Sleeper Read online

  Table of Contents

  About Sleeper

  Praise for Mark Posey’s Thrillers

  Credible Threat – Episode Four Sleeper

  About the Author

  Other books by Mark Posey

  Copyright Information

  About Sleeper

  One family’s life is changed beyond anything they could ever imagine.

  A major foreign power has been funneling key intelligence personnel into the United States for nearly a year, hiding them as embassy and consulate staffers, students, and plain immigrants. In response, the FBI activates its Domestic Sleeper program.

  Scattered across the country as architects, cab drivers, and other innocuous roles, failsafe agents in the Domestic Sleeper program are unaware of their status as dormant FBI agents until they’re triggered by a post-hypnotic codeword. Their programming drives them to a pre-arranged checkpoint to receive the instructions necessary to combat a Credible Threat.

  In this episode: The Pratchett family is on the run and under fire. A second failsafe agent is activated to help the family.

  Credible Threat: Sleeper is the next episode in the Credible Threat thriller serial from Mark Posey.

  Other episodes in the Credible Threat series:

  Episode One: Brush Contact

  Episode Two: Alias

  Episode Three: Compromised

  Episode Four: Sleeper

  Episode Five: Safehouse Alpha

  Episode Six: Dissemination

  Episode Seven: Tradecraft

  Episode Eight: Burned

  Episode Nine: Safehouse Beta

  Episode Ten: Blowback

  Episode Eleven: Naked

  Episode Twelve: Blown

  Episode Thirteen: Exfiltration

  A Thriller Serial Episode

  Praise for Mark Posey’s Thrillers

  What a fun roller-coaster of a story!

  It continues to amaze me how this writer can give us so much in a short story

  Oh, you want THIS short story!

  Credible Threat – Episode Four

  Sleeper

  911! Bogies inbound! Get out!

  Aaron scrambled to put his jeans back on. Pulling them up over his injured leg was a bitch. As soon as his jeans were zipped up, he snatched up the Beretta in its holster and shoved it onto the belt at his right hip.

  Marie stared at the message, jaw slack, eyes wide. “Bogies?”

  The message came again.

  911! Bogies inbound! Get out!

  Aaron seized his cellphone, stuffed it into his pocket and grabbed Marie by the shoulders. “Get Emma and get down to the kitchen. I’ll get Ty and Lexi!”

  He stumbled out of the bathroom, his thigh protesting mightily. “Ty! Lexi! Fire! Fire!” He’d have less questions to answer yelling that. Time was of the essence. The less time he had to take up with explanations, the better.

  Both kids burst from their bedrooms. Tyler was still dressed but Alexis had a monstrous case of bedhead and wore teddy bear pajamas.

  Aaron met them in the middle of the hallway.

  “Dad, what’s going on?” Tyler looked frantic.

  “I don’t smell any smoke.” Alexis pushed the hair out of her face.

  “Down to the kitchen, right now. We have to get out. C’mon!” He put a hand to each of their backs and shepherded them toward the stairs.

  “Dad, I’m in my pajamas! Give me a minute to change.”

  Aaron shook his head. “No time. You’ll have to go like that!”

  Marie came up behind them, Emma in her arms.

  They dove down the stairs, Tyler and Alexis glancing around frantically.

  Aaron ducked past the two teenagers after they cleared the bottom of the stairs. He sprint-hobbled ahead and snatched the van keys out of the ceramic bowl near the back door. He waited to let his four frightened family members catch up with him, yanked the cellphone out of his pocket and thumbed the screen.

  When Gloria answered, he said, simply, “Sit rep.”

  “Two heading for the front door, two going around back on the west side of the house. Driveway’s clear for now. You won’t have long once they realize you’re headed for the van. Move your ass and keep your head down.”

  “Roger that.” Aaron thumbed the screen to disconnect and stuffed the phone back into his pocket.

  “Sit rep? Roger that? You’re not Jason Bourne, Dad.” Ty frowned as Aaron looked back over his shoulder.

  Aaron held Tyler’s gaze as he pulled the Beretta from its holster.

