Divide & Conquer

by McDonald, Murray

  As the graphic image of the Colonel’s head exploding on live TV hit the screen, he preyed to God that his uncle was not the gunman and it was some rogue imbecile that had killed the American officer. However, he knew deep in his heart that his prayers would not be answered favorably. It was exactly the type of insane stunt his uncle would pull.

  “Oh fuck!” exclaimed Sean as he witnessed the killing.

  Katie looked up and caught the body hitting the ground. All she cared about in the world was her son and the pictures on the screen were not of a young boy. She turned and buried her head further into the sofa, wishing everybody would leave and her son and Sean were back home and everything was back to normal. Something she knew life would never happen.

  Sean stole a look at Katie, he wanted to help her, needed to help her. But he knew the last thing she wanted at that time was help from a man whom she had thought was her husband miraculously arisen from the grave.

  He looked at Luis and from the look on his face, he knew things had just got even worse. “Your uncle?”

  Luis didn’t even think before nodding. “Probably!” his eyes glued to the continuing coverage of the soldiers being killed.

  “Fuck!!” repeated Sean with more conviction.

  As the screen showed the lonely body of Colonel Masters abandoned in the middle of the Juarez-Lincoln International Bridge, Sean considered what he had just witnessed and the implications. Two things were obvious, the border was going to be shut for some time and Luis’ uncle was a fucking good shot.

  ***

  “Jesus H Christ!!” exclaimed the Governor. It had been less than half an hour since he had spoken with the Colonel.

  “Governor, what are you going to do?” came numerous shouts as the press in the room remembered their purpose.

  The Governor just stared at the monitor and the man whom he had ordered to defend the honor of his state and country. The somber picture would grace many front pages that morning. Without a word, he stepped away from the monitor and began to push his way through the crowd that had gathered.

  “What are you going to do, Mr Governor?” The shouts became louder and more insistent as he reached the double doors he had so nearly exited a few very different minutes earlier. He had insisted, despite Masters’ concerns that they make a big show of the National Guard. It hadn’t been needed of course. The police and border guards were more than capable of closing and securing the crossings in a far less ostentatious way. Eight fucking guardsmen. When that became public, he’d be a laughing stock.

  One thing was for certain. Whoever the fucker was that had cost him the presidency was going to pay. It was a defiant Governor that turned to face the press.

  “Gentlemen…Ladies,” he nodded to the two female reporters.

  “I am going to make a call to our President and insist that we retaliate with the utmost force and speed to ensure that the perpetrators of this heinous crime are brought to justice.”

  The Governor’s jaw wavered as he spoke, the anger and emotion clear for all to see.

  “And when I say justice,” he looked directly into one of the main networks cameras. “I mean I will not rest until those murdering motherfuckers are dead!” he pointed violently towards the monitor depicting the scene on the bridge before turning and leaving the room.

  ***

  When Sean’s cell phone began to ring just a few minutes after the governor’s speech, he wasn’t surprised it was Vincent. Although, as he thought about it, nobody else had his number, so it really couldn’t have been anyone else.

  What did surprise him was the subject of the call. It was nothing to do with his request for the IMEI and SIM card numbers. Although with Luis sitting on the sofa opposite him, he would have to cancel that request as somewhat surplus to requirements.

  “Sean, how are you?”

  “I’ve got a new bullet wound!” replied Sean jovially.

  “That’s nice,” replied Vincent, uninterested, his mind obviously elsewhere. “I’ve just had the President on the phone!”

  Sean looked at the TV screen and the banner. 'Governor calls for death of murderers’. This seriously could not be happening to him. Why had he not just gone to the beach.

  “Are you still in Laredo?”

  “Yes and just been shot again!”

  Vincent only heard the word 'yes’.

  “Excellent. I told the President I had a man on location and we’d start hunting down these fuckers straight away!”

