Barinas, Venezuela
Having dumped his car a couple of hundred yards away in a clearing in the dense jungle, Logan waited outside the property for more than three hours before finally making his move.
In the darkness, he made his way on foot to the edge of the compound. With the heat of the daytime sun gone, the temperature had dropped some, but it was still hot and viciously humid and Logan was dripping wet with sweat. The moist air in the jungle carried a sharp but sweet smell that seemed to cling to the insides of Logan’s nostrils – its pungency together with the heat made him feel lightheaded.
He shook himself down to regain his focus, then looked up at the fortified wall in front of him that ran around the perimeter of the compound. The wall, covered in sloppy yellow render, looked basic and easily scalable. The main gates, off to Logan’s right, were wooden and would probably only take a few kicks to knock down.
There was an elevated guard post just inside the compound at the main gate, but it was hardly Fort Knox. Logan knew the main security would come in the form of the many armed men he had to expect would be inside the compound. From the spot where he had been hiding, he had made out two guards in the elevated lookout, both armed with scoped rifles. There were two more guards on the ground outside the gates, each carrying automatic weapons slung over their shoulders. Four men to take down just to get in through the main entrance.
And no one in their right mind, not even the local police or army, really wanted to take these men on. Nobody wanted a war on their hands. Logan, similarly, had no intention of heading in all guns blazing.
Which was why he wasn’t going in through the main gates.
Logan used a simple grappling hook to help him scale the wall in one swift movement. He jumped down and landed softly, immediately moving into a crouch. The area he’d entered was about as dark as he could hope for, out of the direct line of each of the four spotlights that lit up much of the inside of the compound almost as well as bright sunshine. If someone were looking in his direction, though, they’d surely still be able to see him.
As he quickly scanned the area, Logan was surprised at just how quiet it was. Other than the guards at the gates and in the watchtower, there wasn’t a person in sight. The inside of the compound was made up of a large central building that looked like it had once been a pleasant mansion with its decorative red roof tiles, ornate windows and white-painted walls. But it was in poor condition and the grounds around it, with ramshackle outbuildings, barns and a series of vehicles including Jeeps, cars and a flatbed truck, made it look more like a military barracks.
Logan planned a route that would take him to the main house with as little time in the open as possible, then quickly moved away from his position against the wall. Moving cautiously but with purpose, it took him a couple of minutes to reach the main building.
He came to a stop at a side door that he had spotted was ajar, crouched down and pushed it fully open. It creaked as it swung on its rusted hinges and Logan grimaced, hoping the noise hadn’t alerted anyone. He froze in position for just a second until he was satisfied there had been no reaction to the noise from either inside or outside the house. Then he made his way into the dark interior.
There were no lights on inside and Logan contemplated putting on the night-vision goggles he had brought with him. He soon realised, though, as he moved along the corridor, that there was enough illumination coming from the spotlights outside for him to make out the layout. Plus, he hated wearing those damned things. No matter how many times he used them, they just didn’t feel natural, diminishing his full range of view quite drastically.
Logan reached the bottom of a twisting staircase. There had been no signs of life at all in the downstairs of the house. Logan was almost surprised at just how little resistance he had so far encountered. He had a fleeting thought that maybe it meant Leo Pinilla, the deep-cover JIA agent, wasn’t there after all. If that were the case, all of Logan’s efforts over the last three days would have been a waste.
This was his chance to prove himself. Mackie had finally given Logan an opportunity to show his full worth. Logan couldn’t be sure what ructions he’d caused by shooting Janet Ford. He’d certainly had no hint of a threat against him, no heat on him at all, since that last encounter with Hector. Maybe Mackie had pulled some strings after all.
Logan had met with two other assets as he tried to pinpoint Pinilla’s whereabouts. For three days, he’d been buried deep in intelligence, matching the information he’d been provided with the vast array of information – much of it uncatalogued and uncorroborated – that was available to him through the JIA.
It was the first time he had truly been let loose under Mackie’s authority. Albeit Mackie was keeping a watchful eye over his every move and Logan had briefed his boss on every detail of what he had found and what he had planned. Everything had brought Logan to this place: a building far off the grid that the JIA had previously known nothing about. But doubts were now beginning to creep in.
Maybe Pinilla wasn’t there.
Maybe he was already dead.
Logan really hoped that wasn’t the case.
He dropped the L85 rifle, which fell to his side, the strap tight on his shoulder, and took the dart gun out of the holster on his waist.
He knew the property was used by some of the cartel’s most senior soldiers. But the intel he had also suggested their wives and families stayed there. Although Logan had no qualms about getting into a firefight with the cartel’s guards and foot soldiers, he had no intention of killing innocent people. That was what the dart gun was for. He certainly didn’t want to kill a child or an innocent family member, but he had no problem at all in shooting a tranquilliser dart at them. Better to shoot first with the dart gun and ask questions later than run the risk of killing an innocent with the rifle.
As Logan ascended the stairs, he could feel the adrenaline beginning to surge through his body. He was alert, focused, ready. But he also felt edgy. Not nervous exactly, but he knew that he was without doubt well and truly in the lion’s den. One false move now and it would be game over for him.
When Logan reached the top of the staircase, he paused and took a deep breath as he scanned the area. He counted five doors along the main corridor on the first floor. Four of the doors were shut. Taking slow cautious steps, Logan moved forward to the first door. The one that was ajar. He pushed the door fully open with the barrel of the gun. The curtains were open. Light seeped into the room from the outside. Logan quickly realised it was a child’s bedroom, with playful patterns on the walls and toys stuffed on shelves and lying all around the floor. But the bunk bed in the middle of the far wall was empty.
Logan breathed a sigh of relief. He moved on to the next room. He reached out and turned the doorknob. When he felt the catch release, he froze for just a second. Then he slowly pushed the door open.
This room was also a bedroom. The curtains were closed. But they weren’t blackout drapes. The meagre light coming into the room from outside immediately told Logan one thing: this room wasn’t empty.
Logan’s heart began to thud in his chest. His hand clenched as hard as it could around the grip of the dart gun.
Because lying in the large bed in front of him were two figures. A man, Leo Pinilla, was fast asleep on the right-hand side. But the other, a woman, wasn’t asleep. She was sitting up in the bed.
Her eyes were wide open, staring at Logan.