Tanya went on the offensive and tried to gouge out his eyes.
“Carla! Help!”
Tanya coughed blood and lost her grip on him.
Blood ran down the side of his face and his legs. “I will not die from a woma—”
Tanya realized he was looking for something. He stumbled to his feet and began looking around. She thought he might fall over on her.
That’s when Carla shrieked, “You looking for this, you sick freak!”
Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop! Pop!
Carla kept shooting him until the gun was empty. Even after he collapsed in a bloody heap, she kept on pulling the trigger until the weapon stopped and the slide remained back. Smoke rose from the barrel.
“Wh-wh…where the hell did you get a gun?” Tanya’s words sounded muffled through her swollen jaw. She moved to her knees and clutched her face. The pain was tremendous. She was drenched in Gerard’s blood.
Carla dropped the gun and put her tiny hands on her narrow hips and then crossed her arms. She was in a state of shock, and within a few seconds, she began to realize she had saved their lives. Her pink earbuds hung around her neck. She squinted her eyes and pointed at the pilot seat, stamping her foot in a sassy posture.
“It was right there! The whole time! I just grabbed it!”
Tanya was dumbfounded and looked at the younger girl and tried to smile. Tanya sat in the pilot seat and shook her head. She was stunned and in shock. She regarded Gerard’s bloody body as if she had just now noticed it.
Tanya felt like her jaw was going to come apart. “We killed him.”
Carla seemed not to hear her and kept babbling. “It was right there, Tanya. The whole time, right there! If it would have been a snake…” Carla continued moving her hands wildly as she spoke.
Tanya shook her head and just held up her hand. “Shhhh, it’s OK. You did good.”
“I think soldiers are coming,” Carla said flatly. “We look like crap.”
CHAPTER 44
Finally Over
Four Hours Later
The most seriously wounded soldiers and Dark Cloud operatives were evacuated by air. Body bags were still being filled. The rest of the Dark Cloud team was shuttled onto a boat, given high fives by their counterparts in uniform, a few cases of ice-cold beer, food, and medical care. They were evacuated back to the mainland. The marines had secured the island and created a minicamp for Mario’s soldiers and a separate processing area for the civilians. Law enforcement took charge of this group.
The main assault elements packed up and went home, leaving the marines and newly arrived regular troops to handle security. Law enforcement began the slow process of gathering human intelligence and confiscating computers and documents for evidence. The wounded prisoners were treated in place.
The fires had died down, the smoke had risen off and dissipated in the atmosphere, and now, once again, the island was semipeaceful. The beach house was ruined, and only the old stone colonial sections remained. Embers still smoldered.
Evan was aware now of how bad he smelled and how sore he felt. He glanced at his watch and frowned. The day was not over for him yet. He was thankful that he had no significant injuries other than bruised, banged-up knees and elbows, a sore back, pulled muscles, and a headache.
“You have five minutes. No weapons,” the Admiral’s XO said coldly and snapped his fingers. Evan was certain that he wanted all evidence of Dark Cloud to vanish.
“Sure, hold this. Be a minute.”
Evan handed over his weapons.
Evan and a few naval officers stood outside a series of the concrete-block houses that had been turned into interrogation centers for the high-profile prisoners. The navy wanted to get to them now before they got back to the mainland, where they could start screaming in front of cameras and lawyer up. One high-profile prisoner had already threatened to sue and had met with an unfortunate accident. Cooperation was quite pleasant after that.
Evan put his hand on the doorknob and looked back at the XO. “My plane refueled?”
“Of course. The admiral wants to talk to you before you leave. Hopefully that will be soon!” The XO hinted with his eyes.
Evan nodded.
“Got it.”
He stepped inside the concrete shack and faced a small, dejected man sitting at a table. The man’s hands and feet were cuffed. He looked tired yet kept his composure.
“I have told them everything. You are?” Andre Pena looked at him and raised his eyebrows.
“Evan. Evan Hernandez.”
“You are a soldier? One of the mercenaries?” Andre regarded him curiously.
“Yes. Yes and no.”
“You here to kill me?”
Evan reached in his cargo pocket and pulled out his can of dip. It felt light. He packed his last little pinch and threw the can of Skoal on the table in front of Andre.
“I am not very good at these kinds of things.” Evan brushed his hands across his face and took off his baseball hat. He flicked sweat off his head.
“Things?”
“I am the Snake. The man whose family you blew up. I killed your kids, revenge.”
Andre Pena stared for a full minute. His eyes got red, and he visibly gulped. “That was a long time ago,” he whispered. He stayed amazingly calm and looked at the table and then back at Evan. Tears welled in his eyes. “I…I sat in prison. You tormented me. I…I guess you are here to gloat. To kill me.”
Andre seemed to drift off as if he were having a dialogue with himself. He stared through Evan and at the wall. “Lifetime ago. You killed them, but I guess you had your reason—you believed I killed your family.”
Evan spat on the floor and hooked his thumbs into his belt loops. He felt uncomfortable but forced himself to stand firm. “I am not here to gloat. Or kill you. There has been enough of that today. You’re evil, and so am I.”