  “Whoa, you do not have a man on the scene. For you to have a man on the scene would suggest you have an agent on the scene. You know a man at the rough location of the scene,” clarified Sean.

  “Whatever,” he really wasn’t taking no for an answer. “Your country needs you Sean. We need to find these fuckers and bring home a world of hurt to them!”

  “I have a boy to get back to his Mom and then I am hitting the beach. This is not my fight.”

  “Neither is the boy but it’s the right thing to do, Sean. That’s what you do. You do the right thing!” argued Vincent very well.

  “I’m sorry V,” replied Sean, the memories of two years earlier played hard on Sean. He would never forgive the man for letting him and his men down.

  “I’ll have a team there in four hours. They’ll take over, I just don’t want the trail to go cold. Please Sean, we can’t let these bastards get away with this. We need to find them.”

  Sean realized things were about to get seriously out of control. The team Vincent referred to was probably at least a C130 full of ex-Special Forces who would have just one order, do whatever it takes to get the bastards that killed our soldiers. Katie’s son, the son of a drug dealer being in peril would not make the best case for restraint.

  “I’ll deal with it,” he said with some conviction.

  “Sorry?” replied Vincent, taken aback at the speed of Sean’s U-turn.

  “I’ll deal with it! You don’t need to send a team.”

  “Did you see what happened?! How on earth are you going to deal with it on your own?”

  “Because I already know who did it!”

  Between Luis realizing what Sean had just said and Vincent screaming “you what??!!” in his ear, Sean struggled to know who to address first. He held his palm up to Luis. He needed to stop Vincent sending a team. He knew he’d never stop the military coming but at least they would stay within the US, whatever had happened, the US and Mexico would not be going to war. At least not unless Sean failed to calm the situation down. Whereas Vincent’s team could only operate outside the US and as such, Nuevo Laredo would be turned upside down and Katie’s son would be written off as collateral damage.

  “I know who did it!”

  “Were you there?” asked Vincent incredulous at Sean’s assertion.

  “No.”

  “So how can you possibly know?”

  Sean stopped himself from telling Vincent about Luis and his uncle. Vincent would easily link them all together with the SIM and IMEI number Sean had given him earlier. Sean would not put it past Vincent or the Government to send a few cruise missiles in retaliation, ensuring Katie would most definitely be losing her son.

  “Trust me, I’ll deal with it,” replied Sean through gritted teeth.

  “The team will be there in four hours,” confirmed Vincent, not willing to move on sending his team.

  “They’ll be an hour too late!” replied Sean ending the call.

  As Sean lowered the phone Luis exploded. “What the fuck are you doing?”

  “Saving the boy!”

  “Not by giving them my uncle you’re not!” he spat. “You’re guaran-fucking-teeing his death!” He grabbed his mobile and began to dial.

  Between Vincent and Luis putting pressure on an already precarious situation, Sean had had enough.

  “Put the phone down!” he said evenly but with such menace that Luis almost dropped the phone. With the bodies of the men he had just killed littering the floor, it was not surprising that Lu
is took Sean’s change of tone with some concern.

  “Sorry!” he offered clumsily, grasping the phone before it fell and making a show of clearing the number he had been dialing.

  “I am not going to give them your uncle. I just want her son!” offered Sean. His voice remained an icy steel, as he looked at the devastated Katie. He really was pissed off now. A young boy’s life was in danger and he seemed to be the only person in the world, other than his mother, who gave a shit.

  “But how?” asked Luis meekly. He had seen a strength and coldness in Sean that he recognized very well.

  “With your help!”

  “My help!” replied Luis almost squeaking the words.

  “I need you to go to your uncle…”

  “Are you out of your fucking mind?” Luis regained some composure as he weighed the balance between the menacing killer and his psychopath uncle. At least if Sean killed him it would be quick and painless.

  Sean walked over to Luis and placed a reassuring arm around his shoulders and explained what he needed him to do.

  Chapter 32

  “I don’t understand?’ offered Borodin shaking his head.

