by Matt Lincoln
“I’ll remember that!” I shouted over my shoulder. A night out sounded like the perfect way to unwind after this work week, and I couldn’t be more excited to discover a new corner of the island at the same time.
Saturday came quickly, and I dressed a bit more casually since I didn’t need to prep for a motorcycle ride. My jean shorts paired well with my flowy turquoise shirt that hung lazily off one shoulder. I slipped on some sandals and shoved a few thoughtfully-positioned bobby pins into my otherwise loose, curly hair to keep it out of my face. With my wallet in my pocket, I headed out to the housing community, parking my Jeep out front precisely at seven.
Slade skipped out of her house, her hair bouncing in tight curls around her head, and artfully applied makeup on her face. It was amazing how different we all looked out of uniform. She came up to my Jeep with a huge grin on her face.
“I am so excited you’re coming with us!” she squealed. “You’re going to love it, it is a ton of fun!” She looked down the block when something caught her eye. “Oh good, they’re here.”
I turned to look in the same direction and saw the rest of my team walking up the block, illuminated by my headlights. They were chattering loudly amongst themselves until they approached my Jeep.
“Hey, Linda’s here!” Murphy shouted as the crew gathered around. “You driving?”
“I can,” I replied happily. “Hop in!”
Murphy hopped in the back with Rogers and Rodriguez, and Slade hopped in the front with me.
“Where’s Sanchez and Perez?” I asked, surprised to find that the person who had extended the invite was nowhere to be found.
“Oh, Sanchez’s friends are still here. They’ll meet us there. Perez is with them.” Slade grinned widely at me as she made the announcement.
I grinned to myself, knowing that I might run into Chris again tonight. I had a great time at Slade’s house last time, and I had hoped for the opportunity to spend more time with Chris. Looked like my hopes were coming true.
“Alright then, here we go!” I called out as I shifted into drive. “Oh, by the way, I have no idea where I’m going.”
“I’ll direct you,” Slade assured me, and we headed out to Condado amidst cheers from the backseat.
17
Linda
La Placita really was exactly how Sanchez had described it. The streets were mobbed with people, and the bars had patrons pouring out the doors. It was a bit tricky finding a parking spot, but once I did, we meandered through the crowd, sticking together the best we could. The sun had set by the time we arrived with allowed the humidity to dissipate and leave behind a perfect warm breeze. By some serious stroke of luck, we found Perez with Sanchez and his friends almost immediately.
“Hey, guys!” Perez shouted over the heads of the crowd. “Come this way, we’re getting a round of drinks!”
We all wrestled our way into the corner he had claimed and found Sanchez, Josh, Dan, Amy, and Chris waiting there for us.
“Hey, you,” Chris said to me with a grin. “How’ve you been? Up your dart game yet?”
I snorted. “Not at all, actually. Figured I’d keep it a level playing field.”
Chris laughed heartily. “Fair enough.”
Perez came back with a round of beers and began to hand them out to us. It was a tight squeeze, and once we all had a beer in our hands, Slade took the lead.
“Hey, guys, follow me!” She started slowly making her way back through the crowd, and we all found some way to stay connected to each other to avoid getting separated. Chris placed his hand gently on my shoulder, and I felt a tingle down my spine when he did. I knew Chris wasn’t going to be around for much longer, but damn if I wasn’t attracted to the guy.
Slade led us to the edge of a makeshift dance floor, across from a small stage where a band was playing. It was upbeat Spanish music, and multiple couples had cleared a path with their well-choreographed dance routines. I stood back and watched, fascinated with their ease of movement. I had never managed to make my dancing not look awkward, so for me, this was truly impressive.
“Come on, let’s dance!” Murphy grabbed Slade and dragged her onto the dance floor, and Dan and Amy followed. The rest of the guys followed suit, and Chris turned back to me on his way there to encourage me to join them.
