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“Team Alpha ready,” Ed repeated in English through Josh’s ear bud.
Josh responded, “Bravo ready.”
Ed translated his words into Spanish as they prepared to breach the white block house where satellite thermal imaging had identified five men in a back bedroom. It was in the area Ed had shown Josh the other day where several Middle Easterners lived.
“Counting in Spanish after we blow the doors and toss in the flash bangs. Go on uno, like the children’s game,” Ed explained and began the countdown as everyone checked their masks.
The Josh’s team entered single file through the back door at the same time Ed’s team went through the front.
Screaming in several languages filed the air along with the smoke.
Crouched low, Josh led the way through what was obviously a kitchen. Sweeping left to right, over the barrel of his rifle he found no one. “Clear.”
Knees bent, he moved on silent feet into a hall. He hated fucking hallways. A door could open and someone could jump out and shoot at him with nowhere to hide.
Josh could distinguish Spanish shouting and someone closer spoke in a different language. It took his brain a second to recognize it.
“Stay hidden until I tell you to shoot.” That was a dialect of Arabic. Josh was sure he’d understood the instructions uttered in one of the nearby rooms.
“Put your weapons down and come out with your hands in the air,” Ed commanded, first in Spanish then English. “We have three men on their knees in the front room.”
Josh gestured for Jack to take the room on the right. The squeeze to his shoulder indicated the message had been received. Another tap on the same shoulder indicated Terrance was behind him. On Josh’s signal, he took the room on the left.
Terrance cracked the door open and the Arabic word for shoot could be heard loud and clear. Rapid machine gun fire splintered the thin wood sending bullets into the concrete wall across the hall.
Josh grabbed Terrance by the collar and yanked him down to the tile floor. Everyone with an ear bud heard the grunt as his lanky frame flattened. Wincing, the tall man rolled over, weapon at the ready. He belly crawled around the door jamb and shot in bursts.
“Three tangos down. Might be one more,” Terrance announced through his com mic breathing hard. “Think you broke my fucking ribs, Josh.”
Josh grabbed his foot and pulled the man out of the room.
“Can’t breathe,” the injured man said between sips of air.
“Fuck,” Josh exclaimed. “We need a medic.”
Ed answered, “On its way. Thought things might get ugly so base sent for several. ETA two minutes. Coming in dark. If it’s bad, Luke’s helo is close by.”
The tap on Josh’s shoulder was lighter and somehow he knew it was Stacie. “I got this.” In a crouch so low she was knee height for most men, she peered around the corner. “Thermal shows one moving in the corner, three sprawled between me and him. Last fucker’s mine.” She faded into the dissipating fog of the flash bangs.
Josh moved to cover her from the door and Craig had the hall at their back.
“Claro,” came through the com as Ed’s men cleared the house from the front.
Seconds later, three rapid shots echoed around the bedroom. “Fourth down and out.” As Stacie moved back to the door, the tango closest to Josh moved. Two to the head took care of him.
“Got three women and two kids,” Jack announced. “I’ll take them to the front when it’s clear.”
Stacie stepped back through the door and took her place behind Josh as they continued down the hall. The next door was a closet where they met Ed’s men in the hall.
With a nod, Josh announced, “All clear.”
“Ambulance is here,” Ed informed the American team. “Sending them in now.”
“I’ll check the dead and get the DNA samples you wanted.” Craig headed back down the hall.
“I’m with Flash until the medics get to him.” Wonder Woman followed him back down the hall.
“Women and children are coming out.” Jack trailed the five down the hallway.
In the living room, Josh watched one of Ed’s men pull a handcuffed tango off his knees and repeated the question, his snarling face only inches away.
Stacie stepped up beside Josh. “Medics are working on Terrance.” She watched the interrogation for a few seconds then translated, “He’s asking if there are more terrorists.” The man answered in Spanish. “He swears they are not terrorists. He claims we killed his cousins from Saudi Arabia. But don’t believe him. His accent is Syrian, not Saudi.”
