The Janson Command by Paul Garrison Read Free Book Online

walk out. That leaves a boat. Boat ashore. Walk inland. Walk back. Boat out.”
    Paul Janson said, “I’m wondering if we should draft in on the gunrunners. Somehow they’re getting on and off the island and in and out of the camp. They must be bribing Iboga’s coast guard patrols and soldiers.”
    “But your pal Doug says they’re hands-off.”
    “I was talking to Neal Kruger. The Swiss? He claims he knows where to get some Starstreaks still in the crate.”
    Kincaid’s eyes widened. “Cool.”
    “We could trade them to the gunrunners for passage in. The FFM would be happy to buy man-mounted laser-guided surface-to-air high-velocity missiles. We land on their boat, split off from them once we’re close, go in light, and come out fast.”
    “What if the gunrunners run into trouble?”
    “We have our own boat waiting and rendezvous offshore with an OSV.”
    “Supplied by Doug?”
    “No. The client pays for deniability.”
    Kincaid said, “Another problem: FFM is not going to be happy when we skedaddle with the doctor. Would the gunrunners risk pissing off their client?”
    “We’ll have to find some way to persuade them to take the chance.”
    Janson studied the topo map until he became aware that Jessica was staring at him.
    “What is it?”
    “Why did Case have us followed?”
    Janson shrugged. “Old warhorse stuff. Just trying to keep his hand in.”
    “Why did he keep asking about me?”
    “Same thing. Old reflexes. I noticed you took a strong dislike to him. Why?”
    “He’s a jerk.”
    “Have you ever met a top operator who was not a pedal-to-the-metal, Type A, supercompetitive personality?”
    “I’m not a jerk. Neither are you.”
    “Some of us hide it better than others. Just like some hide what it feels like sitting in a wheelchair better than others.”
    “That’s a cool chair. Did you see the balance wheels come out when he raised the seat?”
    “Typical Doug. He threw unbelievable energy into designing it, while he was still recovering. He said, ‘Damned if I’ve going to sit when everyone’s standing.’ Went about it like it was an operation.”
    “Did the foundation back it?”
    “Sure. Doug wants everyone who can’t walk to have one, but at a hundred-and-forty grand a pop it’s going to be a while. Anyway, they’re still working out the kinks. What did you think of Kingsman Helms?”
    “Good-looking. Going places. I pity who gets in his way.…Paul?”
    “What?”
    “Is Doug Case one of the ‘saved’?”
    “The ‘saved’?”
    “Is Doug Case one of the former agents who you’ve rescued with your covert MacArthur-genius grants?” Jessica said.
    “Covert MacArthurs? I like that.” Paul Janson showed his pleasure with a smile. “Good a name as any.”
    Jessica stared at him, demanding an answer.
    Janson was not inclined to answer. Rules kept him alive. Both of them alive. Need to know was the primary rule. “ Why do you ask?”
    “This doctor rescue is not a good job.”
    “I would not call it a piece of cake,” said Janson. “But it’s not as grim as Doug made it out to Helms. Strict in-out. Insertion and extraction.”
    “A rebel camp that successfully defends itself is a hornet’s nest.”
    “You and I have done worse.”
    “I’m trying to figure out why you want to take the job.”
    “The doctor deserves rescuing.”
    “So do a lot of people. Lucky for him ASC can afford our fee. But that’s not why you want the job. Is it because Kingsman Helms and Douglas Case are cooking up something they didn’t tell us about?”
    “I don’t know about ‘cooking up.’ They’re probably just holding something back.”
    “They are lying,” she said firmly. “You know it and that intrigues you.”
    Kincaid knew Janson so well she could see on his face the lupine gleam of the hunter catching movement on the periphery of its vision. No, she corrected herself. Not lupine, he’s not an animal in the woods; he’s more like a pirate: Something was out