"William W Johnstone - Ashes 33 - Enemy in the Ashes (txt)" - читать интересную книгу автора (Johnstone William W)

massive coronary before he made it back. Jody barked with happiness as
she ran alongside him, keeping a sharp lookout for a squirrel or rabbit
just in case one happened to show itself alongside the road.

After a shower and a lunch with his troops in the mess hall, Ben met
with his team of advisers in his office. As he sat at his desk, he
looked around at the men and women in the room, his heart swelling with
pride at the excellence of the team he'd formed so many years ago.

Mike Post, his Chief of Intelligence, sat smoking his pipe as usual,
filling the room with the aromatic smell of fine tobacco.

Jersey, his bodyguard, who was half Apache, sat on a chair near his
desk, her hand resting on the hilt of the K-Bar assault knife that was
her favorite weapon. Her long dark hair was tied in a braid at the back
of her neck and hung down almost to her waist.

Cooper, called Coop by most everyone, was his driver and sat next to
Jersey, where he could whisper insults to her as the occasion arose.
Their constant bantering was legendary and a source of constant
amusement to the other members of the team.

Anna, Ben's adopted daughter, sat on the couch next to Harley Reno, also
part Indian, with the characteristic red hair and blue eyes of the band
of aborigines who were his ancestors.

16

Beth, the team statistician, sat next to Carrie, who was in charge of
communications for the team. They were quietly talking to Scott "Hammer"
Hammerick, Harley's closest friend and fellow commando.

On an adjacent couch sat Buddy Raines, Ben's son, who'd led the
special-ops battalion until the previous year, when Ben had asked him to
join the team as second in command

The final member of the group was Dr. Larry Buck, who'd recently taken
over from Dr. Lamar Chase, who'd semiretired to play golf and lie about
his handicap.

It was a fine team, one that had fought together over many campaigns.

Ben took a sip of his coffee and then cleared his throat. "Okay, boys
and girls," he said with a slight grin. "How about a status report on
our current situation?"

Mike Post took his pipe out of his mouth and glanced down at a sheaf of
papers, resting on his ever-present briefcase on his lap. The team often
joked that if they ever wanted to separate Mike from his briefcase, it
would have to be surgically removed.