It was all over the news. They, of the Washington Theys, couldn't hush up something this big. Air Force One brought down. The President and most of the crew, missing. Foreign nationals suspected. Oriental, most likely. Highly trained, highly armed, highly motivated. They would have to be.
Now they were holed up in the bombed-out ruins of some Ethiopian hellhole. Skyscrapers fortified. A million different places to stash the Prez and his entourage. I didn't really care. I didn't vote for him. But my girlfriend, Sheila, was one of his aides. That made it personal.
The Feds would be scrambling around like headless chickens, more concerned with covering their own asses than in recovering the Commander in Chief. A head-on assault would be doomed to failure. The city was too well guarded. And negotiation was right out. Even if the US did negotiate with terrorists, they would never give up the President.
No, it would have to be me. I hadn't regretted leaving the Army. There wasn't much work for a Special Forces operative during peacetime, and besides, the World Kickboxing Championship had been good to me. But as the man said, every time I thought I was out...
I checked my list. Sunglasses. Paperback for the flight. Gloves. Rope. Combat knife. Sig Sauer P226. Remington 870 for close encounters. Brass knuckles. Flak jacket. And my mitts.
I stopped at the door. The journey of a thousand miles began with a single step. But before I took this step, I would have to ask myself one question. I would have to search my soul for the answer to the question that all men, once in their life, must ask themselves:
Was I a bad enough dude to rescue the President?