by J B Black
2:20 p.m. CDT
Reb and Jake took off jogging toward the main road. When they reached the main road, they turned left and continued jogging as they drifted over to the right side of the road.
Reb and Jake hadn’t gone more than 200 yards when Justin called. “Hey guys, you might want to get off the road. There’s a vehicle leaving the mansion and could be headed in your direction.”
Reb and Jake immediately jogged off the road into the underbrush alongside it and headed for the trees that lined the road to find a place of concealment where they would wait until they got the all clear from Justin.
“You think there are any snakes out here?” Reb asked as they moved through the thicket of greenery.
“Goddammit, Reb. Don’t you start that shit,” Jake answered. “You know how I feel about snakes.”
They made it to the trees and took a position behind one. While Jake nervously checked the ground around them for any tree limbs that moved, Reb kept an eye on the road.
A few moments later, Justin announced, “All clear. They turned the other way and are headed toward the drug operation facilities.”
Reb and Jake returned to the dirt road. After a few minutes more of jogging, they reached the side road that led to the plantation’s mansion. The side road was wide enough for two vehicles to pass and was lined with trees and shrubbery set far enough back from the road that the tree limbs weren’t growing out over the road itself. That gave the drones a clear field of view of the road all the way to the grounds of the mansion. Justin reported that the road itself was clear, but that there was a single guard at the gate in the outer wall surrounding the main house.
The side road curved just before it reached the 8-foot-high adobe outer wall surrounding the mansion. When Reb and Jake reached that point, they stopped. Jake checked his wrist watch for the time and saw that it was 2:28 p.m. local time. They’d made good time jogging. Next, Jake pulled a small computer tablet out of a side pocket of his trousers. It was already powered up.
Jake said, “Justin, send me the video feed from your drone and fly all the way around the house so I can see what’s going on. Rich, I need you to keep an eye on this side road we’re on and make sure I know if and when someone gets on it from either direction. Got that?”
“Got it, Jake,” Rich replied. “I’m over you right now and you are clear in both directions.”
“Thanks, Rich,” Jake said.
“Okay, Jake, here goes,” Justin said.
Jake and Reb looked at the tablet Jake was holding and saw the view coming from the camera of the drone Justin was operating, as it made a slow swing around the perimeter of the mansion.
The mansion was a huge, two story building with a red Spanish tile roof. The exterior walls were sun-bleached white adobe. There was an open central courtyard surrounded by the four sides—wings—of the building.
The front section of the mansion—the South wing—was almost two hundred feet across and one hundred feet deep. It contained the largest rooms in the house such as the ballroom, formal dining room, kitchen, and breakfast room on the ground floor. On the west side of the second floor there was a large combination office and study used by the owner. On the east side there was a large room used as a library.
Running down the sides of the central courtyard were the East and West wings of the mansion. The upper floor of the West wing housed the living quarters for the owner and other members of the owner’s family. The upper floor of the East wing housed the guest quarters for any visitor’s staying over at the hacienda—usually other businessmen involved in the illegal drug trade. The ground floor of the West and East wings were quarters for the cartel’s Chief of Security and the personal bodyguards of the boss of the cartel.
In the rear section of the mansion—the North wing—were the quarters for the household staff members and the laundry and storage rooms.
At the rear of the mansion—out behind the North wing—there was a large swimming pool surrounded by gardens. There was no one out by the pool and there was no activity they could see on the grounds elsewhere outside the mansion.
At the front of the mansion there was a courtyard used for parking and there was a wide set of stone steps leading up to the large wooden front entrance door. There were three vehicles parked out front in the courtyard.
The only guard in sight was the one at the gate entrance in the outer wall.
“Red Leader, this is Blue Leader, come in,” Jake called to Colonel Jackson.
Colonel Jackson was in the lead Ghostrider gunship. The two AC-130J Ghostrider gunships and the C-130J that had delivered the expedition vehicle were flying in a circle around the plantation at an altitude about 7,500 feet above ground level.
“Blue Leader, this is Red Leader, over,” Colonel Jackson answered.
“How do things look from your vantage point? Over,” Jake asked.
“No unusual activity to report. There’s only one plane parked at the airfield and the airfield is clear for landing at this time. Over,”
“Thanks. Over and out,” Jake said.
Jake faced Reb and said, “You ready?”
Reb nodded his head and said, “Yeah, I am.”
Jake said, “Hey, Justin, think you can take out the guard there at the gate in the wall?”
“On it, Jake,” Justin replied.
* * *
The guard was leaning up against the wall with his back next to the entrance smoking a cigarette when Justin flew the drone directly above him. Justin dropped the drone straight down until it was hovering right in front of the guard. The guard was so taken by surprise by what he saw, that he just stood there as Justin rapidly pulled the trigger twice. Both shots hit the guard in the center of his chest. His legs buckled out from under him and he slid to the ground. His dying thought was wondering what was it that had shot him.
Back in the mobile Command Center, Rich looked over at Justin who had just taken out an enemy combatant for the first time ever and asked, “You all right?”
“As long as I keep reminding myself that I’m stopping the cockroaches from taking over the world, I’ll be just fine,” Justin replied.
