Tom Clancy's Op-center Balance of Power - Tom Clancy [120]
Darrell McCaskey had lost María once. He had no intention of losing her again. There was no way in hell that he was going to sit at Interpol headquarters, safe and comfortable, while General Amadori had her executed.
As soon as he'd finished talking with Paul Hood and Mike Rodgers on the secure line in Luis's office, McCaskey turned to the Interpol director. Luis was sitting at the radio waiting to hear from Striker. His father was seated beside him. McCaskey informed Luis that he wanted the Interpol chopper.
"For what?" Luis asked. "A rescue attempt?"
"We have to try," McCaskey said as he rose. "Tell me you disagree."
Luis's expression indicated that he didn't-though he didn't appear comfortable with the prospect.
"Give me a pilot and a marksman," McCaskey said. "I take full responsibility."
Luis hesitated.
"Luis, please, McCaskey implored. "We owe this to María and there isn't time to debate it."
Luis turned to his father and spoke briefly in Spanish. When he was finished, he buzzed his assistant and gave him an order. Then he turned back to McCaskey.
"My father will be the liaison with Striker," Luis said, "and I told Jaime to have the helicopter ready to go in five minutes. Only you won't need a marksman and you won't take responsibility. Those jobs, my friend, are mine."
McCaskey thanked him. Luis left to oversee the preparations while McCaskey lingered in the room for two minutes. That was how long it took for him to make preparations of his own. Then he ran up the stairwell to the rooftop. Luis met him a minute later.
The small, five-person Bell JetRanger rose into the clear late morning sky from the roof of the ten-story building. The Royal Palace was just under two minutes away. The pilot, Pedro, was ordered to fly directly to it. He was patched in to the spotters, who told him exactly where María was. The spotters also informed him that it looked as if a five-man firing squad was being marched in her direction. The pilot passed the information on to McCaskey and Luis.
"We're not going to be able to talk them out of this," Luis said.
"I know," McCaskey replied. "And I don't care. The woman has guts. She deserves our best effort."
"That isn't what I mean," Luis said. A small gun rack in the rear held four weapons. Luis eyed them unhappily. "If we shoot only to chase them off, they'll return fire. They could bring us down."
"Not if we do it right," McCaskey said. Off in the distance the high, white engirdling balustrade of the palace, with its statues of Spanish kings, appeared over the surrounding treetops. "We go in as quickly as we can. I don't think they'll shoot at us until we're down. They won't want to bring a chopper down on their heads. When we touch down, you fire to clear the field. The soldiers will run for cover. When they do, I go and get María before they can regroup."
"Just like that," Luis said doubtfully.
"Just like that," McCaskey nodded. "The simplest plans always work best. If you cover me and keep the soldiers ducking, I should be able to get in and out in about thirty seconds. The courtyard's not that big. If I can't get back to the chopper, you abort and I'll try to get her out some other way." McCaskey sighed and dragged his fingers through his hair. "Look, I know this is dangerous, Luis. But what else can we do? I'd want to do this if any of our people were in trouble. I have to do it because it's María."
Luis took a deep breath, nodded once, then turned to the gun rack. He selected a NATO L96A1 sniper rifle with an integral silencer and a Schmidt and Bender telescope. He handed McCaskey a Star 30M Parabellum pistol, the standard issue of the Guardia Civil.
"I'll have Pedro swing over the palace and then come straight down in the courtyard," Luis said. "As