Silent Night - By Tom Barber Page 0,105

kill Maddy. All rules were out the window.

‘C’mon, bitch,’ he shouted. ‘I’m ready this time.’

She screamed like a banshee and lunged forward but was met with a huge uppercut that took her off her feet, revenge for the shot she broke Archer’s nose with. She bit her tongue and lip, the punch sending her backwards and onto the floor in a daze. Watching her drop, Archer suddenly heard the radio up front in the cockpit. He ran forward to the cockpit and could just make out what it was saying over the howling gale.

‘Unidentified aircraft, this is the United States Army. You have just entered restricted airspace. This is a verbal warning. If you disregard this and do not turn around, we will shoot you down, I repeat, we will shoot you down.’

‘That’s the last one!’ Maddy shouted behind him, tossing out the final canister.

Drexler was trying to get to her feet, but she was dizzy from the blow, disorientated and weakly spitting blood from her mouth. Archer grabbed the radio receiver. The plane had started dipping and was gathering speed and he felt his stomach lurch.

‘This is NYPD Detective Sam Archer, I repeat, NYPD Detective Sam Archer!’

‘This is your final warning. If you do not turn around right now, you will be shot down. I repeat, you will be shot down!’

He swung round, frantically searching the cabin.

He saw a parachute hanging by Maddy’s head.

‘Put it on!’ he shouted, pointing at it.

Far below them, the Captain at Fort Myer looked at the screen in desperation.

‘What do I do, sir?’ the man in front of him asked.

‘They’ve been warned. We have no alternative. Fire!’

Just as Kruger and the woman re-gathered their senses, Archer looked through the window and saw lights up ahead and to the right.

The radio had gone quiet.

He turned and ran through the plane, past Drexler and Kruger, who were staggering to their feet. Maddy had just finished securing a parachute, clicking it in place with shaking hands, holding a hook inside the plane as she stood by the open door. Her eyes widened as Archer headed straight for her.

Without stopping, Archer tackled her, driving his shoulder through.

He took them both through the open doorway, and out of the plane into the night sky.

A split-second later, the rocket launched from Fort Myer below.

On their feet in the cabin, Kruger and Drexler looked out of the cockpit window and saw it streaking towards them.

Drexler screamed.

Kruger closed his eyes.

As the duster exploded above them, Archer and Maddy tumbled through the air, plummeting down through the darkness towards the Potomac. They had just the one parachute between them which was strapped to Maddy’s back. She screamed in terror as they hurtled towards the water through the dark night, the wind shrieking around them.

‘Archer!’

He didn’t answer. He used all his strength just to hang on. If he lost his grip, he’d fall hundreds of feet to his death. Hanging on to the straps above her shoulders, he manoeuvred his legs tight around her. He hooked his right arm into the straps, gripping the far one as hard as he could as they spun down towards the water.

He pulled the parachute release cord.

Nothing happened.

He tried again, the wind howling in their ears.

‘Shit!’

The water was approaching with terrifying speed.

If they hit it at this speed, they would both be killed instantly.

‘Archer!’

Archer pulled the cord as hard as he could for the third time.

‘C’MON!’

It worked.

The white parachute unravelled and billowed out with a flurry. The two of them whiplashed up as the parachute expanded, killing their speed.

And they hit the water.

FIFTY TWO

Five hours later, the dawn sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. At the New Jersey industrial estate, the leading doctor of a HAZMAT team finished testing the air. He removed his headgear and gave Hendricks the thumbs up. The toxicity had lowered, the strong wind disseminating the poisonous gas. They were good. The area was safe.

When Hendricks hit the propane it had triggered a huge explosion, all three meth trucks and the other tanks of propane going up. Unlike in the movies, propane tanks don’t explode unless they’re hit with an incendiary round or if there’s a source of fire to ignite them. Hendricks had done the latter; his shotgun blast had bled gas from the tank which came into contact with the lit cigarette on the ground. That was all it took. The blast had killed sixteen of the Chapter members on the spot, and most importantly Wicks, the blond-haired guy