by Matt Lincoln
“You’re welcome to come to my place,” I offered. “I make a mean frozen pizza.”
Chris burst out into laughter. “I love a woman who knows her way around the freezer section!”
“Well, then look no further!” I giggled as I called for a ride.
When the cab pulled up, we were leaning against the building facade, making small talk about what we learned on our tour. Chris opened the passenger door to the cab and helped me in before going around to the other side. Once we were situated and the cab began to move, his hand found mine.
We never did end up heating up the frozen pizza, but we had a great night nonetheless.
30
Jake
Hawthorne and Angie met us on the pier where Xavier’s yacht was docked. They had taken their own yacht down here to meet us, which allowed them to bring the firearms and other tactical gear that we would need in order to complete this mission successfully. Considering the legality issues for owning some of this equipment, I appreciated the care they put into getting it all down here as safely as possible.
Hawthorne was a beast. He was at least six and a half feet tall, with arms the size of my waist and an impressive dedication to the gym. His short brown hair was buzzed close to the scalp, and his light brown eyes did little in the way of showing emotion.
Angie was about five and a half feet tall, with long, shapely legs and sun-kissed skin. I didn’t know what color her hair was naturally. Today, I thought it was black until she stepped into the sun, and I saw blue. Every time I saw her, her hair was a different color. Her hazel eyes had a similar but much more subtle, effect. I had taken to calling her our chameleon during our SEAL days, although she never did blend well into any background. Her sass and quick wit got her a lot of attention through the years, some good and some decidedly bad.
We all gathered on Xavier’s yacht to lay out a plan. I went down below to grab a handful of beers and handed them out while everyone got settled and took a seat. When I took my seat, I looked around at the crew. The addition of Hawthorne and Angie was a good one. The pair worked incredibly well together, and they often partied harder than they worked. Having them here with us made the team feel much more complete.
The positive vibes were shutdown quickly, however, once Xavier spoke up.
“Alright, guys, I hate to break up the party, but we have work to do.”
“Boo,” Angie called out. “We just got here, I can’t finish my beer first before talking shop?”
“No.” Xavier’s face showed no emotion as he sat before us. “We are already behind schedule. I know their plan.”
I quickly spun around to face him. “You know when the cartel is going to strike?”
“No,” Xavier said, glancing quickly at me before addressing the entire team. “But it is soon. Any moment now, they are planning to go after the Coast Guard cutter that’s been giving them trouble. It looks like they are putting a few people on two separate go fasts, all well-armed, of course, and then a third boat will send a few of them to dive underneath the cutter to attach a bomb underneath the hull.”
“A bomb?!” Angie stopped drinking mid-sip. “These guys don’t mess around!”
“Yes, a bomb.” Xavier continued in the same steady voice he’d been using. “It is imperative that we prevent them from planting the bomb, as I’ve yet to figure out enough details to be able to disable it once it is planted. All I know for certain right now is that they are going to attach it to the hull.”
“Jake, you alright?” I looked up to see Doc eyeing me carefully. Rosa also had a concerned look on her face, but Angie and Hawthorne just looked confused.
“You look a bit pale, bud,” Hawthorne gestured toward me with the mouth of his beer bottle. “You gonna get sick on us? Never known you to get seasick.”
He isn’t seasick, Rosa signed to Hawthorne. He knows someone on the boat.
“Oh, damn,” Hawthorne replied, his voice hushed. “I’m sorry, man. Well, we’re here, and the goal is to not let any of this happen, right?” He scanned the faces of the team for reassurance.
“Yeah, we’ve got this,” Angie chimed in. “Nothing is going to happen to your friend.”
“If you need to sit this out, you need to tell us,” Doc added. “I don’t want your personal feelings about Linda getting in the way of this mission.”
“Wait… Linda? As in Linda Reyes?” Hawthorne’s jaw hung open in shock.
I nodded briefly before swallowing the lump in my throat.