* * *
The walkie talkie on the coffee table between where Yasser and Hashim were sitting in the living room of guest suite #3 beeped.
Yasser picked up the walkie talkie and said, “This is Yasser.”
“Yasser this is Raúl. Carlos is ready to see you. Come on over to the study when you’re ready.”
“We’re on our way,” Yasser said.
Yasser and Hashim stood up from their chairs and embraced each other.
“May Allah watch over you and grant you success in your mission, Hashim,” Yasser said.
“Allah knows our cause is just and he will protect us so we can avenge all of our fallen brothers,” Hashim replied.
Hashim went out on the breezeway where the four mujahideen bodyguards were waiting with the duffel bags full of cash.
Yasser closed the door behind him.
Hashim started walking toward the door at the end of the breezeway that led to the South wing. The four mujahideen lifted the duffel bags and followed after Hashim.
* * *
Sophia had a problem. She was agonizing over whether she should warn the members of the household staff to leave the mansion before the rescue team arrived. During her time at the hacienda, she had come to know most of the household staff and knew that they were hard working folks from the nearby villages who needed their jobs to support their families. Furthermore, they were not directly involved in the drug business of the hacienda and Sophia considered them to be innocent of any wrongdoing.
Sophia went over to the phone on the bedside table and picked up the handset to call down to the kitchen with the intention of warning the head cook—a woman with whom she got along with well—that she should gather the members of the household staff and leave the mansion immediately.
Sophia set the handset back in its cradle. No matte
r how badly she wanted to prevent the members of the household staff coming to harm, she couldn’t risk jeopardizing the outcome of the rescue mission by warning them to leave. Sophia went back over to the window and looked out the blinds again. She saw the men on the breezeway across the courtyard going through the door into the South wing.
Sophia stood at the window watching through the blinds until the last man had gone through the door. When the last man was gone, Sophia stepped away from the window and went to the door that opened onto the breezeway. Sophia opened the door and cautiously looked around outside to see if anyone was watching her. Seeing no one, Sophia stepped out onto the breezeway, closed the door behind her, turned left toward the North wing, and set out running—hoping to get to the two American women before the rescuers arrived and all hell broke loose.
* * *
Yasser opened the door of guest suite #3 and was about to go down to the guest suite where the American woman was staying when he noticed Carlos’ mistress running down the breezeway across the courtyard. It struck him odd that the woman was running and he decided to wait at the partially open door to see where she was going.
* * *
After Justin eliminated the guard, Reb and Jake ran to the wall’s gate entrance and checked to make sure the courtyard in front of the house was still vacant.
They grabbed the body of the dead guard and carried it inside the courtyard and concealed it behind some shrubbery.
Next, they took off their rucksacks, removed the Bodyguard drones, activated them, and set them on the ground ready for takeoff.
“Justin, the Bodyguard drones are ready to launch,” Jake said.
Justin flew his Guardian Angel drone about ten feet above the roof’s height and parked it there in hover mode with the camera and gun facing the front door. Rich did the same thing with his Guardian Angel drone at the rear of the house.
Justin and Rich took control of the Bodyguard drones and flew them up the front steps and had them hover in front of the double wooden doors waiting on Reb and Jake to gain entry to the house.
Reb and Jake followed behind the two drones and ran over to the steps leading to the front entrance. They raced up the steps two at a time and stopped in front of the double doors where the drones were hovering.
Jake held his MP5 at the ready as Reb tried the right door handle. The door was unlocked and Reb swung the door open. Justin’s drone flew into the mansion first and Rich’s followed.
“The entranceway is clear,” Justin announced.
Reb and Jake followed the two drones inside the mansion leaving the front door behind them open just in case they needed to make a fast exit.
* * *
Carlos Vicario was seated in the middle of the conference table in his study. To his left, his Chief of Security was seated and, to his right, Raúl was seated. Seated across the table from them was the Jihad Brotherhood delegation—Hashim al-Harbi and the four mujahideen bodyguards. Casually standing vigil in the background behind Carlos were eight members of the hacienda’s security detail. The four duffel bags full of cash were sitting on top of the conference table at the far end to Carlos’ right.
Everyone in the room was armed to the teeth. The hacienda’s security forces were armed with a mixture of fully automatic AK-47s and AR-15s. Carlos, Raul, and the Chief of Security carried sidearms. The four mujahideen bodyguards were armed with Uzi submachineguns and Hashim al-Harbi had a Beretta M92 he had acquired as a war souvenir from his time in Iraq.
When Hashim al-Harbi and the four mujahideen had arrived outside the study, Carlos was already seated at the conference table and was reviewing reports of the cartel’s previous month’s heroin and meth production figures. He didn’t look up as the Jihad Brotherhood’s delegation filed into the room, placed the duffel bags on the conference table, and then took their seats at the table.
Carlos ignored that and continued going over the reports. Everyone waited for Carlos. Some less patiently than others.
When he thought everyone had waited long enough, Carlos put aside the report he had been reading. He got up from his seat, walked over to the end of the conference table where the duffel bags had been placed. He pulled one of the duffel bags over to him, unzipped it, reached inside, and pulled one of the bundles of cash out. Carlos held it up to his ear, and riffled the bills.