  Surkov smiled. “I wouldn’t expect you to.”

  With that, Borodin jumped up from the sofa. He had had enough of the smart mouthed obsequious scientist. However, before he could cover the distance between the two sofas, Surkov moved with a speed somewhat belying his age and managed to avoid the mass of the General landing on him.

  “You misunderstand me, I was not bating you comrade. I wouldn’t expect you to understand because you do not know what we do here at Grebnevo.”

  Borodin picked himself up and looked Surkov in the eye for any sign of mischief. None existed, nor however was there any sign of fear. Borodin was a large man, far larger than the diminutive and aged Surkov. Throughout his career he had instilled fear in all before him, even presidents of Russia feared him and he would never throw himself in anger towards them. The more time Borodin spent with Surkov, the less he understood him and the more Borodin feared him.

  “So what do you do here?” asked Borodin, retaking his original seat and mustering all of his composure.

  “We will come to that. First, let us finish discussing the details of our Mr Fox.”

  “Why is he a risk?”

  “Now, General, you are beginning to ask the right question! We don’t know that he is but there’s a chance he may be.”

  Borodin began to realize the chance of anything resembling a straight answer or explanation was unlikely.

  Surkov could see the frustration building in Borodin and continued. He had already pushed him over the brink and was very close to alienating him. Something which he would rather avoid. The General was, after all, a useful ally but one that he wanted an upper-hand with.

  “You were right when you mentioned we train spies here at Grebnevo. It’s just that is not all we do here. However let’s consider Sean Fox.”

  “Sean Fox was a star even before he was born, his father’s career ensured Sean Fox would have the world at his feet!”

  Surkov stopped talking and looked at Borodin, waiting for a reaction to what he had just said as if he had just solved the answer to life, the universe and pretty much everything that remained unanswered.

  Borodin’s head tilted to the side, his mind was racing trying desperately to work out if he had missed something or if that was Surkov’s revelation. Sean Fox was destined to be a star!

  “You don’t understand!” scoffed Surkov.

  “What’s to understand? You haven’t said anything!” replied Borodin, even more confused.

  Surkov’s eye’s raised to the ceiling in frustration. He had been informed Borodin had a superb mind. From all he had seen and what Surkov had told him, Borodin should have been able to understand Grebnevo. He was going to have to give him the foolproof tour.

  “Come with me General and I will blow your mind!” offered Surkov, rising from the sofa.

  Borodin followed and exactly two hours later was picking up Vasiliy from the coffee shop where he had been deposited earlier.

  “General!” offered Vasiliy as he stepped into the Zil.

  “Vasiliy,” replied Borodin. As Surkov had promised, Borodin was in a far better mood than he had been when Vasiliy had been left.

  For the duration of their short trip back to the helicopter, neither spoke a word.

  As they boarded the chopper and took off, Vasiliy waited for Borodin to unload but after a further ten minutes of silence could wait no longer, concerns of drugging his boss began to creep into his mind.

  “Well?” asked Vasiliy breaking the silence.

  “I’m still digesting what I have just witnessed!” explained Borodin the smile still affixed to his face.

  “And?” prompted Vasiliy.

  “Genius, utter and complete genius!” exclaimed Borodin.

  Vasiliy waited for more, it wasn’t forthcoming. “What is?”

  “Surkov, Grebnevo, Russia,” he said almost wistfully.

  “General, are you OK?”

  The concern in Vasiliy’s voice snapped Borodin out of his trance. “Of course, I am,” he said in his more usual gruff tone.

  “Get me the Head of Spetsnaz team heading to Texas on the radio, I need to speak with him.”

  “Whatever has happened?” asked Vasiliy trying to understand what was happening.

  “He needs to understand his mission is the most important mission in a generation!”

  Chapter 33

  Luis looked into the calm of Sean’s eyes and took some comfort, although whether it was enough to pull off what Sean had asked him to do was another matter.