“Holy…” Hawthorne struggled for a moment to find words. “Well, now it’s personal for all of us. I remember Linda.”
“Yeah, me too,” Angie reflected. “You brought her along to more than a few pub crawls. I’ve missed her. She was tons of fun!”
I looked up at Hawthorne and Angie. After listening to Doc gripe about my personal feelings this entire time, it was nice to have two people who understood and appreciated how I was feeling. It didn’t change the fact that Doc was right, though. Personal feelings had no place during mission briefs.
I looked over at Doc, who looked defeated. His head hung down, and he was staring down at his hands in his lap, shaking his head slightly.
“I’m going to say this for Doc’s benefit,” I announced, and he looked up at me out of the corner of his eye. “We can’t let this impact the way we handle this. Yes, it’s Linda, and I am relieved to not be the only one who is taking this to heart, but we need to keep our wits about us and not let this distract us.” I purposely looking at Doc. “Or someone will get hurt.”
“Yeah, of course,” Hawthorne agreed, looking over at Angie and grabbing her hand. His hand squeezed hers, and she smiled warmly up at him. He turned his head back to us, his hand remaining over hers. “Angie and I always operate on that notion. When things get personal, people get hurt. We have each other’s backs, but the mission comes first.”
Angie nodded in agreement. “And the day we lose sight of that, we stop going out there.” They exchanged knowing looks before turning back to us.
“Good, I’m glad we are all on the same page here,” Doc concluded. “Xavier, do we have a plan?”
Xavier looked at each of us in turn. “Well, as previously discussed, we are going to split up. We need to hit the cartel at home when they are the weakest, and also step in to help the Coast Guard. Rosa, have you reached out to Hawk?”
Yes, she replied, Hawk will have his team here tonight.
“Good,” Xavier nodded. “Hawk and his team will surround the fortress and break through. I will stay behind and guide them through safely. Jake, you’re taking Rosa, Doc, Hawthorne, and Angie onto Wraith and taking off toward the Coast Guard cutter. Make sure you have dive equipment for everyone.”
“That’s not a problem,” I replied. “Consider it done.”
“We need to give the cutter a heads up,” Angie said as she rolled her beer bottle between her palms. “If they know, though, it would stand to reason that they would want to get some backup.”
“That would be concerning,” Hawthorne added, “especially considering the legality of this operation.”
“They can’t call for backup in advance if they don’t know when it is coming,” I mused, then took a deep, steady breath as I thought it all through out loud. “We can give Linda and her CO the heads up, but they can’t ask for backup in advance without ruining their careers and our livelihoods, and even then, the Coast Guard cannot make a pre-emptive strike based on unverified information. So, trying to get back up ready in advance will do far more harm than good.”
Rosa sat up straighter and turned to Xavier. Do we have any idea when this is happening?
“No idea,” Xavier responded. “Santiago is telling no one. It is a last-minute operation based on the fact that he believes he has a mole. He is only sending his most trusted men, but he still doesn’t trust them completely. We need to be ready at any given moment.”
I immediately jumped out of my seat. “I’m heading over to get Wraith
ready now. I am not risking any delay.”
I’ll come with you, Rosa added. The more hands, the better.
“Are you going to call Linda, too?” Hawthorne asked as I hopped off the yacht.
I glanced briefly back at him. “Yes, I’ll let her know to be as prepared as possible.”
Hawthorne and Angie nodded, and Rosa and I headed off the pier to get Wraith situated. When we got off the pier and onto the sidewalk, I pulled out my phone to call Linda and waved Rosa forward.
“I’ll meet you at the car.”
She shrugged and kept walking. I dialed Linda’s number, shoved my free hand in my pocket, and paced as I waited for her phone to ring.
“Hello?” Linda’s voice was groggy on the other end.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” I teased. “You home?”
“Yeah, I’m home,” she replied. I could hear in her voice that she was trying to snap out of it. “What’s going on?”
