BELONGING: Hope, Truth And Malice (Beauty 0f Life Book 3) Read online

  Hearing the gunshot, Lexa called out, “Dan, status? Aaron?”

  “I heard it, still don’t see him,” Aaron answered, digging deeper for more speed as he as he raced down and then up another ravine. Dammit, he should’ve been closer.

  Lexa heard sounds of someone falling or rolling around on the ground. She called out for status again when everything went silent. Lexa was torn. Should she run after Dan and Aaron or stay here with Frank?

  She looked at Frank and decided that she needed to remain here. She had no idea what was happening, but she needed to be here to back up Frank if Basto somehow showed up here again. Lexa hoped that Aaron truly had Dan’s back.

  Chapter Nineteen

  July 15

  Rouge Park – Section Seven – Ravine – 8:00 p.m.

  The force of Dan’s tackle sent Basto and Dan over the edge of a steep ravine. Their bodies slammed into branches, logs, and rocks down the eight-foot embankment and came to a stop at the bottom. Dan and Basto were both on their backs—dazed and struggling to catch their breath.

  There was a deep, bleeding gash over Dan’s right eye from striking the sharp edge of a rock and the gunshot wound in his right arm was bleeding freely. Basto had a jagged laceration on his right cheek from a tree branch. In addition to the cuts, both were sporting various abrasions to their faces.

  Basto recovered first. He got to his knees, saw the cop, and quickly straddled the blond man—pinning him to the ground. Basto had dropped his PP-2000 submachine gun when the damned cop tackled him at the top of the ravine. He reached to the back of his waist to grab his Sig Sauer P229 compact pistol that he’d tucked there just before all hell broke loose earlier when the TRF has shown up and he had to bolt into the woods. Damn! It was gone.

  He slammed a hammer fist into the cop’s jaw when the officer started to stir. Basto glanced around to locate his gun and saw it half way up the steep ravine. Dammit—the cop would shoot him before he could reach it. Basto slammed his fist into the cop’s face again for good measure and heard a small grunt of pain from the damned robo-cop.

  Inflicting pain felt good—it’d been a long time since he’d beaten the shit out of anyone. Basto decided to beat the cop senseless before he put a bullet in his head. He unlatched the cop’s MP5 from the clip on his vest and tossed it to the side.

  Basto slammed two punches into the cop’s stomach. He pulled back a moment to look at the pretty boy face he was about to pulverize. The cop wouldn’t be so pretty after he was done. Hell, his own mama wouldn’t recognize him. Basto smiled and prepared to land his next punch.

  The blows to his jaw stunned Dan and a grunt of pain slipped out. Then he gasped for air when two more hits landed on his stomach. He’d gathered his wits quickly and was able to block the next punches. Dan took Basto by surprise as he unexpectedly bucked, twisted, and knocked the gang boss off of him.

  Dan gained his feet and got into his attack position. He ignored the blood that dripped into his right eye and the burning pain that radiated in his right arm. Dan started to reach for his sidearm with his left hand when Basto stood and came at him with fists flying. He’d unlatched his holster, but didn’t have time to draw his Glock before he had to block the onslaught of strikes.

  Basto threw punch after punch at the cop, but most were blocked and the cop got in one or two solid hits. Basto decided that he had to use his weight and size to his advantage. He plowed forward and caught the mid-section of the cop, driving him backwards with the power of a freight train.

  Unable to dodge Basto, Dan was hit mid-section, and propelled backwards as Basto rammed into him. His back slammed into a tree and the air was forcefully expelled from his lungs. Breathing in again brought pain, so Dan knew his ribs had just been bruised, but he couldn’t give into the pain or he’d be dead. Luckily, adrenaline was now coursing through him and helped.

  As Basto pulled back to punch, Dan lashed out faster and his punch to Basto’s jaw landed first. Dan followed it up with two more blows to Basto’s face and felt Basto’s nose crunch under his fist. Dan landed three solid hits to Basto’s stomach as the gang boss lurched backward in pain from his broken nose. Then Dan placed a well-aimed roundhouse kick to Basto’s kidney area.