“Ahh, what the hell!” I shouted and skipped onto the dance floor with them, deciding I did not care what anyone thought of my dance skills.
We all danced for a few songs as Sanchez and Rodriguez goofed off together throughout the set. Perez matched their makeshift breakdancing with some real breakdance moves of his own, and Slade showed everyone she knew how to Salsa. Chris caught my eyes and waved me over, and I side-stepped over to him as quickly as I could.
“Dan and Amy want refills on their beers,” Chris leaned in and shouted into my ear. “Do you want to join us?”
I lifted my beer bottle up and rocked it around slightly to see how much more I had left. Whatever beer was left sloshed lazily against the bottom of the glass. I leaned in toward Chris.
“Yeah, let’s go!” I shouted over the noise, pulling my head back to meet his eyes and nodding for good measure.
We all squeezed out of the crowd the same way we had gotten through earlier, except this time, Chris opted to take my hand and didn’t let go right away once the crowd broke. It wasn’t until the crowd had thinned significantly that he loosened his grip enough for me to slip away. I turned to look at him. His black hair poked up at odd angles, yet was still glossy enough to reflect the glow from the streetlights.
We found a bar on the corner that was buzzing with activity. The oversized front doors were swung completely open, and a mob of people poured out of the doorway, everyone chatting and drinking and dancing right on the sidewalk. We squeezed inside, where I found an empty corner of the bar to nestle up against until I could catch the attention of the bartender. Amy squeezed in next to me, leaving Dan and Chris to hang back.
Amy had long blonde hair that cascaded over her shoulders in soft waves, and very pale blue eyes that almost seemed colorless. She was on the short side, probably a bit over five feet tall, but I got the impression that she didn’t let that hold her back from anything. Sure enough, she leaned in and got the attention of the bartender way quicker than I would have on my own, and she ordered us all another round of beers before settling back onto her heels.
Fresh drinks in our hands, we made our way through the building. There was a dance floor in this bar as well, and a nice crowd was filling the space, dancing along to the lively Spanish tunes blaring from the speakers. Chris grabbed my hand and pulled me with him. I followed him onto the crowded dance floor, and he spun me around before pulling me close, sliding his arm around my waist as we swayed with the music. I put my head on his shoulder as we danced and enjoyed the feel of his body against mine until he pulled me back and twirled me around again so that he could pull me back in.
I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket, but I was having too much fun to care. It wasn’t until after we walked off the dance floor that I pulled out my phone to check my missed call. Seeing that it was Jake, I figured I ought to return his call. It could be cartel-related.
I turned to Chris and leaned into his ear. “I need to step out and make a phone call,” I shouted.
“I’ll go out with you, so we don’t get separated,” he replied into my ear, and we made our way slowly out the door.
It was significantly quieter outside, and Chris gave me the space to make my call. Jake answered almost immediately.
“What are you doing?” he asked.
“I’m out in La Placita tonight with my team,” I replied cheerfully. “What are you doing?”
“Oh, nice! I’m down in Colombia,” Jake replied simply. “When are you getting underway again?”
“Next week.” My response was a bit more businesslike than the last one. “Why do you ask?”
“Trying to plan a few things,” he said vaguely. “Do me a favor, whe
n you do get underway, check your email as often as possible.”
“My email? What am I looking for?” I took a sip of beer as I scanned the crowd. The partygoers were all swaying and dancing and chatting over each other, and the colorful lighting and upbeat music lent a joyous vibe to the entire block.
“Coordinates and dates,” Jake replied simply. “Be at that place at that time, and be ready.”
“You’re my secret source of information,” I gushed. “That’s cool, although not the way we usually go about things.”
“You know I can’t go about things like other people.” Jake’s voice sounded impatient as if I should already know this. Of course, he was right.
“Yes, I know,” I replied thoughtfully. “I’ll have to do this strategically from my end, so no one asks too many questions.”
“I know I can count on you,” he replied smoothly. “Just be careful, you know?”
