by Thomas Craig
We were only 50 yards away and moving as stealthy as we could to close the distance on the assailants.
As expected, the group of guns for hire broke into three assault teams and started to move across the field toward the two-story structure by the river.
We were about 10 yards from the three empty vehicles when Abbasi turned to us.
“Let’s take their trucks and run them down,” he suggested.
“Not a bad plan but I would be afraid of not seeing where the commandos are and accidentally running one of them over,” Agent Redford answered.
“Let’s break up and track them ready to charge from behind,” Arya recommended. “They won't suspect a rear assault from us.”
“If undetected and timed right, we could take them all out before they even reach the structure. The crossfire plus the assault from behind seems like the best approach,” Agent Redford expressed.
“Lauren, is the Blackhawk almost here?” I asked over the comms.
“Yes, two minutes out,” Lauren replied over the noise on her end.
“Be advised, you are coming into the middle of a gunfight,” I said.
“Copy. Heading into a hot LZ,” she said.
“Holliday, they are coming at you now in three groups and we are trailing behind them. We will hang back far enough to avoid your positions crossfire.”
“Good thinking. Copy,” Holliday replied.
We all looked at each other and then off we went, each of us tracking behind a different group of three gunmen.
Our nerves were raw as we snuck up on the armed men. I was having that uneasy feeling when something seems to be too easy when you know it shouldn’t be. I could not shake the thought that this was usually when something bad happened. We were in an open field now. No cover for our protection, hoping that the bad guys do not get that same feeling and turn to look over their shoulders.
I’m not sure who shot first, but gunshots erupted, and muzzle flashes lit up the field to my left and right. I stood my ground and squeezed off a round and watched the first guy in my group fall to the ground. I quickly aimed again and squeezed off my second round which missed. My target had moved to the right and then to the left before sprinting into the door of the two-story structure.
The third assailant in the group I had tracked turned to look at his fallen team member, so I squeezed off two shots at his chest before watching him tumble over. Gunfire was constant from all directions. It turned chaotic.
Phewwit. Phewwit. Two bullets passed within inches of me.
I immediately dropped to the ground. I could see a guy from another attacking group of three had turned and was firing in my direction. Then he turned to fire at the ground to his left where a commando’s muzzle flashed gave away his position.
I aimed but the commando had already sent a barrage of bullets into the man.
Another attacker made it to the structure we once called our makeshift base and went through the door. I looked to my left and found Arya in a kneeling position with an AK-47 to her shoulder that she must have picked up from a fallen attacker. She squeezed off a burst into the door frame in an attempt to get the last of her group of three.
To my right, I saw Holliday running and shooting at two men that Agent Redford was following, but I could not see Agent Redford anymore. I didn’t have a clear shot without putting Holliday at risk.
Just then, the second story of the structure erupted into a massive explosion pouring fire from three of the windows. This was all the distraction Holliday needed to finish off the last two guys. Seconds later, the second floor of the building dropped onto the first floor. The walls came in on the pile of debris sealing the fate of the two attackers inside.
Arya and a commando walked up to me looking in good health. Holliday was helping up the second commando who appeared to be hurt.
“Three in his vest, one in his hip!” Holliday shouted.
“En mi culo! Maldita sea!” The commando shouted.
“Pardon me. He took one in his butt,” Holliday roughly translated.
“Cállate y Ayúdame.”
“I am helping you! Sheesh,” Holliday replied holding the commando up.
“Agent Redford?” I called out.
“Agent Abbasi?” Arya called out.
“Here.” We heard in a faint voice about 40 feet away. Agent Redford was laying on her side in a fetal position.
Arya and I ran over to her and shined our small mag lights on her to see how badly she was injured.
She was holding her lower shin and rocking in pain.
“What is it, Keri?” Arya asked with concern in her voice.
Arya was shining her light on Agent Redford’s ankle, which seemed to be growing before our eyes.
“I took out two of them on a run and then I just went down like a sack of potatoes. My ankle is killing me.”
“Any pain in your shoulder?” I asked.
“No, just my ankle. Why?”
“I think you were shot in your shoulder and that knocked you off balance twisting your ankle,” I surmised looking at her crimson soaked shirt and arm.
“Now that you mention it, my shoulder does hurt,” she said looking at it and then up at me.
I couldn’t help but laugh even though a gunshot wound was a serious matter to address. Arya joined in for a brief stress laugh before speaking.
“That is what you get for showing off shooting on the run,” she preached as she examined her friend's shoulder wound.
“Let Lou give you some morphine for the shoulder and I will splint your ankle.” Arya gave me a look and a nod to see if I was picking up what she was putting down.
I took a closer look at Agent Redford’s wound. The bullet went under her collar bone and out through her armpit. This was not good. It likely bounced off a few bones inside before exiting, and her wound was bleeding steadily.
“Okay, clamp down on this while I give you a shot and we dress your wounds,” I said as I stuck a roll of gauze in the side of her mouth for her to bite on. She obeyed.
The Blackhawk could be heard swooping above us now and I knew I had a small window to help Agent Redford.
