part0010

The group stood transfixed at the edge of the wilderness with Mason the only one able to see what was going on by way of his sight enhancing optical glasses. Raina straining her eyes across the horizon complained to Benton, “Too bad they didn’t make a pair for all of us huh?”

Mathew Benton shrugged, “Well—it doesn’t matter.”

Benton then slapped Mason on the back as he added, “As long as Mace here can be a good set of eyes for both of us, it doesn’t’ matter one bit.”

Raina putting a hand on Mason’s back, even while keeping an eye on the handcuffed Brian Nelson beside her, softly spoke into the ear of their fearless leader, “Alright Mason, so what do you see?”

Mason replied, “Okay their both inside the house.” He then stepped forward and motioned for them to follow as he instructed them, “Now’s the time—let’s move to a closer vantage point.”

Mason already getting the hang of the glasses, automatically began toggling the lens with his right eye to zoom back out, even as he was boldly traversing back through the brush. Following Mason’s lead, the group then ran in a somewhat crouched position, a classic maneuver that was taught by the SEALS, that served to significantly lower a person’s profile while sprinting across a landscape.

No one was quite sure after all, just what kind of “eye in the sky” the drug lords might us to spy on them. They could have drones lurking in the jungle, or even their own helicopters sent out on patrol to peer down into the rain forest canopy for potential intruders. If any of these were tipped off to their presence it wouldn’t be long before a small army of narcos would be sent to their position to take them out. Being spotted was simply a risk they couldn’t afford to take.

Fortunately for them, they managed to make it back to the house just in time to take cover behind the back wall before another narco stepped outside. The guy was apparently on a satellite phone and was busy airing his dirty laundry and grievances to whoever was on the other end.

Mason heard the man inform the other party, “Yes, Carlos—I’m well aware of the danger I signed up for. But you are not seeing what I’m seeing. There’s a whole freaking deer stand over here that was blown to pieces. and two men that were ripped to shreds. This isn’t paranoia—this is war, and somebody is out to get us for real.”

The man then paused as if listening to further instructions, before issuing a solemn, “Alright…”

He hung up the phone and called to the other man inside, “Reuben! What you doing in there brother?” He then rather unceremoniously asked, “Are you taking a shit?”

Prompting the man referred to as Rueben, to step out, as he announced, “Hey—I’m here Juan. What’s up man?”

Juan shook his head, “I don’t know brother you see what happened out here don’t you?”

The carnage was undeniable, Rueben had no choice but to answer in the affirmative, “Yeah—I do.” Rueben then quickly asked, “Are they sending anyone else over or what?”

To which Juan answered, “Not yet—but they will.”

Rueben asked, “When?”

Juan scowled at the thought, “Probably in the morning.”

Reuben questioned, “The morning? Really?”

Rueben then looked up at the decimated tree stand upon which the remains of their fallen comrades had been smeared, and sighed rather presciently, “Who knows what might happen by morning.”

Upon hearing all this Mason gave Raina and Benton a knowing look—there was no way they would wait until morning before taking these guys out. What the men said next then got Mason’s attention.

They listened in as Juan complained, “Yeah—it’s just unbelievable, first they take our whole cadre of drugs and now this.”

Mason and company didn’t take anyone’s drugs. Were the narcos under attack from someone else in the Amazon? Juan then all but confirmed this thought as he provided, “Yeah brother, I feel like a hunted animal out here. They’ve already killed nearly all my men, and have taken almost all my money.”

It was this last bit of information that tipped Mason off to the fact that he most likely wasn’t talking about law enforcement. Because even as corrupt as Bolivian police could be, the days of them wholesale robbing drug dealers of their drug money were mostly a thing of the past.

Whoever was after this group of drug banditos was most likely another gang of drug runners. Now this was interesting.

The men then heard a third man calling from inside, “Hey hombres! Get in here!” The two then dutifully went back inside the house and shut the door behind them.

Once they were in the clear Mason then grabbed his ear piece and asked Kyle on the comm link, “Hey Kyle buddy, did you get all that?”

Kyle came on the line loud and clear, declaring, “Affirmative.”

Kyle then added, “Both the visual input from your optical glasses as well as your commlink made me a veritable eyewitness to the scene.”

This was the first Mason realized that Kyle was able to look through the very lens he looked out of, as he muttered, “Shit—you see everything I see?”

Kyle although intimidated by Mason, couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him, as he quipped, “Yeah man—and boy, do I ever see how you look at Raina!”

