Feet slamming on the ground, Mike bounced off the landing wall and kept running downstairs, steadying himself on the wall to stay upright. Hotak had to be going for the helo. There was no way he was going to let Hotak on that bird. His nemesis could have taken the stairs or elevator. It didn’t matter. Mike wasn’t going to allow this shit happen, not after being this close, after this long.

He jumped down four stairs. The next set, he jumped five. An arm on the wall, he jumped six, tripped, and sprawled onto his chest, nearly knocking the wind out of him. Up quickly, he jumped three steps, legs pumping. Nothing hurt. Dumb ass, letting himself get out of control could have screwed him.

Close to the bottom, the tunnel entrance, any sense of composure or keeping something in reserve dropped out of his thoughts. Landing. Stairs. Landing. Stairs. Open mouth, in and out great gasps of air. His body wanted to slow down, but he wasn’t having it. The last set of stairs deposited him into the tunnel. Hotak was halfway to the entrance, running for the valley beyond. All Mike could see of the helicopter was the tail boom, but it was on the ground, the blades spinning positioned between the two guard shacks.

Mike stopped, lifted his rifle, and fired. He missed. The muzzle was raising and falling out of control with each breath. Had to get it together. Hotak turned his head and ran harder. Mike fired again. He missed again. Hotak didn’t look this time. He was close to turning the corner. Mike breathed in, let it halfway out, and held the air in his lungs. He squeezed the trigger, and the man who ruined his life went down.

The bullet found its mark, Hotak slid head-first into the side of the tunnel. Mike wasn’t sure where he’d hit his brother’s killer, but it was good enough, and he started to jog forward. Hotak lifted himself with arms and one leg, the other he dragged on the ground. He lunged forward, then dropped and rolled over the bottom of one pant leg, blood-soaked. It was bleeding. There was no way Hotak was going to die of a minor leg wound. Mike felt lucky he’d hit him at all. He’d been aiming for Hotak’s back.

“If you kill me, you’ll never know what I’ve started,” Hotak shouted, but Mike ignored him.

Revenge didn’t feel sweet, whatever that meant, but it did feel right. Like everything in the last ten years was coming to fruition, the end of an unattainable goal. Mike slowed his rifle, never wavering. “Maybe I don’t care.” He stood over the man.

“Don’t care. Millions will die,” Hotak screamed.

“I don’t care.” In the back of his mind, he knew he did, but he pushed that thought away. “I only had one brother.”

Hotak opened his palms. “What?”

“It happened in this valley. You and your men ambushed my team. You’d set us up.”

"I don't know what you're talking about."

Mike stomped down on Hotak's wounded leg.

Hotak screamed and grabbed his calf.

"Say something stupid again."

Hotak sneered at him. “It was war. So what. What does that have to do with anything?”

“We had a company of Marines with us. Your men started the ambush. We routed them, killing most of them. The Marines chased you down into a bamboo field. Just before you got away, Badi killed my brother. Badi's dead, and now I’m going to kill you.”

“You told me this was supposed to be a simple recon mission. Now you talk about taking revenge for a dead brother. This makes no sense.”

“For them,” he nodded behind him. “It was a simple recon, not for me. The mission was a pretense for me to get here. When I heard you’d be here, killing you was the only reason I needed to come.”

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Hotak leaned on an elbow, pointing at Mike with his other hand. "I remember that day. You tore my victory away from me. I lost a lot of respect from the other commanders. I was going to kill you for it. Once I had the money and power, I sent people to the United States to find you. Their report made me stop. They found a drunk, broken man with no job, no woman, and no way of getting closure. I decided that would be my revenge. I would make sure you die a sad, bitter drunk."

That hit home. "Fuck you."

Hotak smiled. “Your simple-minded revenge. That’s why you're here? I have an empire and a legacy for my children. I oversee thousands. I have a perfect life. And you think to destroy it because your brother was in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

Mike’s face set into an emotionless mask. “I’ll consider destroying your empire as a bonus.” His finger tightened on the trigger.

