by Chase Austin
“Sam Wick checking in. Over.”
“Stan checking in. Over.”
“Jessica checking in. Over.”
“Mac checking in. Over.”
Chapter 16
0905 HOURS, VENEZUELA CONSULATE, VIENNA
Stan proceeded to the third-floor bathroom. Memorizing the building plans helped him to create a mental layout of the floor. While taking the elevator, he saw Jessica manning the entry gate as part of the security.
Wick remained on the first floor, ambling towards the guest lounge. He identified a vantage point to keep an eye at the main entrance. The footfall in the lobby had begun to grow. People were beginning to trickle through the security gate on their way to work. Wick roughly counted the number of personnel on his floor.
The Ambassador was not in yet. The wooden door of his office was being guarded by two officers to prevent any unauthorized entry.
“Hi, I need an air freshener in my office.” It was a female voice behind him. He turned around and saw a tall brunette standing outside an office. She was looking straight at him. “Excuse me, can you bring an air freshener?” she repeated.
“Yes, ma’am.” Wick walked back towards the janitor room and found the air freshener bottle at the top of the second shelf from the door. Minutes later he was standing outside the woman’s office, checking the nameplate on the door: Ana Sofía, Minister-Counselor.
“Can you use it in there?” Ana indicated the space behind a large steel cupboard. Wick pressed the nozzle and sprayed it behind and around the cupboard.
Ana took a deep breath checking the odor. “Thank you, I think that will do,” she said.
Wick nodded politely and left the office, closing the door behind him.
He then heard Jessica’s voice in his earpiece, “He's here.”
He walked swiftly towards the pre-decided vantage point to see the reception area. The man with the scar and Felipe were walking towards the Ambassador’s office. There were two more men behind them. Wick recognized them from the photos. The door to the ambassador’s office opened, and all four disappeared inside.
Chapter 17
0945 Hours, Venezuela Consulate, Vienna
“Get ready.” Joaquin was in the CCTV control room along with Felipe and the Ambassador.
His men had already taken positions on the second, third and fourth floors. They all had their sat phones switched on, waiting for their orders from their boss, Joaquín.
Carpio wasn’t too happy with the way these men had taken over his turf, men who normally would have no standing in the embassy. These people were merely hitmen. He was a respected diplomat, tempted to assert his authority, but at the last moment, he bit his lower lip and stopped himself from saying anything he might regret later. He swallowed his pride and stood quietly at one side while Joaquin and Felipe studied the CCTV footage. Suddenly, there was some movement on one of the screens and the two men straightened their backs, their eyes shining with glee.
Carlos Cruz had just gotten out of a Fiat outside the building. Joaquin studied him with a smile, as Felipe alerted their men to get ready. Their prey had arrived.
The job was simple, yet the consequences would be unimaginable if anything went wrong. The diktat from Henrique was clear—bag and tag with minimum hassle.
In the CCTV control room, the three pairs of eyes were watching the live feed of the entry on the screens. Carpio’s throat felt parched. He had no idea what Joaquin and his men intended for Carlos, but he knew it wasn’t going to be a friendly chat.
Joaquin and Felipe exchanged confident looks. They expected things to go down smoothly from here. Their evening flight back to Venezuela was already booked. Joaquín’s last mission was going to be the shortest and the easiest.
At the checkpoint, Carlos was asked to remove his belt and shoes for the metal detector. He glanced up at the CCTV camera pointed at him. In the control room, Joaquin’s eyes met Carlos’s.
Chapter 18
Carpio’s forehead glistened with sweat. As soon as Carlos crossed the first threshold, Carpio realized that either way he was screwed. This was the end of his political career. Anything that happened to this man on his watch would effectively mean that this would be his last rodeo as a politician. Unofficially, it was like being asked to retire from active politics. He had played the scenarios numerous times in his head. And in none of the outcomes did he come out unscathed. From the time the telephone on his desk had rung, he was doomed. Henrique, the Venezuela intelligence service director, was clear in his instructions to Carpio as to what was expected of him, and that when the job was underway, he would need to take a step back. As Carlos walked into the embassy the reality of all of this happening hit the Ambassador with the force of a truck and he slumped on the chair behind him.
Joaquin turned around to look at him. The ambassador was looking pale.
“Handle yourself. We don’t have time to babysit you,” Joaquin ordered him in a stern voice. He knew the strength and repercussions of even minor nagging doubts in people. Every job’s success lay in all its pieces moving in tandem, like a symphony. Any feelings not aligned with the task tended to manifest into actions at exactly the wrong moment, derailing the momentum and snowballing body count.
“What are you going to do with him?” Carpio asked
“The less you know, the better. Hand me your ID card.”