  Basto staggered back at the onslaught of strikes. Then the cop hit him with a forceful kick that nearly sent him to the ground. As blood dripped from his broken nose, Basto decided that this dammed cop was gonna learn a lesson. Basto was a middleweight champion and this cop didn’t stand a chance against him. He went on the offensive again, his hammer fists targeting the cop’s face and kidneys.

  Aaron raced to the top of the ravine and stopped. He sucked breath in and out raggedly, thoroughly winded. He’d heard the grunts and hits over his headset as he ran as well as Lexa’s repeated calls for status. He couldn’t respond to her because he was too out of breath to speak. It sounded like Dan was in a fight for his life and he ran harder than he imagined to get there to help.

  As Aaron looked down at the fight taking place, what he saw confirmed his thoughts. Dan and Basto were both a bloody mess. Crap! He aimed his MP5, but couldn’t get a clear shot because Dan and Basto were too close to each other and moving around too much. Aaron could end up shooting Dan, and he wasn’t about to risk a fellow officer’s life.

  He watched a moment in awe as Dan and Basto fought. Dan was damned good. Aaron realized in that moment that Dan had held back a lot in their sparing sessions. What he was seeing now was definitely Special Forces training. Aaron saw Dan land a punch with his left fist and saw Basto stagger with the power of it. Then like lightening, Dan spun and landed a kick that propelled Basto back several feet. Christ!

  Broderick had skill—he wasn’t worthless. Aaron began to question what his uncle had told him. Had he let his uncle’s words color his judgment of Dan instead of making his own assessment like his dad and brother had implored him to do? Watching Dan fight and recalling some joint team calls, he measured it against his uncle’s negative words—things didn’t quite add up.

  As the blinders he’d been wearing slowly fell away, Aaron had a sinking feeling he’d been all wrong about Broderick. Ah crap, he’d done it again. He needed to stop parroting his uncle’s attitudes. It was time to start opening his eyes and take the time to make his own assessments.

  Aaron continued to watch the battle and he wanted to call out for Basto to freeze, but that might distract Dan and that could get him killed. Frustrated he couldn’t do more, Aaron looked for any opportunity to intervene or the right moment to call out.

  Dan blocked most of the strikes, but several hit their marks and whipped his head to the side as they landed on his jaw. The blows to his kidneys hurt so bad it made Dan want to double over and curl up, but he couldn’t do that. He wished Aaron would get here because he could really use some backup.

  A sickening thought crossed Dan’s mind. Had Aaron left him hanging out to dry like the guys in the 14th Division had? He refocused on Basto and swiped the blood from his eye again when Basto took a small step back. If so, Dan was on his own and had to change his strategy. Basto was stronger than him and Dan knew he was at a disadvantage given his current physical state.

  Dan heard Ripsaw coaching him in his head. “Blondie, you’ll never win going head-on with Basto. Evade, dance, piss him off, get him off balance mentally so he gets sloppy. Protect yourself and strike only when he’s open. Let Basto tire himself out coming for you. Conserve your energy. When he’s drained, go in for the kill.”

  So that’s what Dan did. He weaved, ducked, spun out of the way, backed up, twisted, and blocked. He threw a few strikes and kicks when Basto left himself open. Each one that Dan landed and each one Basto failed to connect enraged Basto more and caused him to increase his barrage of hits. Dan did just as Ripsaw had trained him to do and watched as Basto spent his energy and became sloppier the more enraged he became.

  However, his own energy was dwindling and as blood dripped into his right eye again, Dan didn’t see Basto’s ri
ght fist in time to block it. His head whipped to the side and Dan staggered, trying to remain upright after Basto’s powerful punch landed on his cheek. In that moment, Dan wondered if his own stamina would wane before Basto’s. He drew in a painful breath and spun out of the way of the kick Basto aimed at his knee.

  Aaron saw Dan struggling to right himself after that last blow. He didn’t have a shot, but now would be a good time to let Basto know he didn’t have a chance—Dan had backup. He was about to call out for Basto to freeze when he felt a gun at the back of his head and cold words whispered in his ear.

  Miro shoved his gun in the back of the head of the cop at the top of the ravine and whispered, “You’re dead if you move a muscle. Let’s just watch the show a moment, shall we?”

