this internship at Sky Masters had been a dream come true. In two months, he had picked up more about the subjects he really loved—flying, aerospace technology, and tactics—than he could ever have learned in four years at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs or at Cal Poly–San Luis Obispo, where he was a student of aerospace engineering.
    â€œI bet you really are,” Boomer said. He shook his head again. “But you still couldn’t stop yourself from going apeshit crazy on that asshole.”
    â€œI was provoked,” Brad pointed out.
    â€œMaybe by the letter of the law,” Boomer agreed. “Too bad that’s not the way the corporate world works, even here at Sky Masters.”
    â€œWhich means what exactly?” Brad