“Absolutely, I will,” I assured him. “I know how important this is. We can’t mess this up.”
“Exactly. Alright, I’ll keep you posted.” I heard rustling in the background and wondered what Jake was up to.
“Sounds good, talk to you later,” I replied as I hung up the phone. I turned to find Chris a few paces from me, watching the enthusiastic crowd and casually sipping his beer. I sauntered up to him, and he noticed my approach as I got closer.
“Everything okay?” he asked, his brow furrowed slightly in concern.
“Oh yeah, just a good friend of mine.” I shrugged dismissively. “Nothing serious.”
Appeased, Chris offered me a huge grin, grabbed my hand, and pulled me out onto the street, where a small crowd had broken out into dance. The awkwardness that I usually felt melted away as I gave in to the music, and before long, we were well into a groove, laughing as we went.
I lost track of time after a while, and slowly, our group began converging on our little spot in the street. I felt an elbow to the ribs and turned to see Slade winking at me as Chris danced his way closer to me, his hands wrapping around my waist. I laughed and kept dancing, enjoying the festive atmosphere. At some point, one of my team members replaced my empty beer bottle with a full one.
The warm air did nothing to take the edge off of our drinks, so when the time came, Murphy called for a cab to come to pick us up and bring us all home. I knew I’d need to get back here in the morning to get my Jeep, but the evening had been perfect, and I considered it a small price to pay.
I crashed on Slade’s incredibly comfortable couch that night and woke up the next morning to find a toothbrush, water bottle, and a bottle of aspirin on the coffee table beside me. I was incredibly grateful. I quickly brushed my teeth and slipped out of her house before she woke up, calling for a cab to take me back to La Placita for my car as I left.
I drove home in the early sunrise and spent my Sunday relaxing at home, reminiscing over my time here in Puerto Rico so far. Now that I was unpacked and settled and had a crew to hang out with, it was truly beginning to feel like home.
18
Jake
“Well, it’s your own damn fault,” Doc said as he wrapped my hand carefully before tossing me a bag of frozen peas. “Put that on it, and be a little more careful. It’s going to be kind of hard to operate if you keep injuring various limbs.”
I looked down at my knuckles, which were now wrapped in gauze and tape. It wasn’t a serious injury, and I would be fine in a few days, but the hotel room wall hadn’t done me any favors.
“Sorry, Doc,” I muttered through gritted teeth as I flexed my fingers to test my dexterity. “I got to the point of seriously regretting taking this mission on.”
“Well, you did take it on, and now we’re all here in Colombia doing our jobs.” Doc cleaned up the countertop of all of the first-aid supplies that he had torn into earlier. “You need to stop taking this so personally. I understand that your friend is involved, which puts you on edge, but that’s the kind of thing that puts lives in danger. So, either get it together or leave, and we do this without you.” Doc’s usual calm and cool voice was replaced with something much sharper as he jabbed a pointer finger in my direction.
“If I leave, Wraith leaves with me,” I retorted. I was confident they wouldn’t be okay with that.
“We would still be safer!” Doc’s voice rose, which snapped me back to reality. Doc never yelled as a rule. “Emotions have no place in this.”
“Okay, you’re right,” I conceded. “I’m sorry. That’s the last… probably the last… outburst I’ll have.”
Doc narrowed his eyes at me.
“Okay. The last one. I promise. I’ll keep my composure.” I slapped the bag of frozen peas onto my knuckles and looked at the wall. Of course, I had punched the corner, which had support, so even though it was cracked now, it was still very solid, unlike the skin of my knuckles currently. I hoped the hotel staff wouldn’t notice.
We had two double rooms for this part of the mission. We were mostly collecting intel, so I didn’t see a need to go overboard with support staff, although I did have several people waiting by their phones in case my plans changed. I, of course, needed Xavier here for tech and security details, and Doc for medical issues. Rosa was also here, as she always was. She was a great partner and also had an EMT background, so she could fill multiple roles and switch back and forth as needed.
