Green Light (Sam Archer 7) Read Free

and fired back twice with his Sig. Keeping down as
another burst of gunfire came from the cab, Archer saw the door
swing open, revealing the driver on the floor with his hands over
his head, the suspect standing beside him and firing wildly with
some kind of compact sub-machine gun, lighting up the
cab.
    Firing
back and aiming high to try and put the gunman down but avoid
hitting the driver, Archer scrambled up and pushed the MTA man
towards the carriage behind them.
    ‘ Archer!’ the MTA man’s radio said,
bursting into life. ‘Archer, it’s
Shepherd, can you hear me?’
    As they
moved into the second carriage and the doors closed behind them,
Archer snatched the receiver just as the suspect let fly with
another barrage of gunfire, smashing the glass out above their
heads.
    ‘ Suspect located; he’s in the cab!’ he
shouted as he pulled the other man down, his voice fighting to be
heard over the wind now howling through the train. ‘But he’s got an automatic weapon; I’m pinned
down!’
    ‘ The driver?’
    ‘ Still alive!’
    ‘ Have you found the device?’
    ‘ It must be in there with them. I can’t get near enough to
find out!’

    Up on street level, Josh and Vargas screeched to a halt at the
top of Union Square on 16 th Street, bailing out of their
car and moving as fast as they could into the station, the place
heaving with evacuating commuters coming the other way. Forcing a
path through the crowd, the pair headed for the N/Q Uptown track
where they knew the train would be arriving any second.
    As they
appeared, two cops standing with an MTA employee ran towards them,
one of them holding a radio receiver.
    ‘ Your guy on the train found the suspect!’ one of the cops told
them. ‘But he can’t get near him. The son of a bitch is pinning him
down with some kind of machine gun.’
    As Josh
grabbed the radio, Vargas heard the sound of the train approaching
the Q rails below. Knowing they were out of time, she pulled her
Sig Sauer and sprinted down the stairs that led to the middle of
the platform.
    As she
reached the last step, the train roared into view and the brakes
started to screech, the bomber arriving at his destination. Seeing
the suspect in the cabin as the train ploughed along the track
towards her, Vargas pushed two remaining members of the public out
of the way and fired twice, straight at the driver’s windows, the
sound of the gunshots and splintering glass lost in the noise of
the approaching train.

    Holding
on as the train ground to a halt, Archer went to fire into the cab
again but then realised the sub-machine gunfire had ceased. Peering
round his cover, he saw the suspect was slumped on top of the
cowering driver on the floor.
    Standing
up slowly and stalking forward, his sights never leaving the
gunman, he saw the man had been shot twice in the head. Seeing the
blond man approach, the driver wriggled his way out from under the
dead gunman, crawling over shell casings and broken
glass.
    Reaching the cabin, Archer saw two bullet-holes in the front
window, the train only stopping because of the dead man’s lever.
The front of the Q train had moved through the
14 th Street station and was now partially in the tunnel, dark gloom
ahead illuminated by the occasional light; but Archer wasn’t here
to admire the view.
    ‘ Where’s his bag?’ he asked the driver quickly.
    ‘ What?’
    ‘ He must have had a bag. Where the hell is it?’
    As the
man stared at him, shocked and confused, Archer turned away to look
around the cab. Fifteen feet behind him, the doors to the carriage
were forced open, Josh and Vargas climbing inside with their
weapons ready to fire and saw their team-mate in the
cab.
    ‘ Arch!’ Josh said urgently.
    Archer
didn’t respond; instead, he dropped down, turned the dead suspect
over and pulled open his jacket; frisking him down, he paused, then
pushed up a sleeve.
    The guy
had cylinders of ball bearings taped to his limbs.
    ‘ Jesus Christ,’ Vargas said