Serpent of Moses - By Don Hoesel Page 0,1

road in front of him.

One of the others had jumped from the jeep, strafing the soldiers pouring out of the helicopter. But he was cut down before he’d traveled more than a few feet. That left the two men who occupied the back seat of the jeep, and Boufayed knew that despite the orders he shouted into the phone, those men would be dead in moments. A lone man stood no chance of stopping what had been loosed.

Even so, Boufayed began to move toward the jeep, his black shoes kicking up dust as he scrambled down the incline and into the line of fire. They had to take the German alive, and he considered that directive important enough to ignore the bullets that filled the air around him. As he ran Boufayed reached beneath his coat and pulled his gun.

It seemed to take a long while for him to cross the empty space between the vehicles, and with each step he waited for the inevitable, for a handful of the many rounds to find the two men who still remained in the back of the jeep. But with each step that saw the foreigners still alive, and with the growing realization among his men that Boufayed had entered the kill zone, the Libyan was beginning to hope that he might secure his prize after all.

He was within steps of the jeep, the reports of gunfire dying off, when he saw the remaining Mossad agent lurch back against the seat. It seemed to happen in slow motion with the blood beginning to flow from the man’s chest. Still, the Israeli had not dropped his gun, and even as the Libyan rounds faded, Boufayed held his weapon steady on the foreign soldier. The blood came more quickly now, welling from the man’s chest—too much for the wound to be anything but mortal.

With the Israeli dying, Boufayed turned his eyes to the only other survivor: the German, who wore a look that Boufayed could only identify as incredulity. The man’s focus appeared to move everywhere yet seemed unable to focus on anything—until Boufayed drew near, and then the German’s eyes fell on him. It was only in that moment that the Libyan allowed himself to believe he had captured his prize. He would handle the man’s interrogation himself. The German would give up his secrets; he would divulge all that he knew. Boufayed would see to it.

The night air had dropped several degrees since Boufayed stood on the ridgetop watching the jeep pull off the highway, and he felt it for the first time, the crispness on his skin. It improved a mood already enhanced by the success of the mission. As he started across the last few feet separating him from Dr. Felix Hoffstratter, he found himself wearing a smile likely unsuited to the moment.

He did not register the movement right away—a shifting of position by the dying Israeli, a last flailing against the finality of what awaited him. The German himself did not seem to notice, as the man’s eyes remained fixed on the approaching Libyan. A second series of movements, though, pulled Boufayed’s focus away from his prize. The Mossad agent had pushed himself upright. His shirt was soaked through with blood. Boufayed could see his chest heaving as he fought to draw breath. His face, however, had taken on a look of resolve.

The Israeli looked at Boufayed, and the Libyan thought he saw a hint of a smile touch the man’s lips. Then Boufayed saw the gun hand come up. Before he could react, the Israeli twisted in his seat and placed the gun against the German’s temple. An instant later, a single shot scattered whatever secrets the man held.

2

Two Weeks Later

After the wall in front of him exploded, Jack had a single moment to consider the one thing more frightening than the fact that people were shooting at him. It was that, if by some chance he happened to get out of the tunnel alive, Esperanza was going to kill him. Then the thought was gone, fractured by the pulverized rock that cut into the skin of his face and neck.

His eyes snapped shut against the rain of debris, causing him to slow involuntarily despite the urgency of his flight. Momentum, though, served to carry him around the curve of the tunnel and out of the immediate line of fire, where he used the flashlight in his shaking hand to find the uneven rock wall that traveled farther