  “Are you being serious?”

  “Absolutely and more importantly, the clock is ticking. We have less than three hours before all hell breaks loose!”

  “Fuck!” he exhaled as he picked up the phone. “Are you sure?” he queried once more before dialing.

  A firm nod from Sean told him to hurry up.

  El Jefe answered the call after two rings. “Que?” his only response.

  Luis did as Sean had prompted. He didn’t ask if his uncle had shot the Colonel, he just assumed he had.

  “Uncle, I need the rifle you used!”

  A short pause by his uncle as he justified a response was all that was needed to prove they were right.

  “Why?”

  “You shot a Colonel! That has consequences beyond our control.”

  El Jefe had realized almost instantly after his actions that the repercussions could be intense and had led to him sacrificing his own man. The fact that his nephew had guessed instantly it was him was no surprise. However, he was surprised at his nephew providing some kind of solution.

  “What will you do?” he asked intrigued.

  “The less we talk and you know the better,” replied a very confident Luis.

  El Jefe was in no mood to argue. His actions of earlier were beginning to weigh rather heavily as the blood lust began to drain from his psychosis.

  “OK, where are you?”

  “On the other side!” replied Luis telling his uncle he was in the American Laredo.

  “6.”

  Luis shook his head as he answered. “No, 15!” he said with some conviction and added. “In forty five!”

  In answer El Jefe ended the call.

  “Let’s go!” said Luis as he removed the battery pack from another used cell phone.

  Sean looked at him as though he were mad.

  “I’m not going anywhere near your psycho uncle unless the boy is with him.”

  “It’s your plan!” replied a somewhat less confident Luis.

  “Exactly, you go get the rifle and I’ll do the rest!”

  As Luis hesitated, Sean moved. He eyed up the small collection of corpses in an attempt to ascertain who his patsy was going to be.

  “Miguel was the most experienced soldier,” offered Luis as he walked past Sean towards the door.

  Sea
n looked at Miguel. He certainly looked the hardest and most convincing shooter but he had been killed some time before the Colonel had been shot. Sean needed a few days not a few hours to sort things out. The chances of the patsy being accepted had to fit the timeline.

  Sean picked the larger of the two bodyguards that had accompanied Luis to the house. He certainly looked the part and was shot after the Colonel, which made him a far better candidate than Miguel.

  “Be quick, the timeline for this is tight!” reiterated Sean.

  Luis nodded his head nervously. He jumped into his car and sped off.

  With Luis having left, Katie and Sean were once again alone in the house. Katie left the safety of the living room and walked towards Sean as he struggled with the bodyguard’s lifeless corpse.

  “So who are you?” she asked candidly.

  “My name really is Sean Fox,” replied Sean, lifting the dead weight up and onto his shoulder.

  Katie watched as he struggled towards the door. The life that had flooded back into her on seeing Sean again had drained completely away. The loss of her son compounding the second loss of her husband was obviously a weight she struggled to bear. Sean dumped the bodyguard’s body in the trunk of his rental and despite his lack of time, returned to the crestfallen Katie. Small and vulnerable he wanted nothing more than to wrap his arms around her and make everything right. Something he knew he would try and do but to have that chance he had to ensure Vincent’s team of assassins stayed as far away from Laredo and her Mexican twin as possible.

  “We’ll figure this all out, I promise.” He stood arms length away and held her as you would a child, somebody it was your job to protect and look after. He was treating her as someone he cared for and would save from harm. He hardly knew her but the look in her eyes said much more. She knew him, she read him like nobody had ever read him. She smiled, weakly but it was there, she believed him, she believed in him.

  “Thank you,” she replied. “Now go!”

  Sean kissed her on the forehead and ran from the house. He needed to get in position and that was not going to be easy.

  Chapter 34

  “Mayday, Mayday, Laredo tower we have an electrical emergency and request immediate clearance to land.”