I looked up at Doc. The gray on his temples was a sharp contrast to the dark brown of the rest of his hair, and it had infiltrated his goatee as well. His light brown eyes danced playfully around the room as he tried to account for all of the medical equipment he had brought in here.
“Alright,” he replied as he packed his bag up. “Try not to get into any more trouble before Rosa gets back.”
“Sure thing, Doc,” I mumbled as he grabbed his bag and left to go back to his room.
I sat down at the computer chair and swiveled around to face my laptop. The screen was still open to the research I had been doing on the biggest and most aggressive cartel Colombia had seen in a very long time.
The Dias Cartel had grown quickly and aggressively, and Santiago Días had built it from the ground up. As with any rise to the top, there were multiple hurdles, and Santiago had plowed right through them all. Any competition quickly dwindled in the bloodbath that had accompanied his growth. They didn’t even need to be active threats. In my research, I discovered that he would get trigger-happy over even the hint of a threat, and he didn’t wait for proof. I had thought about Linda at this point, and the wall had taken the brunt of my wrath.
This guy did not play games, and I did not want Linda in the middle of this. Unfortunately, I had already set a chain of events in motion, and I knew we needed her crew to help us, so we were pretty committed to our plan. I only hoped that it was a solid-enough plan to protect Linda from the brunt of the violence.
From what I’d gathered so far, the Días Cartel was looking to flood the Caribbean waters with their product, knowing that the Coast Guard would catch some of it. They had done a lot of calculations and were prepared to take a financial hit from the Coast Guard busts, but they hadn’t anticipated this volume of interceptions. It looked like they were strategizing and planning to take their product through a different route to avoid the Coast Guard altogether and recoup their losses.
Because of this, I decided it would be ideal to have Linda intervene as often as possible on their new route. Theoretically, if they don’t know the connection between her and me, they wouldn’t know or care that the same boat kept stopping them. Linda would stay safe, but by throwing off their routine and showing them their miscalculations, I was hoping that they would be disorganized enough to amplify the effects of our raids.
The next step was to figure out exactly what their new route would be so that I could get coordinates to Linda and get started on this mission.
19
Linda
I stood over the foot of my bed, looking over all of the items I needed to pack. My canvas bag was
sprawled out on one side of the bed, awaiting my decisions. I grabbed my dark blue uniforms, ensuring I had three of everything, and then added a pair of jeans and my worn-in stretch pants. I grabbed a few extra t-shirts, and then added a new container of hair gel to replace the empty one I had left on the boat. Now I would have everything I needed for work, as well as for my days off. My snack stash was still pretty well-stocked, and I had laundry detergent onboard already, so I was confident I had everything I needed.
Once I zipped the bag up and placed it by the front door, I did one more walkthrough of my apartment to be sure I hadn’t forgotten anything before collapsing on the couch and turning on the television. With Netflix mindlessly playing in the background, I looked back over the past couple of weeks. I was really growing to love my team, and I was even more excited that I would be joining them out on the small boat for this patrol. We all seemed to mesh together well, and I couldn’t ask for a better team behind me for my mission with Jake.
Speaking of Jake, I knew I would need to keep close tabs on my emails while out on patrol. I did not want to miss an opportunity to jump into action. I was worried about him, especially with that limp that he refused to elaborate on, and I hoped he was handling it all alright by himself.
Of course, he is handling it alright, I thought to myself. He does this for a living.
Jake Header may have the experience and skills necessary to pull this off, but it wouldn’t stop me from worrying about him. I’d known him for pretty much our entire lives, so it stood to reason that I’d worry about his safety. I thought about giving him a call to check in on him but opted instead for a simple text. If he was in the middle of something covert down in Colombia, I did not want to interrupt anything.
Hey Jake, just checking in. Getting underway tomorrow, will keep tabs on things from my end.
