Peace - A Navy SEALS Novel (DeLeo's Action Thriller Singles Book 3)

by Bernard Lee DeLeo

  “Drive away now, baby, before I forget I’m a secret agent.”

  “I love you,” Jill whispered, starting the Buick, and backing away from the Rover.

  “I carry you with me always,” Peace replied softly, backing away as Jill turned on her lights, and u-turned back down the street.

  Peace watched the Buick disappear around the corner, and then he jogged quickly to the Rover. Once he was seated, Julio started up the engine, and drove in the opposite direction Jill had headed.

  “You haven’t told me what you plan to do to get the Colonel on board with us after I give Cortez a third eye,” Peace said, turning to look at Julio.

  “It would be better if we did not discus that part of my plan, Poncho,” Julio replied tightly. “It may involve a conference call, but Senorita Matuse will not be exchanging loving phrases with her Father.” “We always hurt the ones we love, hey Cisco?”

  Julio glanced sharply over at Peace, and then shook his head as if it were a heavy weight on his neck. “You are much too perceptive, my friend. How did you know?”

  “The moment you told me you knew where she was, and yet she still breathed,” Peace answered. “Just that fact, and the long odds on us ever pulling this off, told me there was a lot more to your relationship with Senorita Matuse than I had envisioned. Seriously, what do you plan if all goes well, a small hacienda in the country?”

  Julio laughed appreciatively. “She knows what I am, and I know what she is. Can there be any better basis for a relationship?”

  “You ever plan on sleeping next to her, my good friend?”

  “All in good time, Poncho,” Julio assured him, “all in good time.”

  “And to think my Seal Team commander thinks I have long term goals,” Peace replied, leaning back with his hands behind his head. “I wish you well, amigo. I think I will just do as you command until all this ends one way or another. I could not hope to anticipate what the heck you have planned in the long run.”

  “A wise decision, compadre,” Julio chuckled. “It would not help to know it all anyway.”

  “That’s what I’m afraid of. Do you have our border crossing planned out, so we don’t have to get into a gun battle before we even get started on your grand scheme?”

  “Si, I have some very dedicated men at our favorite San Diego entry. Besides, look in the attaché case under your seat. I brought all the fixings for us.”

  Peace took out the attaché case, and opened it. He looked over at Julio after fingering through the professional makeup kit. “You want to cross the border disguised as the Frito Bandido?”

  “Racist!” Julio exclaimed in mock anger. “We can’t cross over in this chariot, looking like a couple of bank presidents.”

  “Well, why didn’t you drive up in the Porsche?” Peace glanced over accusingly at the now silent Julio. “Oh no, Cisco, tell me you did not give the Porsche to Senorita Matuse. You told me you didn’t give up the Porsche.”

  “Love, my friend,” Julio sighed deeply, “is a many splendored thing.”

  Peace laughed, and after a moment, he began singing When A Man Loves A Woman, as Julio laughed.

  “You are very talented, Poncho,” Julio remarked after Peace finished. “Perhaps I could get you to sing at my wedding.”

  “Gee, Cisco, love in bloom, a betrayal, a torture session, another betrayal, an assassination, a world saving, and then last but not least, a wedding. You are the man, Cisco.”

  “Perhaps I can get the Porsche back,” Julio shrugged.

  “I still don’t know how you managed to recruit a CIA special ops team, even if they are your friends. We have a very good chance of ending up dead, or in a Mexican torture chamber, and brother, there won’t be a rescue party this time. Your charisma will soon reach legendary status.”

  “I cannot be President of Mexico without some risks,” Julio grinned over at Peace.

  “El Presidente, huh?” Peace laughed. “Man, I am out of my league talking to you about aspirations. You aren’t planning on assassinating everyone between you and the office, are you, Cisco?”

  “No, I plan to rely totally on my charisma.”

  “I hope you have a way I can stay out of prison in the US if we pull this off. They frown on political assassinations here. Even with the new directions about targets of opportunity, I’ll still have a problem explaining my popping the leader of the armed forces of Mexico.”