“I wanted to give you a heads up, but you can call me back when you’re fully awake.” This wasn’t news that I wanted to wake her up to.
“No, it’s okay, what’s up?” I heard her shuffling around in the background and assumed she was officially out of bed now.
“The cartel is planning an attack,” I said slowly and calmly. “I don’t know when.”
“Who are they attacking?” she asked.
I took a deep, steadying breath, and exhaled slowly. “You. Or, more specifically, your boat.”
“What?!” she shouted suddenly. “Why?”
“Well, they’ve figured out that your boat keeps intercepting them. They want to send a message.”
I heard running in the background, followed by a man’s voice.
“Hey, are you okay?” he asked, concern clear in his voice.
“Yeah, sorry,” she answered. “I’m fine. What are you doing?”
“Well, I figured I’d make breakfast before I left,” the man’s voice continued. “Felt weird just leaving, you know? I don’t know. There’s bacon.”
“Oh, wow, thank you! I’ll be right there.” Linda’s voice got clearer as she brought the phone closer to her mouth. “Sorry, Jake.” She sighed. “So, what should I do about this? You really don’t know when it will happen?”
I needed a moment to shift gears back to the task at hand. Knowing that Linda had a friend stay overnight had me feeling a bit uneasy. I didn’t know who this guy was, but I did not want her to get hurt. Maybe it was the protective nature I’d had our whole lives, but I did not like this insight into her personal life.
I sighed. “No, we have no idea when it is going to happen, so you can’t call for backup preemptively. Plus, doing so will expose all kinds of shady stuff… your unverified intel, our less-than-legal enterprises… So, I don’t know how much you can prep for this, but be ready for anything is all I can really tell you.”
“Damn,” she said. “Okay. Can you give me any other information?”
“Three go-fasts, machine guns, and…” I debated telling her about the bombs but decided that wouldn’t do anything to calm her down. Besides, we had that part handled. “And us. Wraith will be there. So keep your weapons loaded and your heads on swivels, do you hear me?”
“Yes, Jake.” Her voice suddenly sounded small and afraid. “I hear you.”
“You can do this,” I said as encouragingly as possible. “I’ll be there to have your back. Don’t worry. I’ll let you know if I have any other information.”
“Okay,” Linda replied with an exhale. “Thank you, Jake.”
“Stay safe. Love you,” I replied and hung up the phone. I pressed the edge of the phone into my forehead as I clutched it tightly in my hand. I did not want it to go down this way, but now the only way out was through, and I had never been more nervous in my life.
I barely noticed when Rosa pulled the car up for me, and I absentmindedly hopped in, deep in thought for the entire ride to where Wraith was docked and waiting.
31
Linda
I had woken up that morning with a headache from drinking way too much rum, but that didn’t stop me from following the scent of bacon into the kitchen. Chris was still here, wearing boxer shorts and my apron, and as I walked up to the counter, he slid a plate in front of me. On the plate was a burger with cheese and bacon. I lifted up the top bun to find a fried egg on there, too.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Chris shrugged as he prepped his own plate. “I know a greasy breakfast does wonders for me after a full night of drinking, so I wanted to do something nice for you before you left. Luke’s been telling me you guys have had your hands full. Breakfast burgers are a life-changer for hangovers, by the way.” He grinned as he placed his plate down in front of him and took his first bite.
“I’ve never made a breakfast burger at home.” I grinned. “Thank you!”
“No problem!” His smile spread wide across his face as he took another bite. He chewed thoughtfully for a minute before swallowing. “When are you leaving?”
“Tonight,” I replied as I picked up my burger. “Boat’s leaving at six.” I took my first bite of burger, and the combination of the bacon and egg with the burger meat was phenomenal. I looked down at it. “Damn, you should cook breakfast more often!”
I looked up to see him smiling back at me. “Was that an invitation?” he asked playfully.
“Yeah, I guess it was.” I smirked before taking another bite.
