“Second mistake.”
“Then I show up there with Luis—”
“Third mistake.”
“Then I see two colectivo guys and four regime guys, and everyone’s packing heat except me, so—”
“You decided to stay.” She added, “You’re an idiot.”
Luis came to Brodie’s defense. “He is very brave, señora.”
“He’s fucking crazy.” She admonished, “Don’t encourage him.”
“Sí, señora.”
Brodie continued, “So, as per plan, Luis goes to the baño… You remember that scene in The Godfather? Well, it doesn’t always work out.”
“Apparently not.”
“On the other hand, I got hold of an AK-47—”
“How?”
“The usual way. I killed the owner.”
Taylor stayed quiet for a while, then said, “Give me the details later. Just tell me about mission accomplished.”
“Right. So Luis and I secure a cooperating witness. Carmen, nice girl, speaks idiomatic English with lots of F-bombs, and we hit the jackpot. Carmen is Señor Kyle’s special lady and she once accompanied him to his hideout in the jungle.”
Taylor glanced at Brodie as she drove, but said nothing.
Brodie related his conversation with Carmen, and Taylor did not interrupt or critique his interrogation methods, understanding that Brodie’s time had been limited and that Carmen, like Al Simpson, was not expecting that anyone would ever be asking her for a detailed recounting of her journey and surroundings.
When Brodie finished his briefing, Taylor nodded and said, “That should be enough info for someone—a team—to go find him.”
“Right.” He added, “We are the team.”
She looked at him. “No. We are not.”
Brodie motioned toward Luis in the rear seat. “We will discuss later.”
Luis, who was listening, said, “Señora, I never did get to use the baño. Perhaps you could pull over?”
“Of course.” She found an area with a dirt shoulder and pulled off the road. She kept the car running but turned off the headlights.
As Luis climbed out of the car, Brodie said to him, “Take your time.”
“Sí, señor.” He shut the door and walked toward some bushes behind the car.
Brodie and Taylor sat in silence for a moment. Then Taylor said, “This is no longer about us apprehending a fugitive. This is now a paramilitary operation, and it is out of our hands.”
“We just need to locate the fugitive. If we do that, and if we assess it’s going to take more resources than we have at our disposal to successfully apprehend him, we’ll get help.”
Taylor didn’t ask him to define what kind of help he was referring to, and if she had he wouldn’t have had an answer. This was a hostile nation without any security arrangement with the United States. But Brodie thought that Worley might have some assets at his disposal. And if not, Brodie would do what he’d always done—wing it.
But Taylor had a better idea. “We have Special Ops units in Colombia.”
Right. Chasing Marxist guerrillas and drug cartels for the Colombian government.
