by Jack July
Elle looked at pictures of the dead, bloated and baked. They swelled so much that their bodies split open. Bloody finger marks where they clawed at the door trying to escape. It was the most cruel and disgusting thing Elle thought she had ever seen.
Ramos took the money and bought one kilo of cocaine, then hooked up with an old friend in Kansas City, MO. He worked his way into a local gang, fomented distrust between members, started a gang war, killed the former leader and took over. Not wanting to be a victim of the organization he created, he sought help and inclusion into the Rosas Cartel.
After carrying out numerous murders and other crimes to ingratiate him to his new bosses, he was invited to Cartel headquarters where he went through mentally and physically demanding, not to mention painful, initiations. Ramos achieved full cartel membership with all the perks and respect. That’s when he received the tattoo of the rose.
Elle’s eyes kept going back to the photos; numerous murders with unspeakable tortures, a big stack of them. She closed the file and looked up at the car ceiling and took a deep breath. Tatiana said, “So, what did you learn?”
“He’s a very evil man, beyond evil…just, um, I have no words.”
Tatiana let her think for a moment then said, “What is he afraid of?”
“He’s clearly a psychopath, I can’t imagine him fearing anything.”
Tatiana shook her head and said, “Oh no. We all fear something. You got five minutes to figure it out. You are doing the interrogation. Here’s what we need to know…”
They left the highway and drove another five miles down a state road, then another half mile down a dirt road to the single story well-kept farmhouse with a well-hidden secret residing within. As they pulled to the front, two men in coveralls left from the side door, got in a van and drove away. Tatiana gave Elle a dark and serious look then said, “Get your mind right. Time to see Mr. Ramos.”
Elle nodded, got out of the car and walked with Tatiana through the front door. The house was furnished like an old couple lived there. Elle and Tatiana walked through the kitchen and to a door that hid basement steps. At the bottom was a steel door that Tatiana opened. It looked like the break area of any major corporate office. To the left was a rectangular glass window. Looking through it, Elle could see a large, heavily tattooed man, stripped to his boxer shorts and strapped tightly to a large wooden chair.
“Can he see us?” asked Elle.
“No, one way mirror. Okay, you know what you need. Leave your weapons out here with me. I don’t think he can get loose but better safe…,” advised Tatiana.
Elle took her .44 caliber Desert Eagle, her .380 SIG, and her .25 Ruger and set them on the table. She looked at Tatiana who saw more than a little fear. Tatiana returned the look with an arched eyebrow and an anytime now expression. Elle opened the door and walked in. The room was sparsely decorated. A small table with towels sat in the corner; otherwise it was all smooth concrete with a large mirror.
Ramos looked at her and grinned a big gold tooth grin and said, “Hey, puta, what can I do for you?”
Elle walked in front of him and stood. She felt a little unnerved knowing what this man was capable of. She spoke slowly with a little tremble in her voice, “Mr. Ramos, I have some questions for you and, um, it would be wise for you to answer them.”
His mouth fell open a bit with surprise, then he said, “Oh, si, puta, I can’t wait to tell you everytheeng I know. First tell me something. When did the FBI start geeving cheerleaders badges?”
Elle couldn’t think, she really didn’t know what to do so she said, “Look Mr. Ramos, I’m not FBI. This day will end badly for you if you don’t tell me what I need to know, now, are you a member of the Rosas Cartel?”
“Puta, my nose eetches, scratch my nose, scratch it puta,” said Ramos with a little grin.
“You need to answer my question. Are you a member of the Rosas Cartel?”
Ramos shook his head and said, “I’ll tell you what puta, take off your clothes, I’ll sing a song, you do a little dance for me. If I like what I see, I’ll let you suck my deek.” Then his face changed and got dark and angry, “If not, I want my fuckeeng lawyer.”
Elle heard a little tapping on the window. She opened the door and walked out of the room. T stood holding the 8x10 of the dead women and children in the truck trailer. “Elle, he’s a piece of shit, now stick to what you know. You have two minutes then I’ll handle it.”
Elle reached out and took the picture then shuffled through the pile to find the picture of Kristy Wilson. She walked to the door and stopped then said, “What’s a puta?”
“A cunt,” Or something like that Tatiana thought to herself.”
Elle nodded and walked through the door. She held up the picture of the bodies in front of Ramos and said, “Is this you? Is it? Is this who you are?”
Ramos scowled and looked away. After a moment he looked back and said, “Hey, puta, my nose still eetches, scratch my nose.”
Elle smiled and said, “Okay,” She transferred the pictures to her left hand and generating power that started at the ball of her right foot, drove her palm into the tip of his nose. A clean cracking sound echoed in the room and a geyser of blood sprayed from his face. “How’s that? Still itch? Does it Ramos?” she growled.
He was a little dazed but smiled through the blood and said, “I own you puta, I want my lawyer, you beetch, I want him now.”
Elle shook her head and said, “I already told you, I’m not the FBI, the police or any other law enforcement agency. Get that through your greasy head. You are in a lot of trouble, you need to start answering questions.” Elle held up the picture of Kristy Wilson and said, “Your little gang kidnapped this girl; I want to know where she is.”