I stuck her with the morphine and then started to apply the pressure pack. I had already started to ignite my core focusing my energy into my hands. With one hand on the front of her shoulder, I leaned in close and applied pressure with the other on her back around her shoulder blade.
“This is going to hurt for a few seconds.” That was all the warning I gave as I exhaled and released hot energy from my hands into her body.
Arya was holding her legs down with her weight as she placed a splint around her very swollen ankle. She looked back and saw her friend’s eyes get wide as I sent shockwaves through her for a few seconds.
I knew I could not heal her 100%, so I backed off and finished wrapping her shoulder.
“Sorry if I was a bit clumsy and caused you pain. It does not look too bad and the bleeding has stopped,” I assured Agent Redford.
Arya and I helped her up to her feet as we all watched the Blackhawk descend onto the field 50 yards away.
Something was off. I looked around as I shielded my face from the wind and dirt. Two commandos, Holliday, Arya, Redford, and myself. Still no Agent Abbasi.
“Where the hell is Marco?” I shouted to Arya and Agent Redford.
They shook their heads as they looked around. I shifted Agent Redford to Arya and started to run from body to body in the field.
Holliday left the wounded commando with his Army buddy and joined me in the hunt.
I paused at one body for a few extra seconds as I did not quite understand what I was looking at. One of the assailants was covered in what looked like crusty clumps of mud or clay, making him look like some sort of deformed swamp thing. It was strangely out of place, but not the strangest thing I have seen, by far. Abbasi was not in the field.
“Follow me up to the trucks and jeep where I saw him last,” I said, as we both jogged up the fiel
d to the huts where the vehicles were parked.
As we came around the hut, there were a few people disturbed by all the gunfire and explosion huddled in the dirt road wondering what to do. A few of them screamed when they saw the two of us and our guns running at them. When the small crowd dispersed, I noticed the two trucks were still there, but the jeep was gone.
Left behind where the jeep once was parked, was the body of Agent Abbasi. People were backing away from him as we drew closer. His gun was still in his hand. He was laying on his side, with a single shot to his forehead. We both just stared, confused, in disbelief. Who could have done this? We did not see anyone run back to the vehicles. What did we miss?
Holliday helped me put Abbasi on my shoulder and we headed back to the Blackhawk with our fallen friend.
Unbeknownst to us, Agent Abbasi noticed movement in the Jeep just as we all ran off to stop the assault. It did not matter that he had his gun drawn as he took two steps towards the jeep to investigate, because the other Bagadorez brother already had Abbasi in his crosshairs and squeezed the trigger of his gun first. Abbasi instantly fell dead. The killer turned around and proceeded to knock Tiki out again.
He then got out of the Jeep to chase the three people and kill them from behind. They were going to be easy prey. He was halfway down the slight decline of the hill in the field when he saw his brother shot and killed ahead of the group. He froze for a moment in disbelief. They were always two steps ahead of their victims. To see his brother fall, limp and lifeless, to the ground was something he never even imagined.
When the shock wore off, he heard and then saw the Blackhawk coming in and the building blowing up. It all seemed a bit much and out of his control. As much as he would like to have stayed to kill them all, he was smart enough to know he would not succeed.
He returned to the jeep and was on his way across the bridge into Venezuela thinking how he would slowly torture Tiki to death later to make himself feel better.
Chapter 29
Back to Bogota
We all piled into the helicopter in silence as we laid Agent Abbasi down at our feet. The commando laying on his side with his rear bandaged reached over Abbasi with one free hand and made the sign of the cross as he said a blessing. Agent Redford broke down and started to sob.
She cried unapologetically for a few minutes. It was all we needed to know that she had found someone special in this country. Someone that was on her side that she had trusted. Although she did not speak of this bond publicly, her emotions could not be contained as he lay at her feet. Her friend, her companion was taken away unfairly and all too suddenly.
Arya started crying next. Likely from being caught up in her friends’ emotional loss as well as the loss of Andy earlier in the week. We have all been through a great deal these past two weeks. It was starting to wear on us.
Holliday played it off a bit with a handkerchief he pulled out, wiping his brow of dirt and sweet before touching the corner of his eyes.
Lauren and I locked eyes for a moment and were determined to only show anger for what this cartel continued to put people through. I wanted to catch Tazario and put a burning white first through his chest.
Lauren pulled the microphone close to her mouth for others to hear her through their comms over the Blackhawks engine.
She led with, “Satellite showed three vehicles came from the north to attack us, one of them continued over the bridge into Venezuela a few minutes later.”
“That’s the son-of-a-bitch that did this. It could be Taz. Can we get clearance to follow?” Holliday interjected.
Arya jumped in. “Unfortunately, no. We are under strict orders to not enter Venezuela for any reasons.”
“That’s Bullshit! Can we let the Colombian’s make that call? We wind up where the helicopter lands, right?” Holliday gave his attempt to persuade and plead with the team. We were all thinking the same but cooler heads prevailed.
Lauren continued. “Three other vehicles left the same house and went southwest. I think those might be ELN, as they are heading on some backroads not even on maps, taking them deeper into the Colombian Amazon.”