“Why?” Carpio demanded shakily.
Joaquin looked at Felipe and tilted his chin towards Carpio. Felipe grabbed the handles of Carpio’s chair, startling him. “If you ask one more stupid question, I will cut you to pieces. You understand?” Carpio nodded in fear and unwillingly took out his ID card. Felipe let go of the chair.
“It’s time to get everyone out of the building,” Joaquin said. “Tell everyone in the consulate that they need to leave after fifteen minutes, not before. We don’t want Carlos to notice anything abnormal.”
“What about Ana?” Carpio was worried about her. He hadn’t had time to explain the situation to her.
“Let the girl stay. Carlos met her last time, so we need her to welcome him and bring him to your office without any glitch.”
“But….” Carpio wanted to say something, but a stare from Felipe was enough to seal his mouth.
“Now leave. We will be watching your every move. Don’t fuck up.” Carpio got up and walked out. In his office, he picked up the phone. His first call was to Ana. He instructed her to receive Carlos and bring him to his office. His second and third calls were to the security and building supervisors with specific instructions given to him by Joaquin.
Chapter 19
“Hello, Carlos.” Ana greeted him with a smile and an extended hand.
“Hi, Ana.” He shook her hand.
“Your papers are ready. I will get them to you in a minute.”
“Any other formalities?”
“Yeah, a couple, but it won’t take more than a couple of hours.”
“I was hoping it would be quicker,” Carlos sighed, not too happy at the prospect of having to wait among those whose loyalty lay with the regime.
“A couple of hours is very fast, compared to getting a signature in Venezuela.” She gave him a magnetic smile. “But if you don’t want to wait, you can come back at 1:00 p.m.”
“It’s okay, I will wait here.” Carlos didn’t want to appear rude to Ana whom he thought highly of since their meeting the previous week. She was the one who had taken care of his documents, which otherwise could have taken months to get approved.
“Oh, and I forgot to mention, Carpio wants to meet you,” Ana said.
“The Ambassador?”
“Yes. I think he was in a meeting last time when you were here.”
“Anything important?” Carlos didn’t want to sound rude since he still needed the signed documents, but he was wary of the Ambassador’s agenda.
“I don’t think so. More like an informal meeting, I would say.”
“Okay,” Carlos said, straighte
ning his jacket as he followed her. He braced himself mentally, knowing the only possible agenda the Ambassador could want to discuss was his hardline approach towards Venezuela and its President in his columns.
For no particular reason, Carlos recollected his first column for which he had received a phone threat. In that column for the NY Times, Carlos had written about how he feared being arrested in a clear crackdown on dissent overseen by the President since his re-election. He had related the stories of people who had been arrested, even without being dissidents, just for the crime of having an independent mind. It was that article that had raised his profile in the circuit. Since then, he had written numerous articles. Getting death threats was a professional hazard of his chosen brand of voice and he was now used to them.
Today, however, he felt a distinct sense of unease. He would be facing not an anonymous caller on the other end of a phone line, but someone who was a direct representative of the President in Vienna. However, Carlos knew he didn’t have to say anything or agree to anything. He was in a neutral country, after all, and there was nothing the Ambassador could do to make him comply. He just had to stay quiet and bide his time. Controlling his anger was crucial. At most he would receive a slap on the wrist, nothing more.
He couldn’t have been more wrong.
Chapter 20
The large wooden door separating the waiting lounge and the ambassador’s office opened and Carlos saw the coat of arms of his nation engraved on the wall behind the plush chair of the ambassador. Ana escorted him inside the room. He shook hands with the ambassador, faking a polite smile.
“Ana, why don’t you go and get his documents,” Carpio said with a nervous smile.
“Sure,” Ana said and left the room, leaving him and Carlos alone.
“Please have a seat.” Carpio offered Carlos while sitting himself.
“Thank you, Mr. Ambassador.”
“Please call me Carpio. What would you like to have? Tea, coffee, anything else?”
“Just the papers.” His tone betrayed a hint of irritation.
“Sure. Ana is working on it, and I believe she had already told you how long it will take.”
“Yeah, she has. What did you want to discuss?”
“First, let me order coffee for you.” He picked up the phone and ordered two coffees. Carlos said nothing. It was just coffee. He gave another obligatory smile to Carpio.
Five minutes later the door opened, and he heard two sets of footsteps behind him. Carlos looked at Carpio, who was looking at the two new entrants. One of them came up and dragged a chair next to Carlos, while the second one stood right behind him.
“Hello, Carlos.” Joaquin gave a cold smile.
Carlos felt as if he had skipped a beat. This was a nightmare and he just needed to wake up to get out of this.
