Mountains of Dawn

"Of the Shredder?" Judith said. "He flies in from Central America, does the job, then returns right away. So far, he hasn't made any mistakes and he's covered his tracks well. He seems to have access to the newest and deadliest assault weapons. He has the ability to fire and hit with precision. In other words, our boy don't miss-at least he didn't so far." Judith smiled brightly at Carl, pretending he was Mike and they were having a cheerful chat. "What he leaves behind is a mixture of human limbs and metal pieces, with no way of telling what went where. His favorite pastime is to fire at cars in motion."

Carl chuckled as if he just got the joke. "What a beautiful prospect for the afternoon!" he said.

A smile still pasted on her face, Judith leaned back and considered the prospect for the afternoon. Kill or be killed. That would be her question, today. She, Judith, would have to choose to kill in order to survive and to protect the people who counted on her, and she hated it. Jim chattered on beside her and she nodded in response, but she didn't hear a word of it. The thought that she would have to kill sent waves of ice down her spine. Death was so final.

"Bogey coming up on the right," Carl said, his voice tight. "Hang on."

Judith glanced up and dropped back down, flat upon the floor, as a brown sedan with heavily-tinted window glass came up beside them. Carl slammed the gas pedal to the floor and the limo leaped like a horse out of the starting gate. They left the sedan behind, but not before gunfire raked the left side of the limo.

"I'm hit," Jim said. He slumped down on the seat beside Judith. The limo's speed increased, seeming to fly. Carl wavered in his seat, his head slightly slumped forward.

"Carl? Are you okay?" Judith asked.

"No. Hit, but still functional." His driving wavered along with his body.

The brown car increased speed and a rattle of gunfire showered the limo with bullets. Two of the tires blew with a noise like the end of the world. The limo went into a skid and an injured Carl rode the wheel like a bronco buster at a rodeo. He swung the car onto an overpass, then back around and under.

The brown sedan, with no time to slow down enough, drove several yards further down the highway. It came to a stop, then reversed and followed.