“So, we create a war within a war?” asked Ham.
“Perhaps,” nodded Miguel. Ham let out a long sigh, rubbing his temples. “It’s not an easy thing to do, Ham. You’re going into enemy territory and you don’t even know how to identify the enemy. They know you’re coming now. Bora knows that you’re coming and he’ll be waiting.”
“You should enter through Chile,” said Torro. “They would expect you to come through Peru or Brazil. You’ll be closer to help if you need it.”
“Will Chile help us?” asked Gator. They all turned to look at Gator. “If we get into trouble, if we’re fucked, will Chile help us?”
“Only if the POTUS gives the request,” said Priscilla, “and right now he’s trying to stay out of this.”
“Figures,” growled Jak. “Fucker wants us to do his dirty work and then turn his head.”
“I don’t want to add to the drama,” said AJ, “but I’m having serious trouble finding anything on Margarita. I can’t even find a maiden name, birth certificate, nothing. It’s like this woman dropped from the sky and married the former president.”
“Another thing to make me feel warm and fuzzy,” frowned Ham.
“May I give a suggestion?” asked Lucy.
“Of course you can,” said Gator. “You’re part of this team.”
“Use the animals.”
“What?” came the cry of fifty people.
“Use the animals to help you in the jungle. Dad and Luke both can hear the animals. So can Trak. The animals will help to lead them to the cartels and possibly the woman. They know that we are friends.”
“Lucy, there are killer animals in those jungles. Are you telling me that snakes and cats will listen to us?” asked Brooks.
“Jaguars are the primary predators, along with bears and anaconda. But they are not unreasonable. Trak seems connected the most to gators and snakes, but he hears them all.”
A hundred heads turned to stare at the man in the back corner who simply shrugged.
“You didn’t think to tell us that you could hear themall?” asked Nine.
“You didn’t ask,” he said shrugging.
“Dad, you can hear all of the animals and you can reason with them, so can Luke.”
“I’m not as good as Dad, Lucy. I mean, I’m getting better but what if I mess it up?” asked Luke.
“You won’t mess it up. Listen, just get into the jungles near their locations and the animals will help you with the rest. They won’t be able to lay out a plan of attack but they should be able to guide you safely in and out of the jungles and give you an idea of numbers of men.”
“This is nuts,” frowned Ham. “We’re basing an entire operation on the cooperation of wild animals. We could be sitting ducks. No pun intended.”
“Or, they could save your lives,” said Sniff.
“I will go,” said Trak. “But I take Alvin with me.”
“That’s probably smart. He could help you,” said Lucy.
“Okay,” nodded Ham and the others. “Okay. We use the animals to help us find the cartels. I say we find Los Malvados first. If we can get them to back off from this, we’re only dealing with two cartels and Bora.”
“I will reach out to Los Malvados for you,” said Miguel. “I will arrange a meeting in public. Just know that it may not matter to them if they wish to kill you.” Gator raised a brow nodding.
“Wonderful. I look forward to having tea before my death.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
“This is crazy!” said Lennon. “Brooks, you can’t go. They said you couldn’t go!”
