Free Spy for Hire by Dan Mayland Page B

times.”
    “Yeah, this is one of those times. That’s what the favor is about. It’s a job, but it’s a job for a friend. Kind of an emergency deal.”
    “What about your dad?”
    “I’ve got to pick up a package and guard it for a while. It shouldn’t be long, maybe just a few hours, maybe a little bit longer. After that, I’ll fly straight home. My brother’s there anyway. There’s nothing I’d really be able to do at home other than try to be nice to people, whereas here… Ah, shit, I don’t know…”
    “What kind of package?”
    “I don’t know.”
    “Is it dangerous?”
    “I don’t know, but I figure there’s a reason they needed someone like me.”
    “They don’t bring in the big guns for nothing, huh?” Jessica gave him a playful punch on his tree trunk of an arm.
    Decker loved her Australian accent, and the way she said
big guns
. She was like a young Nicole Kidman.
    “Anyway, if you want, if you’re worried, I can drop you off somewhere before I pick this thing up.”
    “I’m not worried. I figure you can handle it.”
    “All right. We’ll stick together then.”
    “Done.”
    “You’re a hell of a good sport, Jess.”
    “Just let me know if I’m getting in the way of you being able to do your job. If I’m a burden, I’ll leave. Where is this package, anyway?”
    Decker was about to answer when his phone rang. This time, it was Holtz.
    “I’m hooking you up, buddy,” said Holtz. “Found you a spot on a C-17 that’s flying crap from Afghanistan back to Fort Bragg. Leaving tonight, twenty-two hundred hours. Refuel stop at Ramstein. Get your ass over to the air base by eight, have the gate crew give Colonel Greene a holler—I think you know him?”
    “Yeah, he handled transport for the job we did for DoD this summer, but—”
    “Good. Just check in with him and he’ll handle getting you where you need to be.”
    “Only thing is, it turns out I can’t blow tonight. I have something I have to do. I completely blanked about it when I talked to you earlier.”
    A long pause, then, “What do you suddenly have to do that’s more important than flying home to be with your dad?”
    “Well, nothing that’s
more
important than that, I’m just talking about a brief delay. It has to do with Jessica.”
    “Who’s Jessica?”
    “The Australian girl. You met her last week.”
    “You two still together? I thought she was just a—”
    “Hey.”
    “I’m just saying.”
    “I promised her I’d drive her up to Almaty. I completely blanked.”
    “Have her take the damn bus.”
    “She’s not going to downtown Almaty. It’s one of the towns outside. She needs a ride for this wedding. I’ll catch a flight to the States from Almaty tomorrow morning.”
    “You’re going to pay a couple extra grand just to drive a chick you hardly know to a wedding?”
    “We actually know each other pretty well by now.” Decker gave Jessica a look and winked. “She’s a great gal.”
    Holtz didn’t respond right away. When he did, he sounded suspicious. “Have you been talking to Sava?”
    “Actually, no.”
    “Don’t bullshit me, Deck.”
    “I’m not bullshitting you.”
    The line went silent. Finally, Holtz said, “All right. I’ll tell Colonel Greene you’re bailing.”
    “I’m sorry to have put you out.”
    “Yeah, whatever. Call me if Sava calls you.”
    “Roger that.”

    It took Decker an hour to get to Bishkek. After a ten-minute high-speed surveillance-detection run down half the side alleys in the city, he parked his Explorer a few blocks away from Mark and Daria’s condo.
    “Wait here, OK?” he said to Jessica. “This shouldn’t take long.”
    He popped open the back hatch of the Explorer, lifted up the mat covering the cargo area, and pulled out a metal box that hadbeen fitted into a custom-made slot. Inside was a tactical chest rig, a Sig Sauer P226 9mm pistol, five spare twenty-round magazines for the Sig, an assortment of holsters, a set of compact