Bracing for the Storm

by Matt Lincoln

  “Thank you, sir,” Watson replied confidently. I echoed his words with a grin.

  “Alright, you two.” CO Morris stood up and clapped his hands together to signify the end of the meeting. “I will reach out with concrete ideas if I need anything further from you. In the meantime, keep it up.”

  “Yes, sir, will do, sir!” I stood up to shake his hand. Watson joined me, and we said our goodbyes, heading back out of the building into the warm air.

  “Thank you, Reyes,” Watson said casually as we strolled back to the parking lot to our respective vehicles.

  “I don’t know what I did, sir, but I’ll keep doing it,” I replied, smiling against the sun. “Thank you for the opportunity.”

  “Enjoy your days off,” Watson said by way of goodbye, before heading over to his car.

  I hopped in my Jeep, undid the clasps that held my soft top down, and dropped the top. After securing it, I hopped in and took off through Old San Juan, enjoying the warm breeze through my hair as I clambered through the cobblestone streets. I was thrilled with how everything was going so far, and could not wait to get home and call Jake.

  23

  Linda

  Jake didn’t answer his phone, but that did little to dampen my excitement. I opened up a bottle of wine, poured myself a generous glass, and typed out a quick text to the crew.

  Tomorrow, 11 am departure, heading to kiosks and beach in Luquillo. Who is in?

  I put my phone down and headed into my bedroom to dig out my bathing suit and begin packing for tomorrow. If no one replied, I would go by myself, although I did hope a small group would join me.

  My phone chimed multiple times in the kitchen as I finished throwing a spare outfit in my bag. I zipped it shut, slid it off the mattress and down onto the floor, then grabbed my wine glass on my way out of the room. When I got to the kitchen counter, I was greeted with five responses.

  Slade, Murphy, Rodriguez, Rogers, and Perez all confirmed. Rogers and Perez would be bringing their wives, making our total eight people. I set the meeting place for in front of Slade’s house, and once the plans were solidified, I sat on my couch to relax with my wine, bringing the bottle with me.

  I woke up the next morning with a slight headache and a crick in my neck from falling asleep on the couch. When I found the bottle, it was half empty. I groaned. Wine headaches were never pleasant. I stumbled into the bathroom to dig some Advils out of the cabinet before getting myself ready to go.

  It was smart of me to pack the night before, since not having an alarm set put me a bit behind schedule, but I still managed to pull up to Slade’s house with a full stomach and a few minutes to spare. There was a black Jeep parked in the driveway, and most of my team was gathered under the carport chatting over disposable coffee cups.

  “Hey, girl,” Slade said cheerfully as she handed me a full cup of coffee.

  “Damn, you’re prepared,” I replied with a grin.

  She smirked. “Come on, you should know me by now!” She looked around behind me, and her mouth moved silently as she counted the heads under her carport.

  “Awesome, we are only missing Rogers and his wife,” she concluded. “He already texted me, he said he’d be about five minutes late.”

  “Great,” I agreed. “Whose Jeep is that?”

  “Oh, that’s ours.” Perez walked over with a gorgeous blonde woman by his side. “This is my wife, Kathryn. Kathryn, Linda, and Debra.” He gestured to each of us in turn.

  “Hey, guys,” Kathryn smiled warmly.

  “Good morning,” I greeted from over the top of my coffee cup.

  “Hey,” Slade replied with a smirk before looking over the top of Kathryn’s head. “Oh, look, it’s Rogers!”

  I looked up to see Rogers approaching us with a short woman with wild, curly hair that reminded me of my own. Hers was a bit on the lighter end of the brown spectrum, although the haphazard curls were very similar to mine.

  “Rogers!” Murphy shouted.

  “Murph!” Rogers led the way under the carport and turned to all of us. “To all those who don’t know, this is my wife, Marina.”

  “Hey, Marina!”

  Marina grinned as a chorus of welcoming comments floated her way.

  Slade stepped in and handed them each a coffee cup.

  “Thank you!” Marina scooped up her cup and immediately took a sip. “Holy…”

  “I know, right?” Slade waggled her eyebrows at her. “You won’t miss a thing.”