  Tyler’s jaw dropped. “The house isn’t on fire, is it?”

  “Into the van as quick as you can, got that?” Aaron thumbed the unlock button on the van keys, then stuffed them into his jeans pocket. He clenched the doorknob and looked over his shoulder at the four of them. “On three. Ready? One, two, three!”

  Aaron jerked open the back door and scuttled straight for the passenger door, panning the Beretta back and forth. He yanked the passenger door open and guided Marie and Emma into the seat while Tyler tugged the side door open for him and Alexis.

  Aaron slammed the passenger door just as Tyler was pulling the side door shut behind him. As Aaron rushed around the van toward the driver’s door, he heard the pounding of feet from the back yard.

  Two bogies rushed towards him in full black combat gear, including balaclavas, and Kevlar vests, odd-looking carbines at the ready. Neither one had bright yellow letters on their vests indicating an agency affiliation. He presumed they were unaffiliated mercs. So much the better.

  He shoved the Beretta back into its holster. Gunshots at this point would only draw the police, not to mention return fire. Aaron rushed forward, meeting the two bogies three or four steps in front of the van.

  “Daddy!” Alexis’ scream was clear as a bell even from inside the van.

  The bogies brought their strange-looking carbines to bear as they neared. Aaron dashed forward, his hands sliding under the barrels of both weapons. He shoved them above his head. If they went off, he didn’t want stray bullets peppering the van.

  He slammed the flat of his bare left foot against the knee of the bigger of the two, on his right. The bogie cried out and Aaron heard the pop of the man’s tendons as his knee crumpled. He clutched at his now-destroyed knee with both hands and pitched forward, his balaclava-covered face slamming into the driveway. The carbine skittered toward the van.

  The man on his left was trying to yank the barrel of his weapon free and his struggles pulled Aaron off-balance. Pain blossomed across Aaron’s wounded thigh as he steadied himself and thrust the stiff and straightened fingers of his right hand against the man’s throat.

  The bogie released his rifle to clutch at his windpipe, gagging and choking.

  As Aaron pulled the carbine in close to his chest, the first man was struggling to ignore his injured knee and get to his feet, while pulling his sidearm. Aaron took one step toward him, raised the carbine and drove the butt down into the side of the man’s head.

  He dropped to the driveway, unmoving.

  Aaron heard Ty’s, “Holy fuck, Dad!” from inside the van.

  Panting, heart pounding, Aaron quickly surveyed his two downed opponents, stooped and ripped the balaclava off the nearest one.

  Epicanthic folds. Asian. Japanese? Chinese? Korean?

  He wished he had time to go through their pockets but, if they were as professional as their squad seemed to be, they’d have nothing on them that could identify them or their affiliation.

  “Aaron!” Marie called from inside the van.

  He snapped his head up and he heard footfalls pounding across the front yard. He snatched the other carbine off the driveway and sprinted to the driver’s door. His thigh throbbed as he skidded beside the van, ripped the keys out of his poc
ket and yanked open the door.

  He scrambled inside and stuffed both assault rifles into the passenger side footwell beside Marie’s feet. She gaped at him and shied away from the carbines, clutching Emma to her chest.

  “Dad, that was awesome!” Tyler pounded Aaron on the shoulder.

  Aaron stuffed the keys in the ignition, started the van, and slapped the Lock button with his left hand. He turned in his seat, his right hand clutched around the gear shift, waiting. “On the floor, you two!”

  Marie jumped when he shouted, and shifted Emma from one side to the other. The baby let out a wail and started to cry.

  Tyler and Alexis dove for the floorboards. Aaron caught a glimpse of tears on Alexis’ cheeks.

  He glanced back at Marie, who looked scared to death. “Don’t worry. I’ve got this.” He glared out the back window again.

  “Got this?! What the hell is this?” Marie snarled.

  Aaron scanned the yard behind them. “Not sure. We’ll figure it out when we get somewhere safe.”

  “And where the hell is that?”

  He shrugged. “Not here.”

  Behind them, more bogies crept cautiously from the front yard onto the driveway, carbines trained on the van. He jammed the van into reverse and slammed his foot from the brake to the gas.

