“Definite kill zone,” Liam said. “No cover, and the bad guys hold all the high ground.” He went to the rail and motioned to the crates and containers below them. “That was the base of the ambush. Machine gunners on the office building, two security teams to prevent anyone from breaking the ambush like we did.”
“You sound disappointed we weren’t all killed,” Choi said.
“You were lucky to survive for as long as you did.” Liam looked around, the stared out into the distance. “I think they were set up here, far enough back from the rail so they wouldn’t be seen by the police snipers and —” He stopped and frowned. “Step back from the railing.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I saw a reflection a couple of times from those trailers. Check with Montague if he has anyone out where those trailers are.”
While Choi took out his radio to call Montague, Liam produced his own transmitter. “Two to Four and Five. Possible intruder in the trailer storage area north of the pier.”
“Could be press.” Dante said.
“Best to make sure.”
“Copy. What do you want us to do?”
“Meet us back at the car,” Liam said, walking toward the stairs. He turned and looked back at Choi. “We’re on our —”
The bullet missed Liam’s face by a couple of inches and sprang off a steel support. He dropped to the deck. “Sniper!”
The DEA agent dropped to the deck a few feet away. “Where?”
“Trailer storage lot!”
Several more shots rang out as the sniper sought other targets. Below, the investigators took cover at the sound of the first shot. Liam sprang to his feet and darted toward the stairs. He reached the top and leapt down the stairwell, head first. A third of the way down, he grabbed each railing and swung his feet forward, using his momentum to launch him the rest of the way down the stairs. As he landed, he bent his knees to absorb the impact.
“Liam!” Choi shouted down. “There’s a car leaving that lot! Black or dark blue, four-door, moving fast.”
Liam glanced out and saw the dust cloud. He ran for the next set of stairs. “Dante, we have a car getting the hell out of Dodge, looks like it’s heading for Twenty-Fifth Street!”
The sound of an engine made Liam look up. He saw a CHP helicopter overhead. “Danny!” he shouted. “Contact Montague and get him to order that chopper to track that car!”
Liam threw himself down the stairs again, hitting the main deck at a full run. By now, the police and federal agents on the ship were getting on their feet, staying low and looking out for snipers. Liam raced past them, reached the gangplank and ran down the stairs, Choi now a few steps behind.
As he reached the pier, the Suburban raced into view and slid to a stop next to him. He opened the front passenger door and found Dante behind the wheel, Stephen in the back seat. “Get in back!” he yelled to Choi as he hauled himself into the front seat.
The Suburban was moving before Choi had the back door closed.
Sergeant Jee Sun-ok scowled from the back seat as the late-model Buick Century drove down the street at thirty miles an hour. He still held the Jeogyeok-Bochong sniper rifle, without silencer, angry at himself for missing the man on the ship. He grabbed the radio handset. “Tiger to Lion. Are you ready?”
There were a couple of seconds of dead air before someone transmitted. “We’re here. You done yet?”
Jee gritted his teeth. The “native recruits” were too soft and too lazy to be of any real use. But since he was stuck with them, he’d use them. And if they got killed… Better them then his men.
“Yes, the police are reacting now.” He spotted the van holding the street scum parked to the right, ahead of them. “Wait one minute and then follow us. Shoot at any police car you see along the way.”
“What about the drug? Can we take it now?”
Jee grounded his teeth in anger. That was all they cared about. “Yes,” he replied into the radio. “You can take the patbingsu.”
“Good.”
The Buick shot past the van, getting close to the intersection with Illinois Street. He heard sirens coming from the south and smiled coldly.
The Chevy Suburban raced through the open gate and roared down Cesar Chavez Street at fifty miles an hour. Dante turned on the siren, and the couple of cars ahead of them moved quickly out of the way.
Sirens behind them made Liam look back through the rear window. He could see three SFPD cars following, lights flashing in addition to the sirens.
“What kind of car are we looking for?” Dante asked.
“A four-door, dark colored sedan,” Choi replied.
Liam grabbed the radio mike. “What’s the helo’s call sign?”
“CHP H-30,” Choi replied. Stephen in the meantime had reached into the cargo area behind the rear seats and pulled out a bag. He placed it on the seat between him and Choi and unzipped it.
Liam keyed the mike. “CHP H-30, this is Oscar-2. We are in pursuit of a car containing suspects in a sniping incident that just occurred on Pier 80. There should be a four-door, dark colored car on Twenty-Fifth Street, nearing the intersection of Twenty-Fifth and Illinois. Do you see it?”
A few seconds passed and then the reply came. “Affirmative. Vehicle matching that description has just turned onto Illinois, side-swiped another car and is now heading north.”
Dante shouted, “Coming up on Illinois!”
The traffic light showed red as they approached, but the screaming sirens had stopped traffic in both lanes, so Dante was able to turn onto Illinois without problems, followed by three marked police cars. “Copy, CHP H-30. We just tuned north onto Illinois.”
“I see you.” the pilot replied. “Be advised the suspect car is about half a mile ahead and driving erratically at high speed.”
“Copy,” Liam replied. “We’re in pursuit.”
Dante drove through the traffic that was trying to get out of the way while Liam turned to look at Stephen. “Give me a P-90.”
Stephen handed the former SEAL a compact weapon that looked like something from a sci-fi movie, along with two see-through magazines. Liam readied the weapon. Meanwhile, Stephen pulled out another P-90 and slipped a fifty-round magazine into place.
“What are you doing?” Chi asked. “You’re not going to shoot them, are you?”
“Only if they shoot first,” Liam said. “If these are Rhee’s boys they will not surrender meekly. They’ll fight to the death, so we’d better be ready to do just that.”
They shot across Twenty-Fifth Street, followed the police cars. Just as the third one shot through the intersection, a van came flying out of Twenty-Fifth Street, made a hard right turn, and broadsided the third police car, crushing the entire passenger’s side the black and white vehicle and sending it sliding into a traffic light pole. As the van accelerated, gunfire from the van struck the cripple police vehicle, shattering windows and ripping through body work and the officers inside.
The van roared into pursuit of the other vehicles.
Ahead, the OUTCASTs pursued the dark Buick. The suspect car shot around a Nissan pickup, narrowly missing a cement truck coming from the other direction. Dante increased speed as the traffic in front of them got out of the way.
“Can you read the license plate?” Dante asked.