Nancy came over and put her arms around Peace. “Don’t give it another thought. I’ll be packing from now on. Ed just checked me out with my new Ruger 9mm.”
“Yea, quit whinin’, boy,” Polasky added, jokingly. “Nancy’s probably pissed she didn’t get to blow some bad guys away with her new piece. You can’t leave now. Things are just getting exciting. And to think you were just this little boring Seal sniper before.”
“It looks like you guys will have to get moving on Daddy Batiste,” Nancy added. “We don’t want the damn restaurant shot up more than once. Publicity is one thing, but notoriety is another.”
Peace stared at first Nancy, and then Ed, who laughed at the stunned look on his face.
“What, you think I’d take off to help you boys with Batiste, and not tell Nancy where the hell I was going? She and I have been through too much over the years to pull something like that.”
“I won’t compromise the mission, Peace,” Nancy assured him. “Do you think Ed and I haven’t handled a few things before you came along? I’d hate like hell to lose either one of you, but I’ve been a Seal’s wife for a long time. I’m no helpless little ditz, who curls up in a coma at the thought of bad things happening. Ed’s told you before, Peace: shit happens.”
“Ed’s a lucky guy,” Peace replied, hugging her.
“I think Jill’s cut from the same cloth. You were blessed when she showed up in your life.”
“I’m just glad you didn’t take ten years to ask her to marry you,” Polasky added. “I ain’t getting any younger, so get busy and whip up some grandkids.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace snapped, saluting smartly to the amusement of Ed and Nancy.
“You better get some sleep, Peace. You’ll be in the water tomorrow morning, won’t you?” Nancy asked.
“Shit,” Peace muttered. “You’re right. My cup runneth over.”
“Go to bed, you big baby,” Ed retorted. “Hell, you ought to jog to the base tomorrow morning on general principals.”
“Hoo-ya,” Peace replied dejectedly, as he turned slump shouldered, and shuffled comically towards his room with Polasky and his wife laughing at his antics.
__
“Phone call for you, Peace,” Dan called out as the team stowed their gear away. He shrugged, as Peace walked up to take the portable from him with a questioning look.
“Hello?”
“Hey buddy, I heard you had some trouble last night,” Chuck’s voice startled Peace at first. “I guess we didn’t cover all the bases we thought we did.”
“Yea, but we’ll make it right, won’t we?” Peace said, laughing to cover the seriousness of the call for the benefit of his teammates. “Still stationed down South?”
“Yep, he ain’t moved, and we connected the dots on your visitors. Any changes?”
“A nuke from orbit would be out of the question?”
“I’m afraid so,” Chuck laughed. “We already have some toys for you to play with down there, so just bring a change of underwear.”
“Will do. Thanks for calling. I didn’t know you cared.”
“Sure you did,” Chuck replied. “I just wish we’d have been a bit quicker, or him slower. We have some real people looking after all the loved ones until next week.”
“Thanks again.”
“No importa, amigo.”
Peace heard the line go dead, and he walked over to Dan’s office. He returned the phone to Dan, who had begun sifting through a stack of papers on his desk.
“Anything bad?” Dan asked, taking and hanging up the phone.
“No, just a question I had about some classes I’d like to take this fall. I should have mentioned giving them your number.”
“What classes?”
“I’m not sure yet. I asked for some information on what the requirements would be for a Doctorate in education with what I have so far,” Peace answered with a half truth. He had inquired about continuing his postgraduate work.
“Wow,” Dan said, genuinely interested. “I only have a couple of more classes for my Master’s in history. I never even gave anything more a thought.”
“You should, Dan,” Peace urged his friend. “We can’t be Seals forever. Maybe we could even teach at a college together.”
“We could get on at a high school now. It would be just like old times.”
“Ugh.”
Dan grinned. “The curse of total recall.”
“You can only imagine,” Peace sighed. “If I had your background, I’d daydream all day long, lost in my past successes.”