  Aaron swallowed hard. So many things flashed in his head. He should’ve been more attentive to his surroundings. He should’ve moved down the ravine as soon as he arrived. The damned subject wouldn’t have gotten the drop on him if he had. He would’ve been able to react. Goddammit, he’d screwed up big time. It was a rookie mistake—he should’ve been more aware.

  He needed to let the team know what was going on—maybe Lexa or Frank could get to them and assist. It was a risk, but Aaron said, “Broderick versus Basto isn’t much of a fight to watch, the score is ten to seventy-eight.”

  Miro looked at the cop and noticed the earpiece. He ripped it off and chucked it a good distance into the trees. “Damned cop. I’m not stupid. You just let others know you were in trouble. I know cop codes, 10-78 means officer needs help. Well, if they come, they’re dead, too.” Miro then struck the cop with the butt of his gun on the head hard enough to send him to his knees.

  Stars burst before his eyes Aaron as he fell to his knees. The subject’s gun settled against his temple. As his vision cleared, Aaron watched the fight—the blows being exchanged were cringe worthy. Dan would be hurting very badly after this—that was for damned sure. Aaron wanted to do something other than stand here and watch a fellow officer get the crap beat out of him. There had to be a way out of this situation.

  Aaron focused on that and his mind whirled to find a solution. As he thought of and discarded one thing after another, it seemed to Aaron that Dan was beginning to gain the upper hand against Basto. That was until Basto knocked Dan to the ground.

  Dan landed a series of fast strikes and several kicks when Basto left himself wide open. He blinked as blood dripped into his right eye again and that was his downfall. In that split second, Basto moved in and swept his right leg out from under him.

  He landed hard on his right arm and pain shot through it. Dan rolled off it and ended up on his back. He saw too late the boot coming down and couldn’t move out of the way before Basto’s foot slammed down on his chest. Pain reverberated across his chest. The stomp of Basto’s boot also knocked the wind out of him and Dan gasped for air several times.

  Basto panted heavily as he leaned over, placed his bloodied and bruised hands on his thighs, and looked down at the damned cop with contempt. Basto spat a mouthful of blood—and a tooth—on the cop. Damned cop has a mean left punch—he’ll pay for that, Basto thought.

  However, Basto was pleased that the cop’s face was a bloody mess and that he was struggling to breathe. Basto straightened up and wiped the blood from his own nose with the back of his hand. The damned cop gonna pay for busting my nose, too.

  Basto was near the end of his endurance and should just end the cop’s life, but Basto decided to kick the mangy dog one last time. He pulled his leg back to kick the cop in the ribs with all his might.

  Dan took in a searing breath. His ribs hurt like hell. He saw Basto pull his foot back. If he didn’t move now, his bruised ribs would surely break.

  Pulling on his reserves, Dan rolled as he reached out and grabbed the leg in motion before it could connect with his ribs. He yanked hard and managed to knock Basto off balance. Dan spun his body on the ground as he tightly held onto Basto’s leg.

  The move didn’t work like he’d intended it to. Instead of Basto going backwards onto the ground, he fell forward. The full weight of Basto crashed on top of Dan’s chest and his left wrist bent unnaturally. Pain on top of pain washed through him and Dan wondered if his wrist and ribs broke—if not busted completely they were at least cracked.

  He did his best to ignore the pain—it was damned hard to do, but adrenaline helped. Dan managed to push Basto off of him then he rolled and staggered to his feet. Unsteadily he assumed his ready stance, preparing for Basto’s next attack.

  Basto rolled and gained his feet. Goddamned, he’d never faced an opponent this fierce this before. He growled out, “I’m gonna enjoy killing you.”

  Dan was having a hard time breathing. He couldn’t take another solid hit—his ribs could splinter and puncture a lung if they were already cracked. Basto wasn’t coming at him like before—he was just standing there with one hand behind his back. Dan spat out the blood that filled his mouth as reached for his side arm. His holster was empty. Crap!

  Grinning wickedly, Basto asked, “You looking for this?” as he brought his hand from behind his back, raised the cop’s Glock, and aimed it at him.

  Shit! I’m gonna be killed with my own goddamned gun. No! I’m not gonna let that happen. Dan glanced around and saw his MP5 only a short distance from him. If he could only dive for it, but he needed a distraction.