  I chuckled at that exchange. “Alright, now that we are all here, let’s go!” I clapped my hands together and looked around. “Who is going with who?”

  Kathryn and Marina both hopped into Perez’s Jeep, and Slade, Murphy, and Rodriguez headed to mine. I backed out of the driveway and headed toward the main road, Perez’s black Jeep following close behind me.

  The Luquillo kiosks were less than an hour away, and I handed the radio controls over to Rodriguez. His face lit up and immediately plugged in his phone and started scrolling through for the perfect playlist.

  “How did you know Rodriguez was the music guy?” Slade yelled over the wind.

  “I didn’t!” I yelled back. “I just didn’t want the responsibility!”

  “Well, you did good!” Slade yelled as Huey Lewis and the News began blasting through the speakers.

  “What?” I burst out into laughter as Rodriquez started singing along, dancing in his seat. Slade and Murphy started laughing and dancing along, and my initial confusion as to his choice of music faded away as I started singing along with them.

  Rodriguez’s playlist took us on a wild ride through EDM, country, rap, and rock and roll. They were all upbeat songs, and it kept our little party going for the entire drive. We were at the kiosks before I knew it, and I was almost disappointed that we were already there.

  I turned left at the light and made a second left onto a side street that took us along the kiosks. There were multiple food stops, ranging from pizza to Puerto Rican street fare, and they were interspersed with gift shops, clothing stores, a barbershop, and even a combination bar/tattoo shop. Most of the food stops seemed to have a bar inside, and every one of them was open through to the backside, which spilled out to give us a great view of the beach right behind them.

  I parked all the way at the end and saw Perez’s Jeep pull in a couple of minutes later, parking in the closest open spot. We all gathered behind my Jeep until we were all situated and then started walking the length of the kiosks. The smells emanating from them blended together in a concoction that immediately made me hungry, despite having had a large breakfast before we left.

  We didn’t have to walk far before someone’s nose got the best of them and led us all in for some food. We all shouted our orders over each other as the staff bustled and tried to hear over the chaos. I ordered a couple of alcapurrias and a beer for myself, and we strolled toward the back of the kiosk, looking out at the beach before us.

  “This place is really cool,” Marina gushed as she looked around. “When I heard kiosks, I wasn’t sure what to expect.”

  “Right,” Kathryn added, “I have to admit, my expectations were low.”

  “Did you see the reviews, though?” Perez had stopped mid-sip to weigh in. “People love the kiosks, so whatever we may have thought we were walking into, it had to be good!”

  “Very true,” I joined in. “I love it down here. It’s so different, and if you embrace it, it’s a ton of fun.”

  “Here’s to that!” Rodriguez yelled, and we all clinked our various drinks together overhead.

  When our drinks were done, we made our way through the other kiosks, stopping periodically for another drink or bite to eat. Kathryn and Marina got lost in a couple of clothing shops, and Rodriguez got hung up at Tattoo Tavern, convincing everyone to come inside with him.

  Tattoo Tavern had a pool table and upbeat Spanish music playing over the speakers. The lights were dim, but the atmosphere was cheerful, and I was drawn to the pool table wit
h a few others while Rodriguez went in search of the tattoo artist. After a couple of rounds of pool, I found Rodriguez propped up on a table with a beer in his hand, while the tattoo artist tattooed a pig on the top of his left foot.

  “What did you get yourself into?” I asked over the top of my beer. “Is that a pig?” I moved my beer bottle away from my face and leaned in a bit to get a closer look.

  “Yep!” Rodriguez announced. “I am debating doing the rooster on the other foot here or waiting.”

  “You’re an idiot,” I replied. “We’re getting back underway in a couple of days, there’s no way that will heal before you have to shove your whole foot into your boots.”

  Rodriguez quickly swallowed his beer. “Umm, crap. I hadn’t thought about that.”

  I rolled my eyes. “I recommend holding off on the rooster until this mess is healed. Damage one foot at a time, please.” I laughed and shook my head. “You’re insane, you know that?”