  “I have already placed all the information about Cortez with a few of my reporter contacts in Mexico. When he is dead, they will report on his terrorist connections, and drug dealings. We will allow everyone to think the Mexican government was responsible. You, of course, will not disagree with that assessment.”

  “Of course,” Peace replied, his mind racing to fit the pieces of this very complicated puzzle together. “I thought I knew you; but I see I am but a child in this game in comparison to you.”

  “As you say, charisma is the key. I will need a very special woman by my side if I am to be El Presidente.”

  “Your reporter friends will write this incredible escapade up with you in the starring role of the people’s savior, right?”

  “You are very good at this, Poncho.”

  “I am but a shadow next to your luminescence, El Presidente.”

  Julio laughed in appreciation, nodding his head. “Yes, but like light and shadow on a great painting, we make an excellent combination.

  How are your wounds, by the way?”

  “Much improved,” Peace answered. “My limp is much less noticeable than yours, and only when it rains. How has your recovery been?”

  “Painful,” Julio admitted. “I will have to demand extra care from my new love.”

  “Make sure you install a metal detector at your house, and keep the knife drawer locked at all time.”

  “Trust must be nurtured in a relationship. I cannot be seen as one who would distrust his life partner, amigo,” Julio said, gesturing grandly.

  “Very well, it’s your funeral. You said you know where your love is holding up. Are we going there first?”

  “No, we will meet up with Dave and the boys outside of Ensenada, and switch over to their vehicle. We will all go together to Mexico City.

  That is where we will split up, just as soon as I get word on Cortez.”

  “What kind of a shot are you figuring on, that is, if you have a place in mind?” Peace asked.

  “Cortez has a mistress in a little place outside of Mexico City. It’s near the town of Puebla.”

  “I’ve been to Puebla,” Piece remarked. “That is not so small of a town, compadre. Edwardo and I could go there first and await your final information if you’d like. It would give me a chance to plan my shot.”

  Julio nodded in agreement. “Very good, Poncho. There is little cover around the Hacienda, Cortez keeps her in, and the shot must be made while he walks from his vehicle to the house. If he gets inside, it would take a bomb to reach him.”

  “How picky are you about collateral damage?”

  “The mistress is my informant’s sister.”

  “Your informant does have a little extra incentive,” Peace replied. “If I don’t get Cortez going in, how long does he usually stay?”

  “Sometimes overnight, if he does not get interrupted,” Julio answered. “I can arrange to have him called, but it would be risky.”

  “How many men does he usually take with him?”

  “At least half a dozen soldiers. They are his personal bodyguards. They are trained special-forces men. Some are mercenaries, who specialize in other areas of endeavor, such as interrogation. He has about five servants at the Hacienda, but I don’t know if any of them are military.”

  “You don’t have anyone in the Hacienda then?”

  “Unfortunately no,” Julio replied. “There is only one approach to the Hacienda by road; but I know of a dirt road you can pick up just outside of Puebla. It leads to a draw on the East side of Cortez’ Hacienda. From there, you would have a
clear line of sight to where he parks his vehicle.”

  “Does he come in a limo?”

  “No,” Julio answered. “He rides in a specially constructed SUV, and his bodyguards lead and trail him in plainer models. From the outside they look like a couple of recreational vehicles, but they are heavily armored. From the draw, it will be a little tougher shot than the last time you and I worked together.”

  “Oh, that was sweet,” Peace sighed, leaning back again in his seat. “You and I spent a lovely week in Veracruz, and popped the target while he dined on the waterfront from about half a mile. We ate dinner, had a couple of Margaritas, and then went on our happy little ways with no one the wiser.”

  “As I said, this will be a bit more difficult,” Julio laughed.

  “Did you ever find out who that guy was?”

  “Si, he had three judges assassinated for the Columbians. Your double tap, as you call it, caused a very nasty vacuum at the top. They killed each other for months afterwards.”