  Aaron couldn’t bear to watch Basto blow Dan away before his eyes. He was probably gonna die for this—hell he was probably dead the moment the other subject put the gun to his head. Aaron saw Dan’s eyes glance at his MP5.

  His last act would be one of valor—he could give Dan a moment’s distraction and hopefully Dan would be able to use that moment to save himself. Aaron shouted, “TRF. Drop your weapon!” as he pointed his MP5 at Basto.

  Basto turned and looked up the ravine—shocked to see two men.

  Dan didn’t bother to look towards Aaron. He used the split second to dive for his MP5 as he thought, Damned glad Aaron showed up. He hit the ground hard, rolled, and was up on his knees with his MP5 pointed at Basto. Dan’s adrenaline was pumping furiously and his survival instinct blotted out all his physical pain as he yelled, “Drop the weapon, Basto.”

  “Goddamned cop! you’re dead!” Basto screamed.

  Dan swiped away the blood that dripped down obstructing and blurring his vision as he heard a new voice bellow from the top of the ravine, “You’re dead, cop.”

  Aaron dove down the ravine—his only option to try to save his own life.

  Basto stared for a moment at the cop rolling down the ravine.

  Miro was startled, but fired at the cop as he tumbled down the slope.

  Dan wiped the blood out of his eyes again and fired.

  Miro dropped.

  Both Dan and Basto fired.

  Basto dropped.

  “Officers down,” Dan said then dropped to the ground.

  Chapter Twenty

  July 15

  Rouge Park – Command Post – 8:00 p.m.

  Trevor and the rest of Echo Team halted their conversation when they heard Sergeant Pastore say, “Basto.” He leaned over to Bram and asked, “What’s up?”

  “Dan’s team has located Basto,” Bram replied.

  Echo Team also switched to channel seven to listen to the exchange. They all quickly muted their headsets so sounds around them wouldn’t interfere with Dan’s team. Everyone listened to the action taking place in section seven.

  They tensed when they heard two shots on top of one another and relaxed when ‘no harm’ and ‘subject neutralized’ were called out. Then everyone tensed again when two more shots were fired and Lexa said that Frank was hit. They heard heavy breathing as Dan and Aaron chased after Basto.

  By this time all TRF officers at the command post had tuned into channel seven. The non-Alpha Team officers chuckled at the Dantastic and Wile E. Coyote nicknames and were perplexed about the napping comment, but thought it was funny. Alpha Team sure had
an interesting dynamic.

  Everyone tensed again at the fifth shot and there was no response from Dan when Lexa and Nick both called for status. They heard the sounds of someone falling and then a shaky intake of breath. When the grunts, groans, and sounds of flesh hitting flesh started, Alpha Team surged to their feet. They assumed Dan was engaged with Basto—a middleweight boxing champion who’d beaten four men to death.

  Nick, Jon, Bram, Loki, and Ray were on their feet tightly pacing wanting so badly to do something. Distress was clearly written on their faces. Jon called harshly for status from Dan.

  Loki’s face was washed in anger as he bit out, “Where the hell is Aaron? He’s supposed to have Dan’s back.”

  But he and everyone else froze as an unknown voice was heard saying ‘You’re dead if you move a muscle. Let’s just watch the show a moment, shall we?’ It was followed by Aaron’s voice as he said ‘Broderick versus Basto is not much of a fight to watch, the score is ten to seventy-eight’.

  Nick instantly understood Aaron’s distress code and called out to Winter, “Get Starveling’s team to Dan’s location now! Officers need help.”

  Crispin had been monitoring both channels and responded, “They can’t get to them from their location, they have to backtrack and circle around. They also have three subjects in custody. Our intel on the number of subjects was clearly wrong.”

  Commander Gambrill began reviewing the maps. He needed to get officers there quickly. Dan’s team was the farthest from the command post and in the roughest terrain. He slammed his fist on the table as he listened to channel seven and he plotted the fastest path to their location and then got on the horn to arrange for the helicopter to drop more officers in the area to assist.

  Everyone stilled and became quiet when an unknown voice said, “I’m gonna enjoy killing you.” It was followed by a moment of silence and then the same voice said, “You looking for this?”

  There was slight relief when they heard Aaron’s voice say, “TRF. Drop your weapon.” It was quiet as if it came from a distance.