“Yea, right,” Dan laughed. “We found a baby sitter, so Becky and I will be over to see you tonight.”
“House of the Rising Sun.”
“That’s her favorite,” Dan nodded.
“You two come early and get dinner. Then I’ll play some warm up stuff for you all before the band gets there.”
“Will do. Quite a change after last night, huh?”
“Yea, I bet Becky was thrilled with our glorious night last night,” Peace covered his face with his hands. “She probably wants to kill me herself.”
“She can take it, and no, she doesn’t want anything to happen to you. She really likes Jill, and I think she’s already planning joint wifely exercises with her.”
“God, normal life, ain’t it grand,” Peace commented with a wave of his hand.
“Most of the time, but we need the in betweens too.”
“Hard Times,” Peace said immediately. “Charles Bronson’s line to James Coburn.”
“We have to watch that one again together when the wife and kids are in bed,” Dan nodded.
“We’ll have a double feature with The Thirteenth Warrior,” Peace laughed.
“I think Becky burned my tape of that one. I pulled it out one too many times,” Dan joked.
“I’ll bring mine.”
“If she hears any lines from that movie, she may kill you.”
“Why do women hate the Thirteenth Warrior so much? Hell, in the final battles, women and kids have to fight too.”
“I think you’ve already answered your own question, buddy. They don’t like the battles, or anything else having to do with Machismo,” Dan explained.
“All women can’t be like that. I bet Jill loves the Thirteenth Warrior. She’s a Trekkie.”
“No shit?” Dan asked in uncharacteristic fashion. “You lucky devil.”
“Becky watched all the movies with us the first time. She just can’t stand our fixation on watching the real good ones over and over.”
“Yea, well explain why I’ve had to watch The Ya Ya Sisterhood and An American Quilt four times each.”
“I guess because you’re whipped, you poor bastard,” Peace laughed in delight. “God, I’d slash my wrists if I had to watch more than five minutes of either one of those.”
“Hence the return hatred for our type movies, and don’t think I’ll forget the whipped comment. Your time’s coming.”
“Is it really true, after you say I do, your balls shrink up and turn baby blue?” Peace asked, chanting the rhyme.
“You’ll see, Toad, you’ll see,” Dan stated confidently. “The wave washes over you so slowly, you hardly know you’re getting wet, until it’s too late. One day you wake up, and you’re putting the toilet seat down, capping the toothpaste, picking up your clothes, and watching re-runs of Oprah.”
“You poor, neutered puppy dog,” Peace laughed, shaking his head. “So how does it feel?”
“Like all is well with the world,” Dan admitted. “I’ll take even the ball busting after six months in the desert. Those times will wear a woman out with being a Seal wife.”
“That’s why we have the highest divorce rate in the country. It should make you proud you ain’t one of them,” Peace said seriously. “I bet the hellos are sure sweet, and it’s a heck of a lot better than coming home without someone there.”
“If you can latch on to a woman who’ll stay around for the hellos, you’ll be okay.”
“Jill will be one.”
“That’s the spirit,” Dan said, getting up from his chair. “Well, let’s go see what Bull has cooked up for the rest of the day.”
“I have an idea, Dan, why don’t you pretend you’re a Lieutenant, and tell Bull we’ll be catching rays on the beach for the rest of the day.”
“Are you implying I have no control over my Seal Team, Petty Officer Peacenik?”
“Then we are going to catch rays for the rest of the day?”
“Don’t pull that psych stuff on me, I get enough of that at home from my wife.”
“Maybe you could call her, and see if she’ll talk to Bull.”
“I think I might reassert control by demanding whatever Bull has planned, you’ll get a second helping, bright boy.”
“Would it be too late to begin groveling?”
“It was too late after your little rhyme,” Dan laughed, clapping an arm around Peace’s shoulders and guiding him out of the office. “Oh Chief, Petty Officer Peacenik here has decided he should have extra training today after we all get done.”