  “What was our interest in him?”

  “He had two border patrol officers killed near El Paso, because they intercepted a large shipment one of his coyotes was trying to bring across. He made the mistake of bragging about it in front of one of my informants.”

  “Too bad we still have to get justice outside the law,” Peace commented.

  “Perhaps one day it will not be so difficult. If I ever get to be El Presidente, I will know where all the bodies are buried. I believe I will be able to change many things in my country.”

  “It would be nice if you made your country so alluring, you could draw many of the Mexican Nationals back over the border. We’d be a lot better at detecting the real bad guys, and some of the ranchers on the border would get a break from the constant caravans flowing over their land.”

  “With the incompetent way you Norte Americanos handle your borders, it is a wonder you have a country of your own at all,” Julio needled him. “Your border patrol should take a few pointers from the way us backward Mexicans handle our border with Guatemala.”

  Peace waved off the suggestion with his hand. “Forget it. We don’t have the stomach for it. We’d rather endure the incessant drug running, terrorist infiltration, and illegal alien invasion. It gives us something to whine about. The more we talk about it, the more ready I am to wet work all your human obstacles on the way to the Presidency.”

  Julio laughed in appreciation, reaching over to pat Peace on the shoulder in sympathy. “It is troubling for us peons to know all the right ways to fix our countries; but be so helpless, in having our brilliant ideas put into motion, right compadre?”

  “Well, I’m at your service for this little piece of the action. If it works out, maybe we can get together on a couple more little slices of extracurricular nation building. You certainly have the organization down here, my friend. As I said before, I am very impressed. Our bosses at the CIA don’t know how well their money worked, flowing through your hands, do they?”

  Peace could see Julio’s teeth flash in a wide grin, even in the interior darkness.

  “Ah, amigo, you would be very proud of my adlibbing in the service of your country. I am not as direct as you, but I do what I can,” Julio shrugged. “I am a Mexican National, who is getting tired of constantly biting the hand feeding us. We could have been a great nation, and Southern partner, with all the dollars we’ve extorted from the US over the years. Instead, our people are just as poor, and our leaders just as corrupt, as they were back in the days of Poncho Villa.”

  “You’ll invite Jill and I to the inauguration, right?”

  “You, and your lovely wife will be the first guests on the list,” Julio remarked. “You will, of course, have to come in disguise. I may need to borrow your talents once in a while. I do not wear the, how do you say, rose-colored glasses, in reference to my task of ending corruption. Our judicial system has been infiltrated to a staggering degree.”

  “At least you just have crooks. We have liberals.”

  “Yes, the people who wish to bring peace to the world from their knees,” Julio agreed. “I remember you telling me about being one for many years.”

  “Yep,” Peace nodded, “there is nothing like a good mugging to turn a liberal into a conservative. Those Iraqi guards gave me many lessons concerning the flaws in liberal thinking.”

  “I was always amazed, watching on the television, hundreds of people holding candles outside your prisons to protest an execution of a vicious murderer. Then, the same people might show up the next day, holding signs protesting the abolition of partial birth abortion.”

  “We are, without doubt,” Peace agreed with a sigh, “the goofiest, most contrary country on the planet.”

  “Yes, but when you Americans do right, I must say, you do it on a grand scale. I hope Mexico will do right on a grand scale one day too.”

  “I guess we better leave our nation building conference for a later date, Cisco. We better pull off and don our world saving costumes.”

  “Do you wish to be the Frito Bandito, or Juan Valdez?”

  “I’m more of a coffee drinker, and you have more bandito in you. I’ll be Juan.”

  “We make such a fine pair,” Julio said, gesturing with his hand as if he were getting ready to conduct an orchestra arrangement.

  “Just don’t get me shot at the border.”