“What?” Andre looked at him with puzzlement and focused his eyes on Evan as if he had just now seen him.
“I need to change, Andre. I can’t live like this. I mean, I can, don’t get me wrong, but there are bigger things out there.”
“What?”
Evan was not sure he could explain himself and took another stab at it. “I don’t want the legacy of being evil. This is where it ends. You end up dead all the same.”
“You are guilty?” Andre was perplexed.
“I am changed. I need to be free from my prison.” Evan tapped his head and stared at the floor. He felt exposed and a bit insecure. “Only way I can have a clean break is to apologize.”
“Changed? My kids are dead. You…um, what?”
“I am sorry for killing your kids.”
Evan shook his head and tried to convey what he was thinking, but it was not working out. “No, Andre, I apologize. I forgive you for what you did. That frees me. Get it? Maybe you don’t.” Evan shook his head in frustration and cleared his throat. “They are dead, Andre.”
Evan shook his head and turned to leave. He felt as if something had been lifted from his neck. He did not feel better but relieved. He felt as though he could see his misery with more clarity. The pain was not less—it was just not a barrier.
“Evan. Wait.”
Evan paused near the door and turned around.
“You apologize, forgive?”
“Yes.”
“I…I never killed your family. They were not in the car. A man, an American, framed you. It worked. You went nuts, worked for the enemy.”
Evan stared at Andre. Now he felt worse. “What?”
“I learned years later that it was a CIA man who set you up. Your family was not there. He wanted the girl for himself. Simple. They are still alive, far as I know. In hiding maybe. Long time ago.”
Evan stepped back and shook his head. “Nathan—it had…had to be Nathan.”
“Now, you kill me?” It was more of a request than a question. Andre was not angry with Evan. He too wanted to be free from his ghosts.
Ev
an shook his head. “Already said no. I gotta go.” Evan had his hand on the doorknob and opened it.
“I forgive, Evan if that sets you free. And I accept your apology.”
“Ummm.” Evan nodded and left.
CHAPTER 45
Landing Gear
Evan, Roger, Tanya, Tommy, and Carla stood on the pier near the large flying boat. Evan was still recovering from the shock of knowing his family had never really been killed. He could not process what to do next. Should he find them?
He was certain that Andre was telling the truth. He was also certain that he was not going to beat himself up over all of the wrong things he had done. He had murdered for no reason. Evan was not sure what he felt.
“You are not in a condition to fly,” Roger said and handed Evan a beer; he refused.
Evan turned to the admiral and shook his hand. “Thanks for honoring our deal.”
“Well, you made a convincing sales pitch, Mr. Hernandez. If we kill Jorge, he becomes a martyr. If we keep him in prison here, he becomes a cause célèbre; someone will try to rescue him. But in the States, he will be an example,” the admiral said.
Evan smiled and sipped from a plastic water bottle. Evan finished the admiral’s sentence.
“No, the DEA will lock him up tight, put him somewhere. No one will hear from him again.”
The admiral squeezed Evan’s arm and laughed. “And you collect a bounty.”
“That too. This gives me some leverage with some issues I have with my former employer. Leave it at that!” Evan said.
“Right,” the admiral agreed; he understood.
“And no side trips. Go home!” Roger growled.
“Will do. You can come with. Drop you off in Miami. Got a bar on board,” Evan teased.
“Nooo. I am flying commercial. Going home! Mia is meeting me.”
Evan smiled. His head was feeling better, but his back hurt worse.
“The bag of gold on Mario’s yacht, it goes to the members of Dark Cloud, right?” Evan said and winked at the admiral.
He nodded. “That’s several million. Yes, I never allowed it to be put on the property-seized manifest. You warriors are set for life!”
Tanya leaned against Evan. She was not very talkative since her face was swollen. She held an ice pack. Her eyes looked droopy from the Dilaudid. The medics had bandaged her and set her up with enough to keep her relatively pain free till they got to the States.
She nodded and pulled on Evan’s hand.
“Let’s go before I change my mind,” she whispered.
“Well, this is it. Next time I come to Mexico, it’s for fun!” Evan said.
“Let’s toast Dark Cloud! To true warriors!” Roger raised his beer and toasted with everyone.
Evan drank his water and felt a stab of misery for the dead and guilt for being happy that he was not one of them.
“To the warriors!” Evan said.
Hugs, handshakes, pictures, and high fives were exchanged. Evan swallowed a couple of Motrin and helped Tanya get comfortable in the plane. She and Carla would no doubt fall asleep the moment they took off.
Tommy was feeling better; he had taken a quick rinse in the ocean and got some sutures and an IV. Mainly, he wanted to get in the air and get the hell out of Mexico.
The Grumman Albatross lifted off its blue runway and gained altitude in a slow, easy arc. Evan circled once around the tiny island and then set course out over the blue sea toward the States. He started to feel like a kid who was coming home from a late night, somewhere he should never have been. He looked at the satellite phone that he intended to use to call his older brother. His brother knew he was coming and had arranged for them to touch down at a naval air station in the Keys. Evan knew it would not be a friendly welcome. He knew his brother.
“He is gonna kill me,” Evan muttered.