As he placed the bundle down on the table, Carlos turned toward where Raúl and his Chief of Security were sitting. He smiled and said, “I always enjoy doing that. I like the sound it makes.”
As Carlos was turning back toward the men from the Mideast, he said, “Yasser, thank you for the money, but I have some bad—”
Carlos stopped in mid-sentence and looked closely at all five of the Middle Eastern men sitting across the table from him. “Where is Yasser al-Ali? Why isn’t he here to conclude our arrangement?”
“Yasser stayed behind so he could sample the merchandise you sold him before he leaves later today,” Hashim al-Harbi replied. “As the field commander for this mission, I am authorized to conclude the arrangements with you. There is the money you required to smuggle the shipping crates and me and my men into the United States. We are here to work out the details with you so we may proceed as quickly as possible with our mission.”
Carlos leaned over, put his outstretched hands on the top of the conference table, and glared at Hashim al-Harbi for several long seconds. Then he stood up, closed his eyes, and pinched the bridge of his nose with his right hand.
It had been a hell of a lousy week Carlos thought to himself as he stood at the table. First, this god forsaken Islamic terrorist group had the nerve to try to get him to smuggle some kind of bio-weapon into the United States without telling him what it was he’d be smuggling. Then, to make matters worse, some small-town police chief and his friend hijacked one of his drug subs off the coast of Alabama with two hundred million dollars worth of illegal drugs on board and then turned the drug sub and the drugs over to the DEA. And now, when he wouldn’t have thought things could get any worse, here he was being disrespected by some fucking camel jockey who was more interested in satisfying his carnal cravings than he was in taking care of the business at hand.
Carlos lost it. He opened his eyes, looked at Hashim and screamed, “Are you fucking telling me that asshole, Yasser, isn’t here because he stayed back in his room so he could fuck the American woman?”
CHAPTER 35
Hacienda Vicario
Veracruz, Mexico
Thursday, May 6, 2010
2:35 p.m. CDT
Sophia ran all the way down the breezeway to the end of the West wing, turned right, and continued to run along the North wing’s breezeway. When she reached the end of the North wing, she made another right turn, and slowed to a fast walk for the remaining short distance down the East wing breezeway to the door of guest suite #5.
After looking around to make sure no one else was around, Sophia faced the door and knocked lightly so as not to draw attention.
Someone inside the suite came to the door and said, “Who’s there?”
“It’s Sophia. I need to speak with the two of you about something. Please open the door.”
Sophia could hear the lock turn and then the door opened slightly on Sophia’s left-hand side. Sophia turned left to face the person peering out the slightly opened door.
“What do you want, Sophia?”
“Are you, Honey or Sarah?”
“I’m Sarah.”
“Listen, I know you’re going to find this hard to believe, Sarah, but I’m a DEA agent working undercover and there’s a mission underway right now to rescue you and Honey and I’ve been tasked to protect you until the rescuers show up,” Sophia explained.
“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Sarah said.
“Goddammit, this is no joke, Sarah. Let me in, please, before someone comes along and sees me standing out here like this,” Sophia pleaded.
After a moment of hesitation, Sarah stepped back to let Sophia
in and said, “All right, come on in.”
* * *
After entering the foyer of the mansion and seeing no one around, Reb and Jake moved quickly and silently across the fifty feet of open floor of the foyer to the bottom of the staircase on the right that would take them up to the second floor.
When they arrived at the bottom of the stairs, Jake said, “Justin, where are our Bodyguards?”
“We’re in the hallway at the top of the stairs on your right, and right now it’s clear,” Justin replied. “We checked the library and it’s clear, but I can hear people talking coming from the study down at the other end of the hallway.”
“Okay, we’re coming up the stairs now,” Jake said.
Reb was on the left and Jake was on the right as they ran stealthily up the stairs. They stopped a couple of steps from the top of the stairs. Both of the Bodyguard drones were hovering in the hallway at the top of the stairs in front of them. One drone had its gun aimed in the direction of the study. The other drone had its gun aimed in the opposite direction toward the library.
Reb bent over low and stuck his head out in the hallway and looked left down the hall toward the study. He didn’t see anyone and noticed it had gotten awfully quiet down where the study was.
* * *
Yasser al-Ali stuck his head out the door of guest suite #3 to see where Carlos’ mistress had gone. From where he was standing, he’d lost view of her when she was halfway across the breezeway of the North wing.
Yasser spotted the woman knocking at the door to the suite of the American woman he was planning on visiting. Yasser ducked back inside the door so he wouldn’t be seen and listened as Carlos’s mistress started talking to someone inside the suite.
When the door to the other guest suite opened and Carlos’ mistress turned to face the person who answered the door, Yasser stepped out onto the breezeway and slowly and quietly made his way down the breezeway toward where Carlos’ mistress was standing. Yasser had never been stealthier as he made his way down the breezeway.
Yasser had excellent hearing and, as he made his way down the breezeway, he overheard and understood Carlos’ mistress tell the person she was speaking to inside guest suite #5 that she was an undercover DEA agent and that a mission to rescue the two American women was underway.