“Only forty to go,” she agreed.
“We’ll see. I’m pretty hard to digest.” Stryker addressed the woman with a throaty growl.
Stryker smiled at her and said to the woman, “Did any of your American clients overdose from the drugs?”
“Who cares?”
“That’s the wrong answer, but it doesn’t matter.
Stryker again raised his pistol and pointed it at her forehead.
“Jesus, are you really going to kill an old woman?”
“No, I’m going to kill a drug dealing woman who dimed us out and hopes that somebody is going to come here and kill us. I don’t see a lot to be compassionate about.”
“What about the cats?” The woman asked, her face growing pale.
“We don’t like cats.”
“Could you at least leave food and water for them?”
“We’ll fill the food and water bowls before we leave, but I’m not going to worry about the kitty litter.”
“You don’t want to do this. They’ll kill you.”
“They’ll try to kill us anyway. You’re just one less thing I’ll have to worry about.”
Stryker pulled the trigger, the back of her head disappeared, and the cats all left the room in mad scramble.
“Got no use for drug dealers.” He placed the pistol back in his holster and walked to the door.
“Jesus.” Erin stood rooted to her spot on the floor.
“Someone she should have thought about,” Stryker replied. “Get your shit together and let’s ambush the assholes that are coming to kill us.”
Erin stared at the body for a moment, and then followed him out of the house. The cats that had been on the front porch were all gone.
They made their way back to their beach house.
“Stryker, that was over the top, even for you,” Erin said as she followed him across the yard.
“Look, she made her choices. I had to make mine, and the fact of the matter is that woman probably ruined a lot of lives and was willing to kill us to keep her damn cats. That is just screwed up and I don’t think someone like that gets a hall pass and keeps on living while the rest of us fight for the right things.”
“Not everyone has to pass your code of conduct standard.”
“Code of conduct?” Stryker scoffed. “She was so far away from any code of conduct, you would have to send it to her by tramp steamer. Are you kidding me?”
“No, I’m not.”
Stryker turned around to face an obviously pissed off Erin.
“What?”
“You really should not have done that.”
“Well, can I remind you that she was happy with the idea of us getting killed?”
“She was an old lady.”
“Deadly as a snake.” Stryker turned and walked back to the house.
CHAPTER FIVE
Stryker and Erin moved to the top of a sand dune that lay one hundred meters north of the house with the felines and the now-dead cat woman.
They settled in, and Stryker handed Erin a water bottle, opened one for himself, and they both drank deeply.
“No shade anywhere.” Stryker wiped the sweat from his forehead. “This terrain really sucks.”
Erin looked at him. “Did you really have to kill that woman?”
“I already told you that she made her living by addicting her countrymen to drugs and then exploiting them. Am I supposed to feel bad about ending someone who chose to live on the dark side?”
“It still seems extreme to me.”
“She lived in a nice home on the beach. That’s not cheap, even here. Yet, she chose to prey on her neighbors and friends. I have a hard time feeling a lot of sympathy for her.”
“Still.”
“Remember when I told you about that girl in Iraq who pointed out snipers to us?”
“Yes.”
“She was that girl for the other side. We couldn’t let her remain behind and have her dime us out again. She would have told them which direction we took, and we would not be able to pick the time and place to have a battle.”
“Well, it still seems pretty harsh to me.”
“It wasn’t easy for me either. She looked like my grandma.”
They both fell silent for a long moment, and then Erin asked, “How the hell did we ever sink to this level? I don’t get it. What happened to all of us?”
“Are you talking about everything since the plague or me killing that woman?”
“Everything.”
Stryker looked at her, knowing his expression was sad. “It happened when we lost all the things that unified us and got caught up in blaming the other side for what people didn’t like – we demonized anyone who didn’t agree with us and decided that we would rather be right as individuals than right as a nation.”
“What the hell does that mean?”
“Well, it means that we got complacent as a people and forgot that each of us is a part of the country. We started thinking that if you didn’t agree, you were the enemy.”
“What the hell does that mean?” she repeated.
“When you get so preoccupied with your enemies that are your countrymen, you take your eyes off the real threats that exist. We got over that after 9/11 for a very short period of time, and the country really coalesced around the need to confront a terrible enemy, but that didn’t last long and people got back to making their neighbors the enemy. That never ends well.”
Stryker paused for a moment. “When the plague was unleashed, it was the giant turning point that made everything before it not matter. We all struggled, cried, and mostly died, but at the end of the day, nothing that happened before that really matters. Losing so many people kind of makes everything that happened before it seem trivial. But, the seeds of our destruction were planted a long time ago, when we decided that we didn’t need to be stronger than everybody else; we didn’t need to try harder than everyone else, and we forgot that if we were not a unified country, someone was going to take us down by some means.”
“It can’t be that simple.”