Ramos looked at Elle, grinned a little shit-eating grin and spit on Kristy’s picture; a glob of bloody snot ran down Kristy Wilson’s face. Elle looked at the picture then back at Ramos. He watched as she transformed into something that got his attention. The eyes, the subtle body language like a cobra rising and spreading its hood. He began to realize he may have just fucked up. Tatiana saw it from behind the glass. She smiled and couldn’t wait to see what was next.
Elle walked to the little table with the towels, wiped off the picture and said with a decidedly southern accent, “You know, when I was a little girl, I grew up on a farm, we raised hogs. We’d get a new hog and, well, he’d wanna fight and eat up all the food and just be a big pain in the butt. So my brother and I would corral him into a small pen, just small enough to hold him snug,” Elle walked back in front of Ramos and leaned about a foot from his face, “Then my brother, well, he would take a razor, and cut off his balls.” Elle reached down between his legs, ripped the button from the fly, grabbed under his penis and with her thumb and index finger squeezed the base of his scrotum and gave a powerful jerk. Ramos’ eyes really got big as she reached in the little pocket on the side of her skirt and pulled out her combat folding knife, flipped it open then said, “After that, he was jus’ the sweetest hog you’d ever meet, I could pet him like a dawg. You remind me of one of those hogs. So I’m gonna ask you five questions, I know the answer to two of them,” she said as she set the blade at the base of his scrotum, “and the first lie you tell me, I’m gonna cut off your balls.”
“You can’t do that, YOU CAN’T DO THAT!” he screamed.
Elle flashed a wicked grin and said, “I warned you, I am not the police. Now, are you a member of the Rosas cartel?”
He stared at her wide-eyed and she said, “I’ll give you to the count of three. One,” She pulled the blade across his scrotum like a violin bow cutting the first layer of skin causing him to flinch, “Two,” she pushed it back in the same way slicing two more layers of skin. Suddenly he screamed, “YES, YES, I AM A MEMBER OF THE CARTEL!”
“See, that wasn’t so hard. Now, did you give the order to kidnap the girl?”
<
br /> He paused and she jerked the hand with the knife in it, and he yelled, “YES, YES, OKAY? YES!”
“Did Rosa give you the order?” she asked.
“No,”
“Then who did,” snarled Elle.
“They will kill me.”
“So, is life without balls worth living?”
Ramos thought for a moment and said, “Reyes, Geraldo Reyes.”
“Last question, where did they take her?”
“I don’t know.”
Elle tensed every muscle in her body and screamed, “YOU’RE LYING!” and then feigned the final cut.
“NO, NO, NO,” he screamed, “I’M NOT. They took her to Mexico. They get their instructions by phone when they cross the border.”
Elle stood up straight, wiped her knife off on the towel and walked out the door. Tatiana was on the phone. She hung up and said, “Nice job, what he just said matches the phone call I just received. It was the Director. Those two that tried to snatch the girl in North Carolina are also Rosas Cartel members. We have a target. Now go back in there and shoot him in the head. Use the twenty-five. We like to be nice to the cleaning people,” T said, handing her the weapon.
Elle balked and said, “Well, he gave us the information, and um, how do we legally execute someone.”
Tatiana’s eyes got serious and she spoke forcefully, “We are the law, the President’s orders were clear: kill every damn one of them. Now get your ass in there and do your job.”
Elle walked into the room and stood by the little table staring down at the picture of Kristy and the dead in the trailer. Her adrenalin had already begun to ebb from the first round. Amy was in her head and they were arguing about killing a defenseless person. Amy had killed before, but it was always a fair fight. Elle believed the murderer of children had no rights and should get no mercy. After some internal back and forth, Amy finally agreed but before she left, she said, “I hope Jesus forgives you for this.” Elle picked up the picture and walked over to Ramos and said, “This is for them,” She raised the pistol two feet from his forehead and fired.
T watched through the window and said, “Oh Shit.” Ramos jerked at the last minute causing the bullet to slice open his scalp on the left side of his head. Blood flew everywhere as he screamed and begged for his life while the visage of snot, spittle and blood being slung around the room made Elle shake a little as she held the weapon. T rushed in the door and in a calm voice said, “I’m sorry, I forgot you are new. Let me show you how to do this.”
T reached over to the little table and opened a towel. She flipped it over the back of his head, twisted it in the front and with her left hand and body weight forced his chin to his chest. She took the pistol from Elle, held it for a second at an upward angle behind his ear while allowing her to see. Then she pulled the trigger. After a little “pop” Ramos went limp.
“See, it’s not so bad. Get your stuff together and let’s go,”
Elle couldn’t get out of there fast enough.
CHAPTER 27
November 21st 9:00 P.M.
President North sat at the Resolute desk, head down, concentrating on marking up a sheet with a highlighter. Secretary Engel and Director Dotson stood uncomfortably, waiting for her to speak. Finally the Secretary said, “Ma’am, have you given this much thought? This, well, what you are planning, it’s just…”
Without looking up President North said, “I’ll give you a moment to rephrase your statement.”