  Marie and Alexis both yelped.

  The van’s tires squawked as it shot toward the street. The bogies scrambled out of the way. A thump sounded against the van. One of them wasn’t fast enough.

  He heard Marie gasp beside him.

  As the old Astro van surged toward the street, two dings issued from the speakers, followed by the computerized voice. “Pairing with Aaron’s phone.”

  A black Sprinter van dashed into view, blocking the driveway.

  “Hang on!” Aaron cranked the wheel to the left. The van bumped off the driveway and onto the neighbor’s lawn, sending the two carbines skittering sideways against Marie’s legs.

  She pulled her legs away from them as if their touch might burn her. “Oh my God!”

  He yanked the van into drive, cranked the wheel to the right and felt it shudder as he stomped on the gas again. The back wheels spun on the neighbor’s grass. Aaron pivoted the van on the front wheels, straightened them out and shot the van past the front of the Sprinter, mere inches to spare.

  The van bumped down from the curb, onto the street. On the asphalt, the rear tires gripped and Aaron cranked the wheel to the left. The van surged around the front corner of the Sprinter and shot away from their under-siege house.

  Aaron glanced in the rearview mirror. All the remaining bogies were converging on the Sprinter.

  At the end of the block, Aaron slid the Astro van to the left, the tires protesting, then accelerated hard. This was just a temporary reprieve. The Sprinter would be on their tail in no time if he relaxed now. He had to put as much distance between the two vehicles as he could.

  This late at night, there wasn’t much traffic on the road. They’d be easy to keep an eye on, even from a distance. It was going to make losing the Sprinter extra-difficult. As they rushed past neighborhoods of darkened houses, Aaron glanced in the rearview mirror and saw the Sprinter skitter around the corner behind them. This wasn’t over yet.

  At least Emma was starting to quiet down.

  The hands-free unit chimed through the speakers. “Incoming text message from Gloria’s cellphone.”

  From the corner of his eye, he saw Marie’s head snap around. She gazed at him. “Who the hell is Gloria?”

  “Read text,” Aaron snarled, rolling his eyes.

  The hands-free unit chimed again. “Safehouse Alpha.”

  “Yeah, if I can get there.”

  “What on earth is Safehouse Alpha?” Marie asked through clenched teeth.

  Aaron shifted in his seat as he slid the Astro van through a hard left turn and tried to figure out the route he needed for Safehouse Alpha.

  “Text Gloria’s cellphone. Roger that.”

  “Texting Gloria’s cellphone.”

  Marie adjusted her grip on Emma. “Hang on. Gloria? The awkward nurse? Is that who you’re texting?”

  He could only imagine what she was thinking. “Gloria’s my secret weapon.”

  “Secret weapon?”

  He glanced again in the rearview mirror and saw the Sprinter round the corner behind them, the back end kicking out. They were already much closer.

  Aaron pursed his lips. “Just let me get us to the safehouse, then I’ll explain everything. Everyone put your seatbelts on. This ride could get bumpy.”

  Tyler and Alexis climbed up off the floorboards and settled into their seats without a word. Aaron glanced over his shoulder. Alexis was practically curled into a ball behind Marie.

  Aaron glanced in the rearview mirror. The Sprinter was coming hard.

  He glanced at Tyler. The boy looked bewildered and excited. “Oh man, this is so cool.” Tyler’s gaze flittered around the interior of the van.

  “This is not cool, Ty. Life and death is never cool.”

  In the rearview mirror, Tyler screwed up his face. “Life and death? What do you mean, Dad?”

  In the mirror, Aaron saw a muzzle flash from the Sprinter. “Down!” He swerved the van to the left as Tyler and Alexis scrunched themselves down in the back seat.

  The bullet caromed off the driver’s side mirror, shattering the plastic casing. Alexis and Marie both screamed.

  “Jesus!” Tyler pulled the balled-up form of his sister toward him and covered her with his body as much as he was able.

  The hands-free unit dinged as the Astro van hurtled down the street. “Incoming text from Gloria’s cellphone.”

  “Read text!”

