Free The Shift: Book II of the Wildfire Saga by Marcus Richardson

but he’d never suspected Mike would be the one to hesitate over a direct order.   His anger rose.   “I will not do that again.   Understood?”
    “Hooyah ,” said Mike.   He understood all right, but he wouldn’t make it easy on Cooper.
    Cooper and Mike sat in the cargo area with the rear hatch up.   The radio mounted on the dash of the German truck squawked to life and excited voices chattered back and forth.  
    Charlie’s voice cut in on their private channel.   " If you two are ready to kiss and make up, Jerry just announced the driver's been killed and this truck’s been stolen.   They're looking for us ."
    "Probably got a GPS beacon in this thing, " muttered Swede.   " We do on ours. "
    “ Fuck, is everybody listening in? ” growled Mike.
    “ Uh…yeah ,” replied Swede’s voice, as if he were stating an obvious fact.   “ For what it’s worth, I’m with you, Beaver.   I think we should’ve lit those assholes up.”
    “ Damn it, Swede!   Why didn’t you say something? ” demanded Mike.
    “I didn’t wanna get chewed out by Coop—I ain’t stupid.”
    "Shut up, guys,” said Cooper through clenched teeth.   “We don’t have time for this goatfuck.   Jax—drop us off at the rendezvous point and take Jerry on a wild goose chase.”
    "You got it.”
    “You think this thing’s got a GPS tracker?” asked Swede.
    “ The fuck should I know?” replied Mike in a sullen voice.
    Cooper ignored the banter and rested his arms on the rear seat.   He stared at the green-tinted face of a scared civilian.   "Dr.   Boatner?   Dr. Maurice Boatner?"
    "Yes…who are you people?"
    Cooper killed his NVG and turned off the polarization on his visor.   The HUD illuminated his face through the now-clear visor so Boatner could see him.   Cooper extended his hand.   "Cooper Braaten, U.S. Navy.   We’re gonna get you to safety, sir."
    Sirens split the night behind them.   Cooper turned to face out the rear of the vehicle once more.   He saw the reflection of blue and white lights bounce off buildings as they sped through an intersection.   Two German patrol cars skidded around the corner a moment later.
    " Yep ," said Swede.   " They got GPS."
    "All right, let's give them something to think about,” muttered Cooper as he and Mike raised their MP5SDs in unison and took aim.  
    Cooper aimed at the front tires of the right truck and said, “Take the left."
    " Got it, " replied Mike.
    The two SEALs open fired simultaneously and the subsonic 9mm rounds tore up the pavement and front grills of the chase vehicles.   The Germans swerved, their sirens blared, and a few shots were fired back in their general direction.   The Germans remained undeterred.
    " They got run-flats!" announced Mike.
    Cooper had to shift tactics and quickly.   He knew that if the Germans could track their vehicle as fast as they did, it had to have been equipped with a GPS locator.   No matter where they went, they would be hunted.   They had to get out of the vehicle and do it fast.   But as long as they were being chased by two carloads of German soldiers, that was not going to happen.
    Cooper pulled two grenades from his tactical vest: one smoke, the other high-explosive.   He turned to Mike and had to brace himself against the side of the truck as Jax swerved around an unseen obstacle in the road.  
    “ Hang on back there!” called out Jax.
    “Now he tells us ,” muttered Mike.
    "Hold it steady for a second, Jax,” said Cooper.   “Popping smoke!   Frag out!"
    "Hooyah!" replied Mike as he pulled grenades from his own vest.
    "On three, one…two…three!"   Cooper and Mike tossed grenades at the same time.   At the speed they traveled, there was no sense in throwing the grenades at their targets, so both of them employed an underhand release and let the grenades hit the ground.   As the pursuing German trucks reached the spot where Cooper and Mike had released their grenades, the smoke canisters