We ate mostly in silence, appreciating the food, and then he started cleaning up.
“You don’t have to do all that, I will clean it.” I got up to bring my dish over and take over the cleanup effort.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” Chris snatched my plate from me and proceeded to load up the dishwasher. “It’s the least I can do.”
“Alright,” I threw my palms up and conceded as I stepped back. “At least let me drive you to your car.”
“Done,” he agreed with an appreciative smile.
Once the dishwasher was loaded and running, I led him down to the garage, and we hopped in my Jeep and headed back to the Bacardí factory to pick up the Challenger. The wind in our hair didn’t leave a lot of room for conversation, which was fine by me. I did thoroughly enjoy Chris’ company, but after Jake’s phone call this morning, I had to admit my mind was completely elsewhere.
When we pulled into the parking lot, the shiny black Challenger was the only car in the lot. Chris hopped out and said a quick goodbye before sliding into the driver’s seat. I waved casually as I left to head back home, glad to have some time to myself to work through this news and figure out how I was going to break it to my CO.
The rest of the day went by too quickly, and I ended up scrambling at the last minute to pack my bag and head to the boat. With what I had to share, I wanted to get there early so that I could talk to Watson without a crowd around us. I had sent Slade a text earlier as well, asking her to arrive a bit early as well. Hopefully, she would.
I was glad I left when I did because when I crossed the bow and headed up to the bridge, Watson was alone. He was standing between the two chairs with his hands on his hips and staring out the window.
“Sir?” I announced as I stepped completely out of the ladderwell.
Watson turned around to greet me with a smile, but the smile faltered almost immediately as he took in my facial expression.
“What’s going on?” he asked, a serious tone in his voice and concern plain on his face.
I glanced down the ladderwell and outside the bridge to ensure we were, in fact, alone. “The cartel is planning to attack us,” I began. “We don’t know when, but it will involve several go-fasts and machine guns.”
Watson’s eyes grew wide as he took in this information. “ We need to contact Sector,” he said suddenly, and he spun around and reached for the phone.
“Sir, wait!” I called out in a panic, and he froze before slowly turning to face me.
“Wait for what?” he asked slowly, his head cocked to one side and
one eyebrow raised.
“Think about it,” I said, recalling everything Jake had pointed out to me. “You are utilizing intel that I am providing. Unverified intel. This has put us in this situation, and you allowed it to happen. Both you and I will probably lose our careers over this.”
“Yes, probably!” Watson’s jaw clenched, and his eyes lit up in anger. “But what am I supposed to do, put lives at risk? We need to do something!”
I held my palms up in protest. “Hear me out, though. If we call Sector, they will be on high alert, but they can’t do anything with unverified information, and they can’t make a preemptive strike against Colombia. So, they will basically have their hands tied until the attack happens. Telling Sector or not telling Sector, the result is the same. They will send out backup once the attack begins. If we don’t tell them, though, we stand a chance at saving our careers and also protecting my, uhh, source.”
“Your source,” he muttered. I saw the tension drain from his face as he accepted that I was correct in my thinking. “I don’t like this at all, Reyes. I’m kind of regretting taking this on with you.”
“I’m sorry, sir,” I replied softly. “I didn’t anticipate this happening.”
“No one ever does.” He sighed as he collapsed in his chair. “So, what do we do?”
“Well, I’ve been thinking…” I began to pace back and forth as I spoke. “We mostly need to ensure that we have the .50 cals loaded and ready to go. We need to get Slade involved. I know that she had everyone qualified on the range recently, so there shouldn’t be any issues. We just need to ensure that we are prepped in advance.”
“I agree,” Watson said as he looked up at me. His eyes then darted over my shoulder, and I saw Slade’s dark hair as she came up the ladderwell.
“Hey, XO,” she said as she walked over to us. “What’s going on?”
I quickly gave Slade the same information I had just given Watson. I was expecting anger, but instead, I got excitement.