“It probably isn’t. I’m not sure about much, but I am sure that if you hate the guy in your foxhole, one of you probably isn’t going to leave the next battle alive. When you lose sight of the real enemy, he kicks your ass, and you find yourself where we are now.”
“That is a really screwed up world view.”
“Welcome to my world, and keep your eyes on the road. I have to pee and get more water.”
Stryker walked to the side of the Humvee and did his business, grabbed more water bottles from the back, and returned to where Erin still scanned the area below them.
“Anything?” He asked.
“No.”
“More water?”
“Yes.”
Stryker handed her the bottle. “I got it now so take a break. He leveled his M-4 at the area below them. “Was all that shit I said upsetting?”
“No,” she replied. “I’m still thinking about it.
“Thinking about the past doesn’t change outcomes.”
“I know.”
They both fell silent and continued baking in the sun.
“Hell of a thing,” Stryker finally said.
“What?”
“Some guys are going to come here thinking they are going to kill somebody, but the reverse will be true. Makes you wonder if they would come at all before all this happened and they had more to lose than they do now.”
Erin’s expression grew pensive. “Do you ever worry about our souls?”
“I’m not sure I follow.”
“We’ve crossed a lot of lines since we met. We’ve killed people, a lot of people.”
Stryker reflected on it for a moment. “Well, I never thought I would end up killing the people I defended and bled for. That does suck. But, I guess the important thing is not that we crossed those lines, but that other people placed them in front of us and forced us to make a series of difficult choices that got them killed.”
<
br /> “I still think, at some point, there is going to be an accounting for what we’ve done. It’s been nagging me all day.”
“We may well face that. And, if it comes, I guess we’ll make more unpleasant choices and soldier on as best we can.” Stryker paused. “I do get what’s bugging you. When I take the time to think about it, it bothers me too. But, I don’t have any idea of what we can do to not be forced into those choices.”
“I thought San Diego was going to do that for us.”
“I did too,” Stryker admitted. “I guess it’s like everything else though. You can’t really avoid confronting evil unless you submit to it and that is not a good choice either.”
“I wish I didn’t know now what I didn’t know then.” Erin looked away.
“What’s that?”
“A line from a Bob Seeger song.”
“Nice phrase. I guess we all live like sightless moles digging through rich land until somebody shoots us when we stick our heads up or otherwise forces us to see the world for what it is.”
Erin chewed her bottom lip, her face troubled and brooding.
“Spit it out,” Stryker said. “Whatever that bad taste in your mouth is, you need to get rid of it.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t wait for someone to shoot us. We could just open our eyes, get the hell out of here, go back to Texas and shut off the rest of the world.”
“We tried that.”
“I know,” she said sadly. “Seems like nothing really works for us these days.”
“You work for me.” Stryker looped an arm over her shoulder.
“And you work for me.” Erin looked up at him. “As much as I hated the climate there, I have to confess that, until we decided to start trying to find a new place to live, we did live a pretty peaceful existence. And, since we left, we seem to go from one battle to another, and it doesn’t seem like it’s going to stop any time soon.”
“You might be right.” Stryker looked off in the distance for a moment and then turned back.
“But I find it hard to believe you really want to go back there. You probably just want to do it because you know how much I love it there, even with all the warts it has.
“That might be part of it,” Erin replied truthfully. “But it was also the last time we had a pretty quiet life and that is figuring into my thinking too.”
Stryker wiped the sweat from his brow again. “You might be right.”
CHAPTER SIX
Stryker and Erin were surprised when a Humvee rolled into the yard carrying only one man. He got out of the vehicle unarmed, walked to the door of the house, and politely knocked.
“That’s the reaction force?” Erin sniggered softly.
“No, he’s not wearing a uniform, and he got here way to fast. It would take them an hour to get here from the base.”
“Then, who the hell is he? He doesn’t even have a weapon.”
“No idea, but we are on a short fuse. We have to deal with him quickly and get the hell out of here.”
“So, we’re not going to ambush them?”
“I’ve thought the better of that. The whole deal is to get the crew, and if we’re going to do any more fighting, let’s do it after we figure out if they are alive or not. If they are dead, all this is for nothing.”
“No argument from me.” Erin wondered about the change of plan. Did the woman saying she was pregnant change things, or was he making a rational decision based upon the facts in front of them?
The man knocked again, cocked his head with an expression of curiosity, and turned the door handle. When the door opened, he stepped through with a cautious look around before he walked into the structure.
“Watch my six,” Stryker whispered and started down the hill. He got to the Humvee without being noticed and watched as the man emerged from the house. He vomited on the porch, spit twice, and then walked toward him with unfocused eyes.
“You’ll end up like her if you don’t stop where you are,” Stryker said in Spanish. The man stopped, stared at the muzzle of the M-4, and raised his hands.
Stryker examined the man. He was slight, with hair that was graying around the temples, and his eyes were dark brown. He had a bad comb over hair style and wore the clothing of a chef, complete with the white tunic.
