by Matt Lincoln
“You’re really raining on my parade.” I recognized the smooth voice in my ear, where the earpiece was nestled in comfortably.
“Header,” I acknowledged, “thanks for leaving me behind.”
He chuckled into my ear, and a glance at Holm told me he heard this conversation, too. “You caught up quickly, though. I shouldn’t be surprised. You take your job pretty damn seriously.”
“Where are you?” I asked sharply. If ever there was a time to get right to the point, it was now.
“To your left,” I heard, and Holm and I whipped our heads over in that direction. I saw a slight movement down on the other side of the path, and with a quick nod of agreement between Holm and I, we made our way over to where Header and Rosa were hidden.
“The two men with machine guns are only a small fraction of the number of people inside,” Header announced in a hushed tone almost immediately after we arrived. Rosa was peering out between the branches, and I recognized the intense focus in her eyes. It was the same focus I had embodied myself when on important missions. It was something that had stuck with me since back in my days in the SEALs, and I saw the SEALs in her eyes as well.
“Do we have a plan?” Holm asked, his eyes constantly scanning our perimeter.
Header grunted noncommittally. “We need more serious ammunition. You’d think if they had a secret location on a separate island, security would be a bit more relaxed.”
“Yeah, I wasn’t expecting machine guns either,” I admitted, my hand dripping to the pistol on my hip as a response.
Header nodded curtly. “Let’s head back to Wraith and dig out some more serious firepower. I’m not going in outgunned.”
Holm and I quickly followed Header back down to Wraith, where Rosa pulled out a powerful long gun for each of the four of us. Header hoisted each one up to Holm and I as we stood amid the roots of the ceiba tree, and then we helped Header and Rosa climb back up. Once we had all situated ourselves and strapped the firearms to our chests, we made our way back through the forest, setting up behind a rather large flowering bush to resume our position.
“We sent the drone up before you got here,” Header muttered as we settled into place. “There are ten people inside, plus the two outside. That’s a dozen people we need to handle.”
Rosa signed something beside him. Her expression was neutral, but her hand movements were rapid and hurried.
“You’re right,” Header acknowledged. “Two of them are supposed to be Miguel and Maria. If that’s the case, then we have ten people to contend with.”
“If that’s not the case, then we have twelve people to contend with, and we are nowhere closer to finding these poor kids,” Holm groaned. “How sure are we that this is real?”
“Sure enough,” Header replied confidently, patting the rifle that was strapped securely across his chest. “Are you two ready?”
I gripped my rifle firmly, my index finger stretched flat alongside the trigger for safety. After a quick glance at Holm, I nodded. “We are champing at the bit here.”
After a brief recap of the plan by Header, we went our separate ways, sneaking through the foliage to get the best vantage point and clearest entrance through the trees. I kept my head on a swivel, and Holm stayed close behind me as we crept closer to the far end of the building.
The guard at our end had his back pressed against the corrugated metal wall of the building, his hands shoved deep in his pockets as he stared blankly down at the ground. I found a good spot and turned to Holm, who nodded his approval as we crouched down and waited for Header’s command. I remained crouched in position, my toes pressing into the ground, ready to launch at any given moment. Beside me, Holm was doing the same, and we scanned the area together to ensure there wouldn’t be any surprises.
“Go!” Header’s voice was whispered yet sharp, and Holm and I immediately sprung up from our position, launching forward toward the guard. His head whipped in our direction, an expression of pure shock on his face as he registered what had just happened, and before he could get a firm grip on his rifle, Holm and I were too close.
Holm slipped behind the guard just as I decked him across the face. His stubble scraped against my knuckles as I struck him, and at the same time, Holm caught him in the back of the knees. The guard’s knees buckled as he fell to the ground, his knees hitting the dirt with a dull thud. He recovered surprisingly quickly though, sending a fist into my gut, knocking the wind out of me for a moment, but Holm was fast with his response, sending his knee into the guard’s lower back, forcing him down to the ground. A small cloud of dust flew up around him as he fell, and Holm planted his knee on the man’s back to keep him down.