“Mike!” Tom ran past. He stopped at the corner of the tunnel and spied out.

Mike clenched his teeth together but eased up on the trigger as he watched Tom. His explanation had better be good.

Julia came up beside him, holding the shirt collars of both children. Niki followed.

Tom backed off and stood over Hotak across from Mike.

“Kill him, don’t kill him, I don’t know. Whatever, but we still need to get out of here, and that helo is the answer. I think we’ll need him alive to get on that bird.”

Mike gripped the rifle, trying to tear it in half. “He needs to die.”

“He does. But we need to get out of here. Niki needs medical attention. We have the intel in Julia’s pack, and,” he looked at his watch. “And we need to get the hell out of this tunnel ASAP.”

“God Dammit!” Mike yelled and lowered his AK. “Grab his other arm.” Mike grabbed Hotak’s other arm and roughly yanked him up.

“Julia,’ Mike said through gritted teeth. “You’re first with the kids, Niki next, we’re last. Spread out, when they see us, they’ll be uneasy. This isn’t what they’re expecting to see, but they’ll hesitate enough not to do anything right away.”

A crewman stood next to the passenger compartment, the door open. He didn’t wear a helmet or have headphones to communicate with the pilot. The crewman straightened when he saw the gaggle. None of it made sense, but Hotak was there, helped by two filthy men. He reached for his shoulder holster, his hand resting on the butt of his pistol.

He yelled into the open helicopter to the pilot and co-pilot.

Tom called to him and pointed to Hotak. The rotor wash was so loud Tom could barely hear himself. There was no way the crewman would hear him.

Mike yelled and pointed at Hotak’s leg. The crewman couldn’t understand what they were saying, but he could see Hotak was wounded and needed help. They kept moving forward.

The crewman made a decision and waved them on.

The cabin was spacious and luxurious. It was a cargo helicopter converted to a passenger model for wealthy executive types. The interior was shades of white and beige. Large leather seats lined the back and side opposite the door. On the rear wall was a television and game console.

Tom jumped up and helped Hotak while the crewman helped the women and boys. Mike climbed in, held his hand out, and pulled the crewman in. Everyone settled in, Tom next to the inner door to the cockpit. The crewman looked outside once more and pulled the door closed.

Mike nodded at Tom. The compartment was well-insulated and soundproofed.

The crewman leaned in to talk. Mike jammed his rifle into his chest and took the pistol from his shoulder holster. Tom grabbed him from the rear and sat him on the floor against the cabin wall near the front. The man’s face went from red to white and red again. He’d made a mistake.

The helicopter lifted off the ground, rotated, and flew south through the valley.

“Where’s this helicopter supposed to go?”

The crewman glared up at Mike and stayed silent.

Tom rapped him on the side of the head. “Answer, or it’s going to get worse.”

“Islamabad.” He spat out.

Mike grabbed the headset off the wall and handed it to the Crewman. “Tell the pilots we’re now going to Tajikistan Hotak’s orders. We’ll send up the coordinates in a few. For now, follow my orders, and nothing terrible will happen. When we land, you and the pilots are free to go. Take the helicopter as a parting gift from your former employer, Hotak.”

“Hotak would never allow it.”

“After today, you’ll never have to worry about him again.”

The Crewman got on the headset, relayed the new course setting, and returned the headset.

“Good. Sit there and behave yourself.”

The crewman looked at him, Tom, and finally at Hotak. “Okay.” There was no love lost between Hotak and the crew. They didn’t like him, but he paid well, not enough to get shot over.

Hotak sat on a finely woven carpet in the middle of the compartment. He’d torn his pant leg and wrapped it around his calf. He glared at the crewman but said nothing.

Mike tore through the drawers under the TV until he found what he sought. He turned the noise-dampening switches on and placed the gaming headphones on each boy's head.

Facing Hotak with the crewman’s pistol, Mike aimed at Hotak’s head. Niki sat next to Mike, eyes locked onto the individual responsible for her family’s death.

The pistol slowly lowered. “Looks like we won, asshole.”