“What do you want from me?” he asked in Spanish.
“Your name for starters.”
“Jose Ruiz de Cameron.”
“English?”
“Yes, some.”
Stryker motioned for Erin to come down to his position, and as she jogged toward them, he continued to cover the man.
“So who is this?” Erin asked.
“He must be one of the group that attacked us.” Stryker replied.
“My name is Jose.” The man extended one hand.
Erin looked down at him and brought the M-4 up. “Not interested.”
“You with the group of guys who attacked us?” Stryker stared at the man intently.
“I don’t know. I just cook for everyone at the Army base in Ensenada. I’m a chef. I used to work at the resort, but after the sickness they grabbed me and moved me to the base. I run the kitchen.”
He still had his hands raised and appeared to be frightened. He’s eyes were wide and his lower lip trembled.
Stryker grabbed his XD from its holster, shouldered his M-4, and moved toward the man. He placed the pistol against the back of the man’s head and gave him a careful pat down before taking a step back and lowering the pistol.
The man turned toward him. “Did you kill her?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“She sold drugs.”
The man seemed to consider his answer and his expression grew troubled. “Everyone here sold drugs. That’s like saying you kill a cab driver because he drives cab.”
“I don’t like cab drivers either, but that’s not why we’re here. I want to know how many men are on the base, and if there are any Americans being held there? I would suggest you answer promptly, because if you don’t, I’m going to think you’re lying to me, and the only thing I hate more than drug dealers and cab drivers is liars.”
A look of panic came to Jose’s eyes. “I guess there are around fifty men that have weapons. I don’t know who they are, but they claim to be military. Since they won’t let me leave the base except to come here, I have no idea if they are holding Americans or not. There are two bases. I work at the army base, but there is a navy base to the south that I’ve never been to.”
“The army base is south of Ensenada, right?”
“Yes, around fifteen kilometers.
“Do they have any heavy weapons?”
“All I have seen is rifles and the big guns they have on the Jeeps.”
“You mean the Humvees?”
“Are they the big Jeeps?”
“Yes.”
“Well, yes.”
“Do they mostly stay on the base?”
“Usually.”
“Did a large group of them leave the base yesterday?”
“I heard vehicles leaving, but didn’t hear them return.”
“Now, the question is what to do with you?” Stryker arched an eyebrow.
“No need to kill me; I’m just a cook.”
Stryker thought about the situation. They could hardly leave him to tell the arriving dealers, or whatever they were, which direction to take to follow them. Stryker considered killing the man, but thought the better of it as they had to leave quickly and he might be able to tell them more if they had more time.
“Turn around,” Stryker whispered.
“No, please,” Jose begged, his voice cracking.
Stryker pulled a zip tie from his vest. “You’re coming with us.”
He looked at Stryker with relief etched on his face and did a brisk about face. Stryker jerked the zip tie taut and tested it. “Erin, can you bring our Humvee down?”
She nodded, walked up the hill, and returned in the vehicle.
; Stryker plucked Jose from the ground, placed him in the back seat, and then used another zip tie to secure him to the vehicle.
“We better go,” Erin said. “They could show up at any time.”
“Agreed.” Stryker got into the passenger’s seat. “Head south two klicks and then take the road that goes east. It’s a left turn and will eventually get us around the city.
“How do you know the road is there and where it goes?” Erin drove with a casual ease, her hand at the six o’clock position.
“I’ve been here before. I told you I used to drive down here on weekends.”
“That was a long time ago, and you still remember the road system.”
“Sure.”
“We better step on it, or we’re going to meet them on this highway.” Erin floored the accelerator.
“Seems prudent to me.” Stryker flashed his signature lop-sided grin at her.
Erin just shook her head. She turned left onto a wide gravel road that led to the east.
“Drive slower,” Stryker said, “too much dust.”
She slowed down and turned south after a few minutes, and they hand-railed Highway 1. Off in the distance, they could see a few high rise hotels that sat along the beach in Ensenada, and then saw large piers and the medium-rise downtown area.
The land around them opened up after they passed through a series of shanty towns and tire repair shops with hand-painted signs. Then they passed another PEMEX gas station and a few more auto repair shops with open fronts that faced the street. It was a grim landscape and one that reminded Stryker of the area around his home in Texas.
Erin wondered why Stryker chose to walk by a fight when was there was one to be had. She thought back to all the other times he fought through a situation rather than go around it, and she was hit with a glancing blow of a realization: with him, it was all about the mission. Nothing else mattered. If the risk went up, he didn’t pay any attention to it if it was in the way of accomplishing what he felt needed done.
In this case, he apparently had lost track of what they had originally set out to do, got caught up in the moment, and then corrected course. It was a moment of revelation for her. She glanced over at him and again wondered at the contradiction he presented.
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