Dotson and Engel looked at each other with some discomfort. Finally, the secretary asked, “Ma’am, do you have any questions?”
She looked up and said, “Yes, civilian casualties estimate?”
“A couple dozen to a couple hundred,” said Engel.
“Casualties on our side?” she asked.
“Unless there is an unforeseen accident, none. The force will be so overwhelming, and they are the best in the world at what they do. I can’t imagine any problems.”
“Okay, Grant, what’s wrong?” asked the President with an audible sigh.
Engel thought for a moment and said, “The list of international laws you are breaking is without precedent. World leaders will want answers.”
“Yep, and I’ll give them one. Depending on how I feel, it could just be a middle finger. You wrote this up. You gave it to me as an option.” The President thought for a moment while continuing to highlight lines on the sheet. Then she looked up and said, “Grant, I held you over from the previous administration because I respect your opinion. So tell me, what would you do?”
Grant remained quiet. “Nothing?” said the President and after a few moments she continued. “I tried to secure the border, but, big Ag and big Business bought off Congress. How many billions in aid have we sent? How many of our agents have been murdered? How many of our citizens have been killed on both sides of the border? How much taxpayer money is swallowed up on social service programs for illegals? I can’t fix it all, but when it comes to the kidnapping and murder of our citizens, our children, I can make sure they give it a second thought before they do it again.”
“Yes, ma’am,” said Engel as he laid the execution order on the desk. The president took a pen out of the top drawer. It was the same pen she used every time she had to send Americans into harms way. It was big and blue with gold letters that read Jesus Saves. She signed the document, looked at Secretary Engel and said, “Commence Operation Genie.”
Elle took a big bite from a burger loaded down with everything and followed it up with a ketchup-soaked onion ring. Tatiana looked at her, shaking her head, “What?” said Elle after washing it down with a gulp of Dr. Pepper.
“How do you eat all of that junk and stay thin?” said Tatiana incredulously.
Elle smiled, gave a little shrug and said, “I work out like an animal and run like the devil is chasing me.”
Tatiana nodded and looked at her salad; suddenly it wasn’t as good as it was a minute ago. Then her phone rang. Tatiana hit the button and listened. Elle watched intently as she said nothing. A few moments later, “Thank you, sir,” and hung up. Tatiana looked at Elle and said, “When you answer the phone for business, never speak, let those who call you speak first. They can tell when you pick up. Oh, and finish up, we have to go. The President just turned us loose”
“What do you mean?” said Elle curiously.
T leaned across the table and said, “Now I get to do what I am trained for. Vengeance is mine sayeth the Lord. So he sends us.”
An hour later Elle and T were in the Citation headed to Corpus Christi Naval Air Station. The file was spread between them on a small table in the jet. “That’s a big compound,” said Elle looking at the satellite image. “How many guards?”
“A couple dozen at any given time. He has a small army and some heavy weapons. We’ll start from the perimeter and work our way in until we reach Rosa. Reyes also lives on the compound in this house over here,” said T pointing at the map. “It’s important to take them alive. We will interrogate them in the chopper. I’m thinking Reyes is the one who knows where Kristy is but we will interrogate them both. I want you to pay close attention to how this goes down; there is much to learn.”
Elle nodded. “It’s gonna take us awhile to work our way in. I’d like to have a couple of LAWS, a SAW, and a Kate,” she said, tossing out the jargon for a Light Anti-Tank Weapon, Squad Automatic Rifle, and a Bravo 51 sniper Rifle. “If we can take a few out from long distance that would soften up an ingress point. Then we could…” Elle saw Tatiana laughing, “Now what?”
“You think WE are going to do this, don’t you?” asked Tatiana with a little smile.
“Well, yes, that’s why we are talking about it, right?”
Tatiana thought this is the bravest woman I have ever met. “No, we are not doing this. A large contingent of Delta Force will be handling the assault and extr
action. We get to sit back and watch the fireworks. Oh, and you are not going to believe the grand finale--look at this…”
Thirty-five thousand feet above the Atlantic, Cody and Brandon sat quietly, until Cody finally broke the ice. “Between you, me and the gatepost, whoever hurt those babies is in more shit than a faggot’s finger.”
Brandon smiled and asked, “Where are you from?”
“Northern Territories, you?”
“Leavenworth.”
Cody nodded and asked, “Paroled?”
“No, just a temporary release to help Tatiana,” said Brandon.
“Tatiana? So that’s her name eh?”
“I probably shouldn’t’ve said that,” Brandon said under his breath.
“No Wucking Forries mate, I can keep a secret. How do you know her?
“We were supposed to get married and I ended up in jail.”
“Married!? Why you must be crazy as a shithouse rat,” said Cody with surprise.
“She’s not what people think she is,” replied Brandon.
“What’s that mate? One of the most vicious assassins ever to shit between two shoes?”
Brandon smiled and said, “You have a way with words don’t you?”
“Sorry mate, got to remember I’m back with the Yanks. So, Brandon, why were you in jail?”
“Murder.”
“Anyone special?”