Bull’s eyes lit up as he looked at Peace, and the rest of the team laughed. “You know, I haven’t had a ride up our little hill in a while. I’m sure Peacenik here would find such an exercise just what the doctor ordered.”
“I’ll need a doctor if I have to lug your fat…”
“Perhaps two rides would be better,” Bull broke in.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Ensenada Weekend
Peace sat in the lobby of the Hotel Santo Tomas, dressed in the same manner as he had been for his passport photo. He shuffled through a sheaf of papers as he seemingly compared notes on a laptop computer. Before leaving San Diego, Peace had programmed a blank hard drive for his laptop, with fictitious business contacts and accounting records to go along with his passport identity. Crossing the border, even in his soon to be junked Ford with Arizona license plates, had been uneventful. Well after sunset on Friday night, Peace could see the fading light would be gone completely soon.
Watching the entrance with periodic glances from his fictional work, Peace spotted his contact, Julio, in spite of the marked difference in appearance from their last joint venture. A very dark complexioned man in his late thirties, with well-groomed, jet black hair, lean of stature, and just under six feet tall, Julio walked over to the hotel information desk. Dressed in a light gray suit, despite the heat, Julio’s clean-shaven, smiling demeanor immediately captivated the young woman at the desk. After nearly five minutes of friendly conversation, Julio walked purposely over to where Peace sat, greeting him in Spanish, by his assumed name.
“Mr. Constantine? I am Enrico Espinoza. I recognized you from your business portfolio, we received, concerning interest in our port facilities here in Ensenada. Please call me Enrico, Sir.”
Smiling, Peace put aside his work, and stood up from the lobby couch, taking Julio’s proffered hand. He gestured for Julio to have a seat next to him.
“I am very happy to meet you, Enrico,” Peace replied in fluent Spanish. “Please call me Pete. Have you had an opportunity to go over my company’s wish list?”
Enrico nodded, as he leaned back comfortably. “Yes, I have a number of options for you to consider. Let me escort you around our city, and show you some of them. I have a car outside. It will be dark soon, but I can give you a general idea. Tomorrow, we can take a more detailed look.”
“That would be most appreciated,” Peace agreed. He quickly returned his laptop and papers to their respective places in his briefcase.
Julio stood up, and Peace followed him towards the hotel entrance, with Julio pausing to wave at the young woman behind the greeting counter. He led Peace to a late model Mercedes, and after storing Peace’s briefcase in the trunk, Julio unlocked and opened the passenger side door. Peace slid onto the passenger seat, and buckled in while Julio closed the door. A moment later, Julio drove into the interior of the city of Ensenada, staying on a parallel course with the oceanfront.
“It is good to see you again, my friend,” Julio remarked with a smile. “You look very dapper in your new clothes. The beard hides that ugly face of yours pretty well.”
Peace laughed appreciatively. “Thanks partner. Nice car.”
“I hear you have one to trade me.”
Peace nodded, handing over the keys to his Ford. He described it, and the car’s location in detail.
“I want my ride back without a scratch,” Julio lectured Peace sternly, taking the Ford keys from him, and giving him a key to the Mercedes. “It will have California license plates on it when you leave. Drive it up to where you met Chuck, and leave it in the motel parking lot.”
“I will guard it with my life,” Peace replied resolutely, with a grin.
“Just make sure you never leave it unattended until you get where you are going,” Julio laughed. “With your luck, it will grow a couple blocks of C4 if you lose sight of it.”
“I take it you heard about Batiste’s men trying to throw me a departure party.”
“Yes, it is good to have so many able friends to watch your back,”
Julio replied seriously. “I could use a couple of those down here.”
“Any time you need a backup, partner,” Peace stated, “Chuck or no Chuck, you call me. If you need someone from the outside you can trust, don’t hesitate to contact me. I will leave a number for the base, where you will be able to reach me. Just tell them you are calling in regard to some classes at San Diego State I am interested in.”