Knowing that his rifle was still secured to his chest, I rushed over and cuffed him behind his back before hoisting him back up to his knees. Holm unclipped the rifle sling from the guard’s chest and tossed the rifle into the bushes while I checked the rest of his gear. After chucking a pistol and a couple of knives, we pulled him up to standing and tied him up to a nearby tree.
“Ellos saben que estás aquí,” he growled threateningly, spitting down at our boots.
“Sure, man, whatever,” I mumbled, but one look at Holm told me he took the man’s words a bit more seriously.
“Marston.” Header’s hushed voice called sharply out from behind me, and I turned to see him and Rosa coming up to us, looking no worse for the wear.
“You ready?” I asked quietly, ready to burst through the front door.
“They know we’re coming,” Holm muttered, and our heads all snapped toward him.
“What?” Header answered sharply, and Rosa’s wide eyes reflected his thoughts.
Holm looked over at me and jabbed his thumb back at our captor. “That’s what he said.”
Header looked up to the roof of the building, and my eyes followed him. Neither of us saw any sign of cameras, but Rosa slapped Header’s arm roughly and repeatedly until she had his attention. She pointed up into the branches of a nearby tree. We were still as we searched, but one by one, we recognized it. A small, green glint of a camera.
The guard barked out a rough laugh. “You Americans send drones everywhere.” His voice was heavily accented, but we understood enough. “You think we don’t notice. You think we don’t know you will come back. So we put up camera. So we can see.”
That explained it. There was no way that Xavier would have missed this, but if it was installed after his drone trip, it gave them an advantage that we hadn’t foreseen.
“We just lost the element of surprise,” I pointed out unhelpfully.
“They haven’t come out to strike yet,” Header whispered. “They’re waiting for us.”
“We’re walking into a fight,” Holm muttered.
My smile almost split my face in two as a rush of adrenaline surged through me. “That proves it. Miguel and Maria are here, and they’re alive.”
Chapter 32: Ethan
We didn’t have much of a choice other than charging forward. They knew we were here, and we had no idea whether they could hear us or not. I stole a glance toward Rosa and kicked myself for not learning at least some sign language before this. That was a skill that would really come in handy in a moment like this.
With one last determined look at each other, Header led the pack, and we all burst through the front door, rifles aimed in front of us. Immediately, a hailstorm of bullets rained down on us, and we all ducked back out, looking for cover. In the fraction of a second that I had been in there, I had seen enough. There were four men standing across the space shooting at us. Behind them, two men were holding hostages against their chests, with pistols pressed against their temples. The two hostages were young, one male, one female.
Miguel and Maria.
They were shooting at us, and we couldn’t shoot back without the risk of hitting either Miguel or Maria. We also knew that they had no qualms about killing Miguel. Maria, on the other hand, at least had the advantage of being Angel Gonzalez’s daught
er. Without any indication of a strained relationship, I was willing to bet that they wouldn’t pull the trigger on her. If they did, they’d have to answer to their boss, and they wouldn’t live long enough to hear the conclusion of that conversation. We just needed to be sure Miguel didn’t get caught up in the crossfire.
I looked across the open doorway to Header, who had already drawn his pistol for ease of movement and accuracy in the tight quarters. The rest of the three of us did the same. When Header whipped around the corner, revealing only his head and shoulders along with his pistol, he fired several shots before pulling back around the corner. As soon as he pulled back, Holm leaned in to get his shots off. Rosa was at the ready after him, and when she pulled back, I pitched forward to take my turn.
Miguel was closer to the left side of the space, so I aimed to the right. I winged one of the shooters, but I knew it wouldn’t deter him. I pulled back, but the vibrations of the wall pressed against my back reminded me of one important fact.
This wall wasn’t bulletproof. Nothing had pierced the metal yet, but it was bound to at any moment. We needed to move. This wasn’t the place for a standoff.
