Operation Hell Gate - Marc Cerasini [106]
Griff fired away, the noise deafening. Caitlin thought of Jack out there on the tracks, pinned down and waiting to be ambushed, and she did not hesitate.
With a shrill cry she jumped to her feet and threw herself against Griffin Lynch. She slammed against his legs with her full weight. Surprised by her sudden move, Lynch dropped the Uzi as he reached for a steel cable — and missed.
With an expression of shocked surprise, he tumbled over the edge of the bridge.
Her own momentum carried Caitlin across the shed's roof. Now she dangled precariously over the black water. Gunfire rattled around her as Caitlin tried desperately to crawl to safety. Someone jumped onto the roof, grabbed her. Caitlin rolled onto her back, looked up — into the murderous eyes of Omar Bayat. The man pointed his Uzi at her breast — then his head exploded, showering Caitlin with hot blood, brains, and bone shrapnel. The headless corpse spilled over the edge to vanish in the yawning black currents below.
Caitlin whimpered, tried to wipe the gore from her face. Then strong hands grabbed her, pulled her back from the brink. A moment later, she was clutching Jack Bauer.
"We have to move!" he cried.
More gunfire spattered the metal support beams around them. Jack pushed Caitlin along the catwalk, toward Astoria Park.
"We can't leave, Jack!" Caitlin cried. "Those men are going to shoot an airplane down."
"No they won't!"
To Caitlin's surprise, Jack pushed her onto the train tracks, forced her down on the wooden ties between the rails. "Stay here," he hissed. "And no matter what you hear, don't move."
She opened her mouth to protest, but Jack was already gone.
* * *
Jack ran back toward the missile launcher and the men clustered around it. He was stopped by a sustained stream of automatic weapon fire. Bullets twanged off the steel beams, eliciting sparks. Jack saw Taj at the tripod, aiming the missile launcher at the fast-darkening sky. The Afghani was mere seconds away from pulling the trigger.
He knew he had no hope of reaching the terrorists before the missile was fired. Nor could he get a clear shot — every time Jack tried to aim, his movements were met with a hail of bullets. Jack looked up, at the bridge supports rising over his head. He was searching for a way to get around the shooters, to flank them. Then he spied the electrical wires strung along the tracks.
Of course!
The trains that ran across Hell Gate Bridge were electric, not diesel-powered. Thousands of volts moved through those live wires. A second peek told Jack that the Afghanis were all standing on the steel catwalk. He jumped up, rolled across the railroad tracks to land on his back. Lying across the wooden ties, Jack aimed the .45 at the wires and emptied the magazine.
The wires didn't snap until he'd fired his last shot. Jack watched as the live wire dropped onto the catwalk. The blue flash was so bright, Jack had to shield his eyes. He smelled ozone and heard screams as thousands of volts coursed through the Afghanis, causing their bodies to jerk convulsively before they burst into flames. The tripod was also electrified, and carried the current to the Long Tooth missile launcher. One of the two missiles exploded in its tube, adding to the fiery chaos.
A moment later, the noise died away as safety breakers cut the power to the cables, and the span was once again plunged into darkness. Jack rose, ran along the tracks to Caitlin. The woman sat up at his approach, rubbed her eyes. Jack helped Caitlin to her feet.
"Oh god, Jack. Is it over?"
Jack opened his mouth to speak, then his eyes went wide. He pushed Caitlin to the side, and she heard two shots. She saw Jack fall, his gun discharging once as he went down. She whirled to find Frank Hensley behind her. The man's legs were braced, he clutched a weapon in his hand, but his eyes were clouded, and he seemed to sway in the wind.
Then Caitlin saw a hole in the center of Hensley's chest, the spreading stain. The man opened his mouth and black blood