Fire Zone. Don Pendleton

of how the fires had been set and appreciated the scale of the resulting theft, he had been more favorably inclined toward the mission. Learning a mercenary of Lecroix’s caliber headed up the operation made this a high-priority item. Lecroix did not come cheap and did not waste his time unless there was a challenge in the mission. He killed as much to relieve boredom as he did to amass great wealth, but more than these casual motives, he appreciated a challenge. A man driven only by greed was vulnerable. Lecroix was more dangerous because he sought out goals other than riches.

      What was he looking to do?

      â€œHe’s not taking the gold for himself. He’s been hired to steal it,” Bolan said.

      â€œWho needs a mountain of gold?” The way Phillips spoke, he did not expect an answer, but this was a reasonable question. Somebody had hired a top-notch mercenary and his crew to steal hundreds of millions in gold. Who?

      The SUV skidded to a halt and Phillips bailed out before the vehicle came to a complete stop. Bolan followed and saw a Gulfstream G550 jet waiting on the runway.

      â€œPrivate? You must have called in a lot of favors for that,” Bolan said.

      â€œNot really. As anxious as our Monsieur Lecroix is to steal the gold, there’s someone just as eager to get it back.”

      Bolan climbed up the narrow steps and ducked to get inside. The corporate logo told the story.

      â€œIs there an actual man named Lassiter behind Lassiter Industries?”

      â€œThere surely is. Set yourself down, and be sure to strap in real tight. The takeoff’s likely to be abrupt, and I told the pilot to push this puppy to its full .8 Mach.”

      Bolan had barely fastened his seat belt when the acceleration pushed him into the soft seat cushions. There was no waiting at the end of the runway for takeoff, either. The pilot put the power to the twin engines and sent the corporate jet into a steep climb.

      â€œHe flew F-14s off the USS Ronald Reagan,” was the only comment Marshal Phillips made.

      

      â€œTHE U.S. MARSHALS’ OFFICE seems to have more resources than ever get mentioned in reports,” Bolan said. They had landed at the Oakland International Airport where a clone of the other SUV waited for them.

      â€œAmazing what having some dedicated people who make big political contributions can do,” Marshal Phillips said. He grinned crookedly. “Truth is, there’s a whole lot of folks who want to see the forest fires ended who don’t know squat about gold being stolen. And I don’t just mean the Sierra Club or Friends of the Forest, either.”

      Bolan stared out the tinted window as the other cars on the freeway slipped behind them. The driver was expert and kept them moving in and out of the tight knots of traffic that otherwise would have stalled them, getting to the rail yards in record time.