I dropped down to the ground and made my way along the long edge of the building. About halfway down, there was a small window about three-quarters of the way up the wall. I couldn’t peer right into the building, as it was above my eye level, but there was a lip at the bottom of the wall just big enough to plant the balls of my feet onto. I hoisted myself up and noticed a wire mesh covering the window. The openings were large enough to work with, and I was now behind the row of four men that were shooting at my team. The two men with the pistols, however, would notice me if only they looked up. I prayed they wouldn’t.
With one deep, bracing breath, I placed the barrel of my pistol through one of the openings, aimed at the farthest shooter, and pressed the trigger. The recoil damn near knocked me backward since I was balanced on my toes, but I hit my target. I heard a thud as he hit the ground, and I quickly steadied myself and aimed again, just as the rest of the crew realized I was there. I saw movement out of the corner of my eyes as I pressed the trigger again, and I hit the second shooter in the chest.
He dropped to his knees, but with all eyes on me now, my time was up. Just before I hopped down off the sill, I glanced over to see what the movement had been. Miguel’s captor had pulled Miguel to the side in order to yell something at one of his accomplices, and as I watched, a round pierced through the fabric of his shirt. His eyes widened in alarm as he loosened his grip on Miguel in order to clutch his own chest, and Miguel took advantage of the chaos, running toward the entrance.
It all happened so fast, and I went from up on the sill to flat on the ground eating dirt in the blink of an eye. Rounds whizzed overhead as they tried to take me down, but I army-crawled back toward the entrance to get a different vantage point.
The scene was different from when I’d left it. Rosa was flat on the ground, clutching her abdomen and wincing in pain. Header’s eyes flashed with anger as he continued to shoot, and Holm had dropped down to the ground so that they could both clear the doorway at the same time.
“Come on,” Holm called out as he reached one hand in through the doorway and pulled Miguel out. Another flurry of bullets followed Miguel out the door, and he stumbled as one caught his leg. He cried out in pain and dropped to his knees, but I wasn’t about to let him stop now. I pushed myself to my feet and raced past the open doorway, scooping Miguel up by the waist as I ran. I tossed him down on the ground beside Rosa. It wasn’t a safe position, but it was the closest thing to safe we had at the moment.
The shooting ceased, and Header and Holm both headed in through the doorway. I took a couple of steps backward to peer inside and saw five bodies on the ground, leaving only the man with his pistol pressed to Maria’s temple. I couldn’t be sure, but it looked like he hadn’t moved throughout the entire firefight.
Knowing I wouldn’t be any help in there, I holstered my pistol and turned my attention back to Rosa and Miguel. I ran to Rosa first, but her vest had taken the brunt of the hit, and nothing had pierced her skin. She pushed me away angrily and pointed toward Miguel, who was writhing on the ground in pain. I shifted over to him, ripping the fabric of his pants so that I could better assess the wound. I saw Rosa waving at me as I worked, but before I could look over at her, I felt something cold and hard pressed against the back of my head.
“Who do you think you are?” a chilly, calculated voice muttered behind me. I froze in place as I locked eyes with Miguel. His dark eyes were swimming with fear as he stared up and over my shoulder.
I opened my palms and slowly raised them above my head in a show of surrender as I tried to calculate the best next move. Before I could make one, though, cracks filled the air as more shots were fired. I cringed as I braced for impact, and when I didn’t get hit, I dove once more to the ground to keep myself out of the literal line of fire. I flipped onto my back and yanked my pistol out of its holster in one swift movement, aiming it toward the spot I’d just been threatened from. Instead, I saw a man running into the forest, weaving through the trees in the direction of our boats. I didn’t think it was a coincidence that he chose to run in that particular direction, and my stomach lurched as I realized that our boats weren’t the only things in jeopardy.
Alejandra was on the boat.
Holm rushed to my side, slightly out of breath, and roughly grabbed my shoulder with his free hand.
