“Shift change?” This from Walker.
“Yeah. Every few weeks, another group comes in.”
“Comes in from where? What’s the details on this place? Who are we raiding?” Viper—or is it Venom—speaks up. They need their vests back on and not the Kevlar. Hard as hell to tell who’s who.
“These men are locals for hire. They go where the money is. Some days they’re freedom fighters. The next, drug lord cartel men. If the money’s good enough, they do what’s needed. But they all have a common problem.”
“Let me guess—death to Americans,” Bulldog grumbles.
“Actually, they’ve just got a thing against borders. They see one, they want to knock it down. They’re as free as gypsies in their mind and hate to be confined.”
“They would suck at prison,” Havoc comments, earning a few grunts in agreement.
“Where do you think most of them came from?” Gina asks as if she’s genuinely curious before she explains more. “They either snuck out or were let out by the government. Who knows? But they don’t like people getting in their way.”
“Good thing Hoss is good at being a wall, aren’t you, big fella?” One of the twins slaps him on the back.
“Fuck off, Viper.” He pushes him back, and the guy falls to the floor. At least I know which one is which now. That, and Viper has a deep red strip down the side of his Kevlar.
“And if they don’t like it, that’s why we’ve got Havoc. He’s really good at taking them down.” The other twin, Venom, grins at Havoc as if nothing just happened to his brother. Guess this shit happens often.
“Damn, Domino is going to be pissed he missed this,” Mickey says with a wide grin and a shake of his head.
Casper puts both hands on the table and looks everything over before pulling out an aerial view of the place where Nat’s being held.
“I want four teams. Three snipers with spotters up at the tree line. Here, here, and here.” He points to three spots that have the best vantage points. “King is with me. Bulldog on the second, and if you’re willing to part with one of yours, Mickey, he can be Bulldog’s spotter.”
“Take Lucky. He’s pretty good on a gun if you want to switch.”
Bulldog nods, and the two eye each other in understanding.
“You want the third?” Casper looks at Gina, who nods. “We don’t start shooting till the welcome team gets there.”
“Welcome team?” This from Lucky.
“Yeah—nothing says ‘welcome to the party’ like explosives.”
“Ah, the nice way to let yourself in.” Viper grins.
“Exactly. Get set up and then double back.” Casper looks like Havoc, Viper, and Venom as he speaks. Our group already discussed on the plane that we were going to let the professionals handle this part. While we all know how to throw a grenade, those with OHH train on stealth. Getting inand out. By having them set the charges, we have a better shot of sticking to a timetable.
“When we blow it, I want you to double back and help the ground team. If we plan this right, we can get them all looking left while…”
“While I go right,” I say. Finally, we’re getting to the part that I want. The part that gets me in and looking for my girl.
Casper nods. “I want a four-man team to go through these tunnels. We don’t know if they’re blocked or not, but it’s a start. We suspect two people are in there. We get in and get them out. Kooper and Walker already volunteered for this. Any others?”
Rooster looks at Hoss. “Might be easier to break down the walls with you on the inside.”
Hoss, who seems to be a man of few words, similar to Mad Max, nods. “Even better if I had some cover.”
Rooster knocks his knuckles against Hoss’s and grins. “Deal.”
“What if we find more?” King asks. He’s been quiet. He wants to be here, but he’s still fucked up about what happened with him and Abigail. And their kid. We all told him to hang back, to deal with his own shit. His response was “They’re dead. Shit’s dealt with.”
If I were one to suggest therapy, it would be to him. But I’m not, and I’ve got my own issues to work through, so I kept my yap shut and didn’t blink when he got on his bike and drove beside me to the airfield.
“Do what you have to. But the priority, gentlemen—” Casper looks at everyone, landing on me last. “—is Ruby. The rest is bonus. That clear?”