  “Yeah, I’m learning that,” he said, looking down at his foot in regret. The tattoo artist looked up at him questioningly, and he shrugged his shoulders at her.

  “You may as well finish it, we can’t go back,” he replied nonchalantly, and she chuckled to herself and went back to work.

  When Rodriguez emerged to join us at the pool table, everyone gathered around to see the finished product. His foot was wrapped, but he showed everyone the picture.

  “Oh, the rooster and the pig, that’s dope,” Perez said.

  “No rooster yet, though,” Rodriguez informed him. “I’ll come back for that next time.”

  “Is it bad luck to just do one without the other?” Murphy asked.

  Rodriguez shrugged. “I’m not sure. I guess we’ll find out!”

  “Why a pig?” Marina leaned in to study the photo.

  Slade perked up. “The rooster and the pig is an old-school tattoo tradition. Back in the day, when boats would transport livestock, they would transport them in wooden crates to make it easier. When the boats sank, the crates would float, leaving the roosters, pigs, and other livestock to be the only survivors in many cases. They’re meant to be good luck.”

  “Ooh, maybe you’ll half-sink,” Rogers teased.

  “Yeah, when his foot gets half-infected from being shoved in his boot for the next leg of patrol,” I joked.

  “Ooh, damn!” Perez shouted, throwing his hands up in the air. “You messed up, man.”

  “Blame the beers.” Rodriguez shrugged. “Too late to change my mind, I guess we will see what happens.”

  “A cutter science experiment. Brilliant.” Murphy laughed heartily, and we all joined in at Rodriguez’s expense.

  We spent the rest of the day checking out the rest of the kiosks and walking through to the beach with our drinks a few times to see the view. Of course, Rodriguez was left in the kiosks to avoid sand getting into his new tattoo, but for the rest of us, the view was amazing. The beach was empty, littered with palm trees and broken seashells. Rocks jutted up in the distance, creating huge waves as the water crashed into them. It was a beautiful sight, and as the sun set and we gathered our group together to leave, I concluded that it had been quite the perfect day.

  When we hopped back into the Jeep, I turned to my passengers. “Hey, have any of you guys heard from Jackson?”

  “Yeah, I texted him this morning,” Slade said, leaning into the center of the Jeep to make herself heard. “He’ll be alright, he’ll just have to sit out for a while. Not sure when he’ll be back in the game.”

  “Damn, okay. I should probably check up on him before we get back underway,” I mused as I shifted into reverse, pulled out of the spot, and headed back out onto the main road.

  Rodriguez looked up from the playlist he was queuing up. “Speaking of, did anyone else here notice that these past two patrols, all of our busts have had the same source?”

  Slade let out a single laugh. “Yeah, I’ve noticed. I’ve been wondering what that’s about.”

  “Same here,” Murphy added, “I just kind of figured the Command knows more than they’re letting on.”

  There was silence in the Jeep. I quickly took my eyes off the road to see why and saw the three of them staring at me.

  “What?” I said as I turned back to the windshield.

  “Do you guys know more than you’re letting on?” Slade pressed.

  “I don’t,” I replied as casually as I could. “So either we don’t, or they’re keeping me out of the loop.”

  “No,” Murphy said sharply. “They’re not keeping you out of the loop. You’re their golden child.”

  Rodriguez nodded in agreement, his eyes back in his phone. “Murph’s right. This was supposed to be a boring patrol, we had no intel and not much to do. Suddenly, we have two busts from the same source, all because of CO’s training program and your random choice of coordinates.”

  “What if they’re not random?” Slade teased. “What if XO has some secret strategy?”

  “A secret source!” Murphy yelled. “It’d be great to make a bigger difference. She’s setting us all up to be the heroes of the Caribbean.”

  “That sounds like a movie plot.” Rodriguez laughed into his phone. “Not a day in the life of a Coastie. Although making a bigger impact would be cool.”

  “A day in the life of a Coastie,” Slade mused. “Now, there’s a good movie.”