“Glad you haven’t forgotten me.”
Chapter 21
Ana realized something wasn’t right as soon as she pushed the door open. Carpio looked at her in confusion. The phone receiver was in his hand and the phone ringing on the other side sat in Ana’s office. Carpio had been calling to tell her to stay in her office, but he had obviously been too late. He looked at the two men and Ana with uncertainty. Ana looked at Carlos and saw fear in his eyes. The man sitting beside him was the one she had seen the previous morning. She hadn’t liked him then, and she didn’t like him now. His face had a menacing look, unlike anything she had ever seen.
“What’s happening?” she asked in a high pitch.
“Ana, go home,” Carpio said, hastily.
“Who are these people?” She demanded.
“Didn’t you hear him? Get out.” Joaquin spoke this time, his tone impatient.
“Who are these people?” She ignored Joaquin and addressed her boss.
“None of your business, now get lost.” Joaquin was getting angry. The one thing he could never tolerate was disobedience in a woman.
“I am not talking to you,” Ana shouted back. “Carpio, what is going on?”
Joaquin looked at Felipe.
“I will tell you who are we.” Felipe, who was standing behind Carlos, suddenly took a menacing step towards her. She took a step back while looking at Carpio, expecting him to intervene. Instead, she found a defeated man, who avoided her eyes.
Felipe grabbed her wrist and Ana was stunned for a moment to think that something like this was happening to her in her office. She recovered quickly and, with a swift jerk, she drew herself away from Felipe’s grip. “Keep your bloody hands off me.”
Felipe, somewhat surprised at this unexpected show of strength, paused momentarily and then swung his hand at her, palm open. Ana saw the blow coming and instinctively raised her arm to protect herself, but it still knocked her off balance. Her resistance amplified Joaquin’s rage. He got up and strode to her. Once close, he swung a punch at her stomach. It connected squarely and she crumpled to the floor, curling up in a small ball. He didn’t stop there and kicked her. She screamed in pain.
Joaquin looked at Felipe who grabbed her by her hair and dragged her on the floor mercilessly, kicking and hitting her at the same time. On his sat phone, Joaquin yelled for someone to get in the office. Carpio heard men running in the passageway.
The door burst open and three men entered. Felipe released Ana’s hair and she sank on the floor, lying there sobbing, her hands covering her face.
“Teach her how to be a woman, and then take care of her. She will go down the drain with Carlos today.” Felipe said. The men smiled. Two of them grabbed Ana’s hands and dragged her out of the office. Ana cried out for help, but she didn’t know that the entire consulate had been vacated on her boss’s orders. She was all alone at their mercy.
Chapter 22
One of the men struck her again to keep her quiet, and she lost consciousness.
“You,” the leader among the three said to one of the other two. “Carry her on your shoulder. We are taking her to the second floor.” They glanced at each other with smirks on their faces.
At the second-floor restroom, they threw her to the floor. One of them splashed water on her face till she opened her eyes groggily. Even before she could comprehend what was happening, a pair of hands grabbed her by the shoulders. A second later she was on her feet, face-to-face with her assaulter. He forcefully planted a kiss on her lips. She recoiled in horror. The two men standing behind her pushed her towards the man who kissed her.
This time the man grabbed Ana by the throat and squeezed tightly. Ana flailed her arms desperately. Her eyes grew wider as her lungs craved for oxygen.
Darkness threatened her vision and in a frantic effort to break free she rammed her right leg up into her assailant’s groin.
The man tumbled back, and she was free, coughing, massaging her neck. But her blurred vision prevented her from seeing the oncoming blow. It caught her squarely on her right temple. She spun in the air, screaming in pain.
Chapter 23
Wick heard the muffled screams. The restrooms shared the same corner on each floor, with drain pipes running like a backbone within the walls. Although the sounds were faint, the pipes carried them to the floor below without interference. Wick knew what it could be, but he couldn’t understand why an elite force would do something like this. What he forgot was that the hostiles were trained mercenaries and not soldiers like him.
When the embassy employees got the orders to vacate the embassy. Wick, Jessica, and Stan decided to hide on their respective floors. The decision to vacate the embassy had its pros and cons. On one hand, it meant that there would be no collateral damage and on the other, it meant that they now had to wait for their chances. Luckily, they had Mac stationed outside checking the CCTVs to let them know the enemy’s position. The only places Mac did not have access to were the restrooms and janitor rooms, and the ambassador’s private suite on the fourth floor.
“Mac, where’s Carlos?” Wick asked.
“Carpio’s office.”
“What about the o
thers?”
“The Ambassador is at his chair. The man with the scar is talking to someone on the phone. Felipe is at the door.”
“Did you see a woman?”