“You okay?” he muttered as he followed my gaze into the forest.
“I’m fine,” I sighed, my words tumbling out in a rush. “Miguel is not fine, and Alejandra is about to be in trouble.”
I heard a snap and looked behind me to see Rosa snapping to get our attention. She pointed to herself and Miguel and then gestured toward us and the boat.
“You’ll stay here with Miguel while we chase after that man?” I clarified, and Rosa nodded adamantly.
Holm and I stood up to find Header exiting the building with a very weak-looking Maria, but I didn’t slow to help him, and neither did Holm, thankfully. We ran as quickly as we could through the trees, struggling to catch up to him through the overgrown foliage. When the leaves opened up to expose the beach, the man was standing on one of the exposed roots of the ceiba tree, and down below, I saw Alejandra on the main deck with tears in her eyes. Beside her, Carlos Abreu had his fingers tangled in her hair, and he yanked her head back as he spoke to her. I could see the fear in her eyes from all the way back in the trees, and my gut twisted as I realized there was very little I could do from back here.
The man who had run from us eased himself down off the roots and into the boat, and as Holm and I stumbled over the stray branches and rocks that littered the beach, the two men had managed to get the boat started, and Abreu pulled away from the island with Alejandra on board. She looked back toward the beach, and for a moment, she locked eyes with me, and I hoped she had faith that I would be able to save her.
“Now what?” Holm shouted as we reached the ceiba tree.
I didn’t answer. Instead, I looked down at the glossy black paint of Wraith. Abreu and his partner, who I assumed was Angel Gonzalez, would never have been able to penetrate Wraith’s shell, although I doubted they even knew what they’d been looking at. One glance at Alejandra would have drawn them to Hector’s boat since it already came with a promising bargaining chip. It was unfortunate for them that they’d soon find themselves on the opposite side of a fight with Wraith, although it was unfortunate for me that Header wasn’t here to do something about it right at that moment.
I suddenly recalled more details about the day that Header had gotten injured on Wraith’s deck. He’d been able to hand limited controls of the stealth boat over to me when he needed to. Of course, I had no way of knowing just how many weapons systems or tactical advantages I’d be locked out of if I attempted to regain control of this thing now, and I wrestled with my options for a moment as I balanced on an exposed root.
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“I see what you’re thinking, Marston!” I heard Header’s voice from across the beach, and when I turned, I saw him heading toward us while Rosa and Maria helped Miguel hobble across the sand behind him.
“Help me,” I pleaded, not wasting my breath on a retort.
He was right. I was thinking exactly what he thought I was, and I wasn’t about to apologize for thinking about stealing his boat. Not when Alejandra’s life was on the line.
“Let’s go, then,” Header growled as he climbed up beside us and let us down into Wraith.
With the hatch completely lowered, it was easy to ease Miguel onto the deck, and Maria and Rosa dropped down on either side of him. Header quickly started up the engine, and we were gliding across the gorgeous clear water in no time at all. Rosa yanked out her medic kit and began doing a much more thorough job on Miguel’s leg since she now had all of the equipment she needed. Maria looked a bit lost, scared, and terrified all at once, but she quietly sank into one of the seats near where Miguel was lying, remaining silent and vigilant.
As for myself, I immediately scrambled up to the helm beside Header.
“They went in that direction!” I shouted, and Header threw the throttle forward and raced out to sea in the direction I’d pointed.
“Hey, Marston,” Holm announced calmly once we were well underway, “this is the point where objectivity comes into play. This isn’t just a rescue mission for Alejandra. We need to catch these guys, preferably alive. We need to keep a cool head about this.”
“Alejandra?” I turned to see Miguel propped up on his elbows, looking up at us with concern stitched into his furrowed brows. “They have my sister?”
“Yes,” I replied as matter-of-factly as I could. “She was supposed to wait on the boat out of sight, but things didn’t go as planned.”