This was followed by Raina shouting into the comm link, “Hey Kyle! I know you get bored manning the control center all by yourself, but just try to keep your mind out of the gutter okay?”

Sounding startled at Raina’s rebuttal, Kyle stuttered, “I’m not alone—Chris is here…” Before completely buckling under the pressure and backpedaling, “Sorry guys… Just a joke—just a joke.”

Mason growled, “Enough jokes. Let’s get serious here.”

A now much more subdued Kyle responded, “Yes sir.”

Mason then thought to ask, “Is Chris listening in too?”

Chris Bradley was indeed present at the command post in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil where Kyle was running the operations. As Kyle Garrison confirmed, “Yeah he’s back here what’s up?”

Mason then informed him, “Alright, tell Chris I’m going to plant his gift he gave me.”

An outside listener might think Mason was talking about flowers, or perhaps planting a tree in the rainforest. But such pleasantries were far from Mason’s mind, the gift he referred to was something that Chris Bradley, the team’s explosive expert had given him shortly before leaving. It wasn’t any kind of shrubbery Mason wished to install—he planned to plant a bomb.

Kyle remembering as much, remarked, “Oh yeah—the plastic explosives he made.” Kyle then offered, “I already saw what you did with that grenade Mason—that sniper installation no longer exists--nice work.”

Mason replied, “Yeah but I can’t just level the place—the plastic bombs are a much lower grade explosive, aren’t they?”

Kyle answered, “Yeah—they are small and direct, creating just minor explosions to very specific targeted areas.” Kyle then added, “You have three of them so I would suggest placing one on the back and sides of the house. That should drive the bogeys out without immediately killing them.”

‘Just what we need—more prisoners .’ Mason couldn’t help but think to himself.

Looking over to their current charge, Nelson, he shook his head in disgust. If things continued as they were, pretty soon they would have a whole caravan tramping through the rainforest.

Nevertheless, he was determined to go forward with the plan. He handed both Benton and Raina each a plastic explosive, before declaring on the comm link, “Alright we’re about to move in.”

Just as Mason was preparing his team to make a break for it however, Marshal Oliver’s voice cut through the transmission and squawked, “Wait! Wait! They got kids in there Mason! Don’t be stupid! Do not plant the explosives yet! I repeat—don’t plant the bombs!”

Mason cursed, “Damn—what? Kids?” Marshal then readily informed him, “Yes, I just got intel that kids were taken from a nearby village and are being used as hostages.”

Mason feeling sickened and enraged, glared at Nelson and barked, “What the hell man?! Why didn’t you tell us there were kids in there?”

Nelson seeming to be honestly taken aback, protested, “Hey man—I didn’t know. I swear.”

Not having time to argue, Mason grunted, “Alright—whatever.”

Mason then roughly grabbed Nelson by the wrist and told him, “Come over here a second.”

Startled, Nelson protested, “Wait—where are you taking me?”

As Raina and Benton looked on, Mason pulled Nelson up to a nearby tree and finding a sturdy branch slapped a pair of handcuffs to it. As Nelson groaned in a mixture of pain and despair, Mason raised Nelson’s arms over his head and locked the other end of the cuffs hanging from the tree around the cuffs on Nelson’s wrist.

Seeing the sorry sight of their captive practically dangling from a tree branch, Raina questioned, “Is that really necessary?”

Growing weary of Raina questioning and critiquing his every move, Mason was beginning to really wonder if it was the closeness between them that elicited such a response. Before she would take to his instruction like water, but now she seemed like she wanted to make everything into a diplomatic debate.

He didn’t have time for the discussion however, as he insisted, “Yes, it is. He ran away last time. Pretty soon we’re going to have our hands full. And when push comes to shove, we won’t have the luxury to play nurse maid. In the meantime, he’ll remain safe and secure right where he is.”

Brian Nelson had another idea though, and slightly struggling against the thick branch he was chained to, interjected, “Hey! What if you guys get killed or captured?! What happens to me then? Who’s gonna come get me? I’ll just be left here to rot?!”

A faint smile crossed Mason’s face as he advised the man, “Well then Brian—you damn sure better hope we’re successful.”

Mason then spoke into the comm link for everyone to hear, “Okay folks—before everything goes completely FUBAR up in here, we are going to have to have a slight change of plans here.”

He took a breath and directed, “We are just going to have to rescue the kids first and then take out the baddies after that!”

Raina smirked as she thought to herself, ‘Really? Baddies? Just who are you Mason? An Adam West version of Batman?’