  “Going to try and cut them off. Proceed to Safehouse Alpha all due haste.”

  “Text Gloria’s cellphone: Roger that.” Then he called, “Hang on!” He slid the van around a hard right-hand turn onto the freeway near their house at the last second. The sudden turn jostled them inside the Astro van and Emma’s crying returned, stronger than ever.

  “Quite a set of lungs on that girl,” Aaron muttered, as he glanced into the rearview mirror.

  The Sprinter fishtailed madly as the driver tried to make the turn, slamming into a parked car on the opposite side of the road. The sudden turn slowed them down substantially.

  Aaron pressed the accelerator to the floor to gain more distance.

  He noticed headlights flicker far behind the Sprinter on the virtually deserted road.

  Gloria. I hope.

  With the exit he needed for the safehouse coming up rapidly, Aaron swung the van into the left lane and made ready to cut hard to the right and up the exit ramp. No sense giving away their route in advance.

  He could see Gloria’s headlights getting closer to the Sprinter. Hopefully the driver would be so focused on catching up to the Astro, he would fail to notice Gloria closing in on him.

  The Sprinter was gaining ground again, almost near enough to start shooting. Which was right where Aaron wanted them. If he could cut the exit to the right close enough, they might miss it. They’d have to brake and back up to continue pursuit. If he could force them to do that, Gloria would end up right on top of them and that would, no doubt, bring the pursuit to an end. Gloria would see to that.

  He watched the Sprinter get closer. He watched the exit on the right get closer, trying to time it as perfectly as he could. He took a quick glance at the speedometer. Buried at one-twenty.

  Shit. This is gonna be close.

  The Sprinter was near enough that he could see figures inside it. The exit was coming up. Fast.

  No time to text Gloria.

  He saw one of the bogies lean out the passenger door, training his carbine in their direction.

  Aaron had waited as long as he dared. He jerked the wheel to the right, arrowing for the exit. The sudden change of direction jostled his passengers and Emma’s wailing grew even louder.

  “It’s okay, little girl. It’s ok
ay,” Marie tried to soothe Emma.

  As they rocketed toward the exit, he spotted the stalled vehicle on the right-hand shoulder.

  “Aaron?” Marie pointed at the motionless car.

  “Brace yourselves,” Aaron roared.

  He tried to correct his trajectory to accommodate the stalled car. Too late. He was going too fast and between the exit’s guardrails and narrow shoulders, there just wasn’t enough room.

  The crunch was loud. The impact jarring. Sparks flew as the Astro-van’s right front corner clipped the front corner of the stalled car.

  Alexis screamed again.

  Marie almost lost her grip on Emma.

  “Stay down, Lexi!” Tyler yelled from the backseat.

  “Hang on, this could be dicey!” They had to make a hard right at the top of the exit and Aaron slammed the brakes on, preparing for the turn. Out of his peripheral vision, he could see the speedometer needle dropping like a stone.

  In the rearview mirror, the Sprinter surged up the exit ramp with Gloria’s Mustang right behind them. Sparks glanced off the Mustang’s hood.

  Aaron looked ahead and tensed. They were out of room and hadn’t bled off enough speed. The Astro-van wouldn’t make the turn. He corrected their course, shot through the intersection and onto the onramp back to the freeway. He pounded the steering wheel in frustration. “Shit!”

  The Sprinter was gaining, and Gloria’s Mustang was falling back.

  “Text Gloria’s cellphone! What are you doing?”

  “Texting Gloria’s cellphone.”

  As they cleared the onramp, Aaron pinned the gas pedal and brought the Astro-van back up to the same dangerously high speed as before. The Sprinter was still gaining, albeit slower than before.

  “Incoming text from Gloria’s cellphone.”

  Aaron growled in frustration. “Read text!”

  “Shooter in the back of the Sprinter. Mustang temporarily disabled. Flat tire. Can you make Alpha?”

  “Fuck, fuck, fuck!” Aaron slammed his fist against the wheel.

  “What are we going to do, Aaron?” Marie wailed. She was trying to comfort Emma, who was crying so hard her face had turned dark red.