“That is very generous, and very dangerous,” Julio commented, a little surprised at Peace’s offer. “Do you know me so well, you would take such a risk?”
“My instincts are very reliable,” Peace shrugged.
“There have been times when a man of your talents could have been very useful,” Julio acknowledged. “Sometimes our superiors think too much about the big picture, and lose sight of the smaller pictures. Mexico is very corrupt, and often such corruption filters down, with the result we have a politico in power who makes life miserable for many under his authority.”
“My patience is also not as it once was,” Peace conceded, looking out the window as Julio drove slowly whenever possible.
“Yes, I have heard of your adventures in the North,” Julio remarked, with an understanding nod of his head. The police down here meet with accidents also; but unlike in your area, they are often the good ones. I will consider your most kind offer. Although you probably have very good instincts, vast fortunes can be had by agents who do little favors for the drug lords. How is it you believe me to be above such deals?”
“I know about your two brothers, Julio,” Peace admitted quietly.
Julio’s face darkened for a moment, but he then nodded. “You are very good, Seńor. I know you did not find out about them from the agency.”
“I know it is highly unlikely you can be bought.”
“So, how about you, my friend? What keeps you from temptation?”
“Only the face looking back at me in the mirror,” Peace replied.
Julio glanced over at Peace, to see if he were joking. Peace met his gaze unblinkingly. “Perhaps someday soon, you and I can meet for a couple of beers. We can watch the sunset, and you can tell me about this man in the mirror.”
“Sooner than later, I hope,” Peace replied. “How does business look for the Batiste funeral?”
“Very dangerous,” Julio admitted. “I think perhaps you have, how do you say, bitten off more than you can chew. There will be four armed guards there while Batiste attends the funeral. He will have at least four bodyguards who accompany him to the funeral. When Batiste returns, he will expect to be greeted by his men.”
“How will they be armed at his port facility?”
“Handguns,” Julio answered. “Even in Mexico, the authorities frown on small armies with Uzi’s and AK47’s in a tourist city like Ensenada. They will not all be in one spot, waiting to be killed either.”
“
I have a plan I wish to run by you,” Peace commented. “What do you think about an approach from the water?”
“Still very risky, and a long swim to approach in daylight without being spotted. It would have to be very deliberate, but it might work. What about once you get into position? You will still be a sitting duck.”
“Do they have motion detectors, and do you think their alarm systems will be operational while Batiste is gone?”
Julio smiled. “Do not worry about the alarm system. I know the man who installed it, but it would be difficult to bypass it under the noses of four guards.”
“I have studied the plans you sent. If I approach by water, I believe I can go up the side of the building to the roof. From there, I can get in through their roof access. It would mean only getting by the one entrance alarm. Do you think we could come up with something to distract them out front?”
“Something simple?”
“Well, I wouldn’t want to blow up a car or anything,” Peace replied with a grin, “Attracting your police and firefighters would complicate the plan. I was thinking more in the way of a very loud car alarm.”
“That would probably get their attention for a time, and I know a spot from which I can relay their positions to you. Once inside though, it will be you against the four of them. When Batiste returns, what will you do to fill in for the greeting party he expects? I understood you were going to take him alive.”
“I will, if possible; but the more I find inside his offices, the less I will need him,” Peace answered. “If and when it comes to greeting Seńor Batiste, would you like to give me a hand?”
“Of course,” Julio smiled over at Peace. “It will be important for you to be in position the moment Batiste leaves for the funeral. It would also be helpful to know if his guards are to check in with him at timed intervals.”
“That will depend on if I can catch one alone before the fun starts.
I’ll take along some plastic ties in case I get lucky.”
“If not for the daily traffic around their building, we could entice them to come out, and then deal with them. As it is, you will have to hope they do not get off a barrage of gunfire. A few shots will not attract much attention if inside the building, but…”
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