Nevertheless, she admired him all the same. It was truly an inspiration to witness his selfless service and sacrifice. And the fact that he was just a little bit flip in referring to armed drug runners as “baddies” only showed just how tremendously brave and confident he was in the role he was about to play.

It wasn’t a confidence that stemmed from hubris, but rather one that was borne out of several years of worth of successful missions under his belt. Mason knew what to do—and he did it well. It was as simply as that. And furthermore, Raina knew full well that he was more than willing to go the extra mile in order to make sure that the lives of the innocent were protected. In that sense he really was a superhero.

Raina never knew anyone quite like Mason. And despite their frequent disagreements, Raina could never be upset with him for long. No matter what happened—she knew that deep down his heart was in the right place. With a fiery fierceness forged in the heat of battle, yet a deep-seated compassion hidden within—he was one of a kind.

Raina quietly relished these thoughts of her man—even as Mason was hurriedly directing the group to a side door of the compound. They bolted out of their rainforest cover, and keeping a low profile to the ground, raced to the side of the building.

Kneeling down, Mason put an ear right to the door. He couldn’t hear a sound. Looking at the door jam, Mason’s eyes then caught sight of a metal latch secured with a heavy padlock. Mason of course knew that this lock wasn’t to keep people out—it was to keep people in .

Mason motioned for Benton to come over. Mathew Benton—AKA the Ghost—had a tremendous ability when it came to picking locks. He could pick them with a toothpick if he had to. Benton stepped over, took one look at the padlock and pulled a keyring out of his pocket.

It wasn’t a keyring of keys mind you, but a keyring of lock picks of various sizes. Grabbing a hold of one that looked about like a long skinny sewing needle, Benton jammed the pick up into the lock, and wiggled it around just for a second until they heard an audible click as the padlock unlocked.

Benton quickly pulled the padlock off and cast it to the side as he whispered to Mason, “It’s all yours chief.”

Hoping that he wasn’t about to burst into a room full of gunmen, Mason took a deep breath and slowly turned the door knob before flinging the door open. Mason quickly glanced and gave a nod to Benton and Raina before going in.

Stepping over the threshold, he wasn’t greeted by gunmen but rather the eyes of two terrified toddlers—a little boy and little girl seated in two wooden chairs in the center of the room. As he looked at them, Mason realized that they were tied to the chairs and they seemed to have some sort of tape wrapped around their mouths to keep them quiet.

Looking into their eyes wide with fear—if it wasn’t for the tape, Mason was pretty sure these frightened children would have already been screaming bloody murder. Mason was absolutely sickened to see kids treated in such a manner, but at the same time was thankful that it had prevented their potential screams from blowing their cover and alerting the narcos.

Mason motioned for Raina to grab the kids and get them out of the house. Call him sexist if you like, but Mason knew that Raina’s gentle feminine touch would probably help to ease the children’s fears much more than two big burly commandos like him and Mathew Benton ever would.

As Raina secured the children, and took them back to the safety of the brush. Mason and Benton then raced back out of the structure with plastic explosives in hand. They quickly circled the house planting them under just about every window in the rundown structure, and doing so in such a stealthy manner that they were not seen or heard.

‘No wonder they called Benton the Ghost’ . Mason thought to himself. He would be called a ghost too if could keep up this routine. And these folks most certainly wouldn’t know what hit them. With the explosives in place all Mason had to do was hightail it out of there, take cover and hit the detonation switch.

Mason and Benton bolted back into the brush, to find the fairly odd sight of Nelson on his feet, but slightly hanging, handcuffed to a tree branch. Raina was kneeling nearby with the two children who were now untied, and remarkably calmer. Looking over at them, Mason saw Raina speaking softly to the little girl who was holding her little brother tight.

Mason couldn’t quite hear what she was saying but he couldn’t help but be struck by how much it put him in the mind of Bree and how she used to talk to Clara. The feeling was so real it was almost like he was having some sort of flashback right then and there. Benton must have noticed Mason’s distance gaze as he placed a hand on Mason’s shoulder and asked, “Mace man—you alright?”

Mason snapping himself out of it muttered, “Yeah man... Yeah I’m fine.”

He then held up the remote detonator in his hand, and advised, “Aright—get ready.”

Pressing the button, the three strategically planted bombs immediately blew up. The explosions were small but they were powerful enough to shake the walls and blow out the windows in which they were planted.

It was certainly not something anyone inside would be able to ignore. And then predictably enough, the whole compound was evacuated in an unorganized fashion, with five men bailing out of the building in a state of panic. Running right into Mason Walker, Mathew Benton, and Raina Martin’s line of fire.