Thunder in the East by Mack Maloney Read Free Book Online Page B

APC. Hookers of every description, age, color and proclivity lined every street corner, fighting for space with the drug pushers, the gun salesmen, fast-food vendors, insurance hawkers and other types of low-life. All seemed to be doing burgeoning business.
    Yaz saw that just about every building was strewn with marquee-type flashing lights, advertising big jackpots, cheap drinks and girls-girls-girls. He hadn't been close to any of the three in quite a while, so he was interested .
    . .
    They walked for several blocks drinking in the atmosphere until they reached a rather subdued-looking casino called The Executive. Unlike most of the other gambling houses, The Executive was a private club, open only to members of the Circle Officer Corps and visiting dignitaries.
    It was their first target of the night. . . .
    "We'll do the HE-TWO first," Elvis said casually as they walked past the front door of the place, nodding to the two soldiers and an armed doorman on duty.
    "Let's plant it in that car over there, then stick HE-1 around back."
    Ace reached into the gunny sack, retrieved the number two bomb and nonchalantly flipped it into the back seat of an unattended Chrysler New Yorker limo parked next to the place. Then he took HE-ONE and quickly tossed it in the alley at the rear corner of the building.
    The bombs in place, they continued walking up to a cafe style restaurant a block and a half away. They took a table outside and boldly ordered three 67
    drinks. All the while, Ace was fingering a remote control device in his pocket.
    It won't be long now, Yaz thought.
    Just then, they heard a racket coming from the end of the street. They turned to see a line of open troop trucks moving toward them, the Circle Army emblem emblazoned on each door.
    "Hey, maybe we just got lucky," Ace said. "We could blow both bombs just as that convoy passes by. Take out a lot of those bozos if we do."
    "Let's wait and see," Elvis cautioned as the trucks drew nearer.
    The lead vehicle stopped right next to them, and for the first time they could see that the men sitting in the back of the truck were not Circle troops, nor soldiers of their allies.
    They were POWs . . .
    "What the hell is going on here?" Elvis asked under his breath as the lead truck started up again. One by one the trucks passed them, each one carrying 25 bound prisoners in the back. Some of them appeared wounded and sick.
    "The Circle moving POWs at night?" Ace said. "I would think that would require too much brain power. . ."
    "Well, they're doing it," Elvis said as the last of the 16-truck convoy rumbled by. "And I don't like the looks of it. They usually don't tie prisoners by the hands."
    They watched as the trucks took a right turn opposite The Executive and headed east.
    'They look like they're going down to the river," Yaz said.
    "Yeah, and judging by their direction, I'd say they're headed for the Gateway Park," Elvis said, referring to the location of the battered but still 68
    standing St. Louis "Gateway to the West" arch.
    "There's nothing down that way," Ace said. "Certainly no construction, not even during the daytime, never mind at night."
    "This really smells fishy," Elvis said, estimating that some 400 prisoners were being moved.
    He looked around and then said: "OK, let's get this over with. We'll be moving toward that area afterward anyway. Maybe we'll see what's up then."
    A Circle Army staff car pulled up in front of The Executive, and two high ranking officers stepped out. They saluted the armed guards out front, tipped the AK-47-toting doorman and went inside.
    "Big fish," Elvis said. "That's a good omen . . ."
    He did one last check of the streets and sidewalks near the building.
    Convinced that no innocents were about, he nodded to Ace.
    The first thing Yaz saw was the flash-bright, yellow, so intense he instinctively turned away. Before he did he saw the whole rear quarter of the building simply lift off the ground. The sound of the explosion didn't arrive