Return of the Assassin (Assassin Series 3) by Russell Blake Read Free Book Online Page B

assassin into an unmarked van that had been outfitted with a security cage in the cargo area. The lead guard padlocked the chain to a large ringbolt in the floor before closing the latch on the cage. A federal policeman in full assault gear climbed into the rear after the assassin, nodding his determination as the guard closed the cargo doors. Another guard clutching an assault rifle slid into the passenger seat. The driver glanced at the prisoner in the rear, catching the eye of the guard sitting by the cage. The officer gave him a thumbs up, and the driver eased his foot off the brake.
    Two other vans, identical in every respect, sat beside the one containing the assassin, waiting with engines running. On a signal from the driver they pulled away, and once through the gates, each made for a different route to get to Mexico City, where the hearing would be held.
    El Rey bounced in the rear as they took surface streets to the freeway, the uneven pavement jarring him painfully against the hard metal floor.
     
    ~
     
    “Beta, the pigeon has left the roost.” The words came over the scrambled radio.
    “Copy that. We are on our way,” came the response.
    The heavy delivery truck was emblazoned with a singing chicken in overalls wearing a baby-blue chef hat. The driver narrowed his eyes, rolled a balaclava over his face and put the transmission in gear. He peered at the side mirror and watched as the black Lincoln Navigator behind him rolled away from the curb to follow.
     
    ~
     
    Chatter and bursts of static came over the police radio as the van pulled to a stop at the intersection near the bottom of the freeway onramp. As expected, there was little traffic at ten a.m.. They would be able to make it into Mexico City by eleven and be in court shortly after.
    The officer watching El Rey in the rear scratched his face and then wiped it with his sleeve.
    “Could you turn up the AC? It’s broiling back here,” he called to the driver, who nodded and leaned forward to adjust the controls.
     
    ~
     
    The truck slammed into the van’s front fender at forty miles per hour, crushing the wheel and the engine area and rendering it immobile, breaking the driver’s side window in the process. Five men dressed in jeans and windbreakers leapt from the Navigator and ran to the van, weapons trained on both stunned Federales in the front. The armed officer in the passenger seat hadn’t been able to get his gun into service fast enough, and they were now both sitting ducks, the weapons pointed at their faces obvious in their intent.
    “Don’t move or I’ll blow your heads off!” the lead assailant screamed at the officers, firing a burst along the top section of the van for emphasis. “Get your hands up where I can see them. NOW!”
    The two men slowly raised their hands, and a second assailant tossed a small canister through the van’s window. Within seconds, the driver and the passenger slumped forward from the incapacitating gas, out cold.
    El Rey instinctively held his breath when he saw the canister hit the floor. His guard wasn’t so fortunate and fell into a heap as he tried to get up to fire at the attackers in the front.
    The rear doors flew open, and the assassin saw three men standing with M4 assault rifles. A fourth approached the mobile cage with bolt cutters. A few seconds later the cage lock and the chain had been clipped off, still connected to the ring in the van floor.
    One of the men glanced at El Rey ; blood streamed down the side of his face from where his head had banged against the metal cage during the collision.
    “How badly are you hurt? Can you move?” the man asked.
    El Rey nodded, ignoring the throbbing from his skull and the seeping blood.
    “All right. Come on. Hurry. This place is going to be swarming with cops within another minute or two. Move.”
    The attackers dragged him unceremoniously out of the van and two of the men set him on his feet while the bolt cutter severed the chain connecting