“Huh?” Tommy asked as he leaned back and let Evan do all the flying. He put his sunglasses low over his nose and looked for some CDs to play for the flight home. He had found a stash of CDs while rummaging through the plane.
“Can’t fly without music. This thing has a good sound system. I was flying when you were an itch in your daddy’s pocket,” Tommy joked.
Evan nodded and looked at his altitude and wind speed. “Clear skies and perfect weather. Let’s go home.”
“That was my home we just left!” Tommy laughed.
Evan turned in his seat and glanced at his passengers. Jorge was snoring on a cot. Tanya and Carla were asleep in their seats. They were all in various contorted positions, enjoying a narcotic-induced slumber.
“Yeah, guess you won’t be coming back here anytime soon. But I hear Italy is nice!” Evan said.
He resumed his attention on flying.
“And you, what’s next?” Tommy asked.
Evan looked out at the sky and thought about Veronica and a grown-up daughter out there somewhere in the world, either in hiding or living happily free from him. Did they think he was dead? Who had protected them? What the hell had Andre meant by Nathan or someone had wanted her for himself?
“What’s next for me?”
Evan shook his head and answered, “Sleep!”
Tommy laughed and then put some gum in his mouth. He was done with smoking.
“Did I tell you about the time I was flying medivac out of ’Nam?” he began.
“No, but I have a feeling I am about to hear it,” Evan said, bored already.
“Well it was ’68. We had to fly a VIP—a state department type—out of country. Seemed that the man had had an unfortunate accident with a hooker…A banana shoved up his—”
Evan held up his hand and tuned Tommy out. He watched the blue sky ahead of them. Tommy kept talking, and Evan kept wondering.
AUTHOR’S NOTE
They say truth is way stranger than fiction. They are right.
The actual facts regarding the drug war, human trafficking, and crime syndicates in Mexico are too vast to even list. Highlighted below are various headlines that may be of some interest. Visit Jamesgarmischbooks.com for news on up comping titles. Some proceeds from this book will go to the A21 Campaign, a nonprofit that helps fight human trafficking.
Mexico’s Cartel-Fighting Vigilantes Get Closer to Texas Border (nbc.com)
Mexico Drug-Death Toll Double What Reported (latino.foxnews.com)
Americans Shot in Mexico Were CIA Operatives (nytimes.com)
Submarine Links Columbian Drug Traffickers with Russian Mafia (articles.latimes.com/2000/nov/10/news)
Mexican Cartel Accused of Killing Children to Harvest Organs (nydailynews.com)
Sexual Slavery in Mexico: A Pimp Tells His Story (theguardian.com)
US Legalization Hurts Mexican Drug Cartels (borderlandbeat.com)
Legalizing Pot Is Making Mexican Cartels Even More Dangerous (thefiscaltimes.com)
Stay tuned for upcoming books and news. Visit jamesgarmischbooks.com.
Table of Contents
CONTENTS
Part 1
CHAPTER 1: A Tale of Two Kidnappings
CHAPTER 2: Waking Up from Bad Dreams into Nightmares
CHAPTER 3: Best Laid Plans of Vice and Men
CHAPTER 4: Liars, Flyers, and Bloody Pliers
CHAPTER 5: Baggage Pickup
CHAPTER 6: Made in Mexico
CHAPTER 7: Let’s Make a Deal
CHAPTER 8: The Hombres of Walmart
CHAPTER 9: Blue-Light Special
CHAPTER 10: Trust Me—I Used to Lie for a Living
CHAPTER 11: The Zoo
CHAPTER 12: Training Wheels
Part 2
CHAPTER 13: The Love Boat
CHAPTER 14: Dope and Change
CHAPTER 15: Operation Crazy Ivan
CHAPTER 16: Sunrise Near Veracruz
CHAPTER 17: Under the Wire
CHAPTER 18: Battle of Chapultepec
CHAPTER 19: Hunger Pangs
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21: Safe House
CHAPTER
22: Lead Rules, Blood Pools
CHAPTER 23: Mr. Franklin
CHAPTER 24: The House That Blood Built
CHAPTER 25: That Salty Taste
CHAPTER 26: The Cuban Cowboy Way
CHAPTER 27: “The Plane, the Plane”
CHAPTER 28: Click Click Bang Bang
CHAPTER 29: Green-Colored Glasses
CHAPTER 30: Gang Plank
CHAPTER 31: Scrambled Eggs in Paradise
CHAPTER 32: Floating Cans
CHAPTER 33: Caesar’s Blues
CHAPTER 34: The Fan Hits the…
CHAPTER 35: Dueling Lead
CHAPTER 36: Son of a Drug Dealer
CHAPTER 37: Swiss Cheese and Hamburger
CHAPTER 38: Fish in a Barrel
CHAPTER 39: Hiding Places
CHAPTER 40: Furious
CHAPTER 41: Not So Fast
CHAPTER 42: Mexican Standoff
CHAPTER 43: What Goes Up
CHAPTER 44: Finally Over
CHAPTER 45: Landing Gear
AUTHOR’S NOTE
Silver Lead and Dead (Evan Hernandez series Book 1) Page 38