  Chapter Forty-Six

  Cortez

  Peace spotted the black Lincoln Navigator, only moments before Julio began pulling up behind it in the pitch darkness. A hand waved out of the driver’s window, and Julio waited. He had taken Peace to a rundown apartment in Ensenada first. He and Peace now held MAC 10s tensely, as they watched the SUV intently. Dave stepped out of the Navigator driver’s side, and walked back to the Rover with his hands in plain sight. Dave opened the back of the Rover, and slid inside. He shook hands with both Peace and Julio, smiling partly in greeting, and partly in obvious relief.

  “Good to see you, Peace. I was getting worried Julio wouldn’t be able to enlist you into our little group.”

  “It took us longer than I had expected at the border. My men there had not come on duty,” Julio explained.

  “I’m glad to see you too, Dave,” Peace added truthfully. “I’m also a bit surprised. I hear you have the guys with you. Imagine my surprise when so many CIA special ops guys go rogue all at the same time.”

  “Julio’s intelligence gathering is impeccable,” Dave replied, leaning back on the torn up back seat, ignoring Peace’s innuendo. “Everything he’s said so far has checked out.”

  “So why the backdoor?” Peace persisted. “Why not just present this to Chuck, and let him run with it? I know you carry some weight with him.”

  “It wasn’t my call,” Dave replied. “I…”

  “It was my idea not to involve anyone else in my plan,” Julio interrupted. “I do not trust many with so great a risk. I told you I thought the General might learn of…”

  “I know why you did it this way,” Peace cut Julio off. “I’m more interested in why Dave would go along with it.”

  “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” Dave replied simply.

  “Besides, my troops were rebelling.”

  Peace silently looked at Dave for a long moment: a moment in which both Dave, and Julio, shifted in their seats uneasily.

  “I wanted us to all be on the same page,” Peace said quietly, “but I guess I’ll settle for footnote status.

  “You don’t trust me?” Dave asked, grinning.

  “I guess it doesn’t matter,” Peace answered carefully. “This deal is complicated enough without me having to wonder about guys I’ve shared combat time with. Did you bring me a nice tool for this improvisation?”

  Dave nodded. “We have it all, little buddy. You guys ready to ride in a decent vehicle?”

  “Not if it draws satellite attention, and then a hellfire missile,” Peace retorted. “We’d probably be less conspicuous in the Rover. What the heck ma
de you pick a Lincoln Navigator? You might as well have painted a sign on the side.”

  Dave laughed, nodding in agreement. “I know, and in most instances I’d agree with you. Where we’re going, we’ll be moving fast, and in the dark when we’re on the main roads. When we get to the spot where we split up, it won’t matter.”

  “Okay,” Peace replied, opening his door. “Shotgun!”

  “Mancuso would put a slug in your head before he gave up the front seat. You’ll have to ride in the back with the grunts.” “Story of my life,” Peace sighed.

  __

  “You’ve been pretty quiet, Peace,” Septien commented.

  The two men lay next to each other, peering at a large one level complex nearly three quarters of a mile in the distance. Having made the nearly five mile approach with full packs, to the butte overlooking General Cortez’ hacienda, neither man had made any extra conversation. Septien had made a few unrelated comments about the terrain, but had kept silent when Peace only nodded at his attempts at small talk.

  Taking distance and windage notes before the coming dusk, Septien had left Peace alone to ready his sniper rifle and mount. After picking his spot, Peace had carefully went over the rifle with practiced ease. Dave had given him the opportunity to test fire the rifle in an out of the way spot Julio had led them to before they split up. Now, having completed his task, Peace had joined Septien in his inspection of the hacienda. Peace looked over to see Septien watching him, and waiting for a comment.

  “Not much to say,” Peace replied finally.

  “You don’t like this much,” Septien observed. “What’s the problem?”

  “Nothing personal, Edwardo,” Peace answered with a grin. “I’ve been in too many spots over the last few months where I had too little info, and too much thinking to do. After dancing around with Dave back in the Rover, when you guys picked us up, I decided to just keep my mouth shut and concentrate on the job at hand.”