We all nodded, so she knew we heard and agreed to not prioritize the ELN group at the moment. Although, I’m sure the pilot would like to veer overhead and send a barrage of bullets into the ELN caravan if he could.
“Then there is this one SUV that left the house traveling northwest towards Route 40, which leads back to Bogota.” Lauren pointed to her laptop showing the vehicle’s route. “Check this out.” She tapped on the keyboard and up came a zoomed-in imagine showing a man and four women exit the house and get into the SUV before leaving the area.
“I think that might be Taz,” Lauren suggested.
“Why?” I asked. The image was not enough to identify anyone.
“Because all the information I have read and seen tells me he is insecure and must always have one or more women around him at all times. I think he took the bait and came to the meeting with these women,” Lauren explained.
“So, we hit the house, look for Taz and Tiki, get these two some medical help, then follow that SUV?” Holliday questioned the group.
“Seems like the logical path. It should be really easy catching up to the SUV in this bird,” I replied to him and for my reassurance as I looked at the injured Agent Redford and the commando for their agreement.
When we landed on the lawn of the hacienda minutes later, we split into two assault teams and took the house from the east and west. Within minutes it was over. We found the property littered with dead bodies of cartel guards. All of them were killed with a bullet to the head and chest. A team of professionals came through here. The meeting was not a civil one.
There were no dead ELN guerrillas in fatigues, leaving us to wonder if the ELN did the executions. The only other explanation would have been a power struggle between Tiki and Tazario, but neither were found dead on the premises.
“This makes no damn sense. I don’t know about y’all, but this guy is getting on my nerves,” Holliday confessed. “Every time we come within a half-mile of him, he slides out the back.”
“Well, he is on a road with only two destinations now. Bogota to the west, or Puerto Carreno to the northeast,” Lauren reminded him.
“Unless the occupants of the SUV turn out to be decoy people we chase down by mistake,” Holliday said with noticeable frustration at the cat and mouse game afoot.
Lauren took the bait of the angry Tom Holliday, “Like whom?”
“I don’t know. Like a pimp. Like the family of the Hacienda fleeing for their lives, like…” Holliday was cut off.
“Alright. Alright, I get it. Don’t take it out on me, buddy,” Lauren told him as she playfully pushed his shoulder a couple of times to get him to start walking it off.
The town of Casuarito was left a mess this evening. Bodies everywhere. With only one working civilian policeman in Casuarito who was likely hiding from all the gunfire, explosions, and Blackhawk activity, the town would need help in the morning.
The Army pilots radioed the Puerto Carreño municipality 50 miles north of us to have professionals and Policía come by in the morning to clean up the two sites. The pilots also informed them we had two gunshot victims coming to them.
We thought it best to get our team member's medical attention sooner versus later. We planned to quickly drop them off in Puerto Carreño hospital, then immediately take off again in pursuit of Tazario.
Agent Redford and the commando could catch a flight back to Bogota in the next day or two when deemed fit to travel.
After spending a few minutes taking pictures of the scene and looking for anything useful at the house, we rejoined the others on the Blackhawk.
We immediately noticed that the pilots had put Agent Abbasi in a body bag, as they knew we had to transport him to a major city as soon as possible for proper processing.
It was a 50-mile flight to Puerto Carreño, and we made it there in 20 minutes. With no pl
ace but the airport to land in the city, it took another 20 minutes to land and get our people into an ambulance and on their way to the nearby hospital.
The Army pilots and gunner stayed at the airport and insisted on a quick refueling from the ground crew. A heated discussion broke out about the limited amount of Jet fuel held at this airport, which the Blackhawk required. They had plenty of Avgas, but that wouldn’t help the Blackhawk. The ground crew was reluctant to give it all to the Army.
Lauren and Holliday stayed behind with the Helicopter crew to referee the debate. Arya and I accompanied Agent Redford, the wounded commando, and our fallen CIA comrade to the hospital.
Once Arya knew her friend was in good hands with a doctor and in no life-threatening medical situation, we made transportation arrangements for the three of them for two days later. Agent Abbasi was secured in the hospital under guard until Agent Redford was well enough to accompany his body in transport back to Bogota before off to Dover Air Force Base.
Upon arrival in Delaware, a dignified transfer would take place honoring the remains of our fallen CIA friend. Senior CIA officers and designated members of their Administration, Intelligence, and Operations teams would be there to observe and carry their fellow service member from the airplane to the awaiting vehicle.
We all wish we could be there for both Andy and Agent Abbasi’s dignified transfers, but we knew they would be in good hands until we attended their memorial services later.
With tending to our injured and fallen the best we could in the field, and no luck at the hacienda, we were now an hour behind the presumably fleeing Tazario on route 40.
After airborne again and heading west towards Bogota, Lauren shared a troubling update.
“I did not want to say anything earlier, but you have to know...” she warned us before continuing. “Both the pilot and I have confirmed that we have another helicopter or plane in the air that left just north of Casuarito, around the same path that our SUV crossed.”
“This does not sound good,” Holliday said.