  “Depends on the Coastie,” I added with a smirk. Slade and Murphy chuckled, but Rodriguez was still on his phone.

  “Got it!” he shouted suddenly, and the sounds of Prince’s ‘Kiss’ filled the Jeep. Suddenly the semi-serious conversation was replaced by off-key singing and awkward seated dance moves, and we kept it up the entire way home.

  I knew that my team was joking around, and it was nice to know that they were happy to be making a bigger impact, but damn, they had no idea how close to the truth they came.

  24

  Jake

  So, how do we plan on getting past this fortress? Rosa’s dark brown eyes looked like pools of honey in the bright sunlight as she signed to us.

  “I think you mean, how do we plan on getting past safely?” Doc added. “I have no interest in patching up a third wound on Header so soon.” He shoved his mirrored aviators further up his nose and gestured aimlessly toward me.

  I ran my fingers through my unkempt hair in frustration. The Días cartel had better physical protection than digital protection, that was for sure. Their expansive property was quite literally a fortress, surrounded by a high stone wall that didn’t quite blend in with the ramshackle neighborhood surrounding it. When we had driven by it, we passed homes that had been destroyed by storms and covered with tarps, doors that were rusting off the hinges, and chain-link fences that were missing sections or draped along the ground. The entire neighborhood sported a rainbow of spray-painted graffiti that was sprinkled across the buildings around every corner. It was the only color in the area.

  The roads were unkempt, broken, and full of potholes. We had grabbed a cheap rental to avoid looking suspicious, but even that felt like it stood out among the rusted trucks and old sedans scattered throughout the neighborhood. It was all the same, street after street until we hit the wall. It was about eight feet high, so not terrible, although the stone spikes along the top didn’t help. The fact that we had no idea what was on the other side of it was the dealbreaker.

  Xavier looked up from his laptop. “Give me until tonight. I have a plan.” He looked back down at his laptop without another word.

  “I guess we’re waiting until tonight then.” I shrugged and dropped my hands into my lap. We were already out of the hotel rooms and onto Xavier’s yacht. It had room for all of us to sleep, although the lack of room service and fresh towels every day was a bit of a bummer. The last thing I wanted was for the cartel to track us back to a hotel, though, so this seemed like the safer option, with the bonus of making it easier to get away if we needed to.

  I hoped that the intel I was sending to Linda w
as helping her with her career path. Xavier had tracked it all, so he told me she had been successful. There had been one casualty during the last bust on the cartel side, though, which sat uneasily with me. Ignoring the fact that Linda could have been the one to get hurt, that death would put the cartel on higher alert. They could potentially ramp up security to better protect themselves from similar scenarios when what we really needed was for their security to lessen.

  “Well,” I continued, staring out at the water from my perch at the back of the yacht as I spoke, “while we are waiting for Xavier to, well, be Xavier, let’s get the other aspects of this into place.”

  I agree, Rosa jumped in. What we want is for their security strategy to weaken before we crash their party. I say we keep sending Linda the intel, have her keep killing these guys, and send the cartel into a tailspin.

  “That would potentially put Linda in more danger,” I spat out. “They’re already on high alert, this could go bad.”

  Nah, she replied. They have a quota to fill, they are probably already sweating. These guys don’t want to die, they will surrender instead of getting shot.

  “So, we put Linda’s life at risk on a gamble?” I said angrily.

  This was all her idea! Rosa signed furiously.

  “I can’t concentrate!” Xavier yelled suddenly, cutting through our conversation.

  “What are you doing over there, anyway?” Doc asked casually. Doc had taken an entire bench seat to himself and sprawled out on his back to take in the sun. I didn’t bother mentioning to him that he’d get some wicked tan lines with his giant shades and an unbuttoned Hawaiian shirt. He’d figure it out for himself later.

  “Recon,” Xavier replied simply.

  That explains everything, Rosa signed as she rolled her eyes.

  “Alright, so let’s say we inundate Linda with intel and send her team into overdrive on these drug busts,” Doc mused. “It’d probably get worse before it gets better, but Rosa’s right, it will keep their attention out on the water. They’d never expect us.”