Ed’s interrogator stared at Stacie then asked in broken English if she understood the man. She answered in fluent Spanish. A complete conversation took place that came to involve Ed and several of his men. Finally, she turned to Josh and explained, “None of the PMI men speak the Middle Eastern languages I do and this guy,” she gestured to the man under interrogation, “claims he doesn’t understand Ed’s men. They’re asking me if I can interpret for them.”
At Josh’s suggestion, they’d separated the three Muslim men and confirmed that the one in the kitchen was the undercover CIA agent who’d been feeding them information. His agency had already sent a plane for him. He’d covertly leave the country within hours with the DNA samples Craig had retrieved. They had offered Josh and Stacie a ride home but both declined, hoping to help find Preston. Then they had the wedding.
Terrance was on his way to the private hospital used by the Girard family where Dr. Stan was waiting for him. Josh expected an update on both him and Lilly, who was awake but spending the night for observation.
After half an hour of Mexican persuasion administered by Ed’s interrogators on the other two tangoes, Stacie announced, “The man in the second bedroom has been trained to resist. He’ll need drugs to break him.”
“We can send him to Guantanamo Bay.” Josh knew they’d make him talk and it was actually the closest federal detainment center to their location.
Stacie continued, “Los Zetas took the other man’s teenage daughter and are holding her captive. He was instructed to take care of these men until someone with a password, code kind of thing, came and got them. He runs a shop over in the Hotel Zone where they called him today. He was able to talk with his daughter who begged him to do as he was told. They said it would all be over tonight.”
She took a deep breath. “They’re expected to come for those men in the next few hours,” She tossed her thumb toward the back bedroom currently occupied by four bodies and a plethora of crime scene techs. “He’s afraid once they see the police and ambulance here, not to mention the front door hanging in pieces, they’ll kill his daughter.”
“He’s right.” Ed stepped aside as the two working dogs passed, one was hunting drugs and the other explosives. “If she’s pretty, they’ll sell her. Los Zetas will probably kill him for failing them.”
“Can you offer him protection? Does Mexico have a witness protection program?” Stacie asked.
Ed laughed. “No. No one is safe here if you piss off Los Zetas.”
Part of Josh wanted to send the man and his family to the U.S.A., but the sane part reminded him the man had housed and sheltered terrorists. Who’s to say he wouldn’t do it again? No. This man must have had affiliations with the terrorists or they wouldn’t have chosen him.
“Are we done here?” Jack stood in front of Josh, phone in hand. “I need to get back home. There’s still been no ransom demand. Have you heard anything from your contacts?”
Josh was ready to move on also. Pictures of the dead men on the bedroom floor and the prisoners in the living room had been sent to Central Ops. Abdul-Quddus Mifsud had been identified by the CIA man and Homeland Security’s Command Operations Center. It would be confirmed with the DNA sample.
While wrapping things up with Ed, Josh’s phone rang. It was his Central Ops. “What do you have for me?”
“Human Trafficking Division’s confidential informant claims the special package was delivered to the island, but Command Ops’ facial recognition program confirms that Mifsud is dead in the back bedroom. HT is asking if they should kill the snitch or if you want to check out this new location in case there might have been a second team of tangoes. The CI is also asking for more money. Seems he wants it in cash. He needs out of Mexico because he thinks his cover has been blown with that last call. How do you want to proceed?”
“Send me everything. I’ll meet the confidential informant. I’ll kill him myself if he’s lying.” A diversionary team was certainly not out of the question, and they needed to be sure none of the tangoes made it to the United States.
“Very well. Everything is downloading now. Ops out.”
Josh found the CIA agent on the phone with Washington confirming his extraction details. He didn’t know anything about a second team, but he’d been a ways down the chain of command at the South American training camp and confirmed he might not have been told.
“Jack, Craig, Stacie, we’re moving out.” Josh’s gaze swept the area. Nothing more they could do there. “Luke, we need you to fly us to Cozumel.
“Roger that,” the pilot said. “Powering up now.”
“Ed, thanks for handling this.” Josh shook the PMI agent’s hand. “The United States government owes you. We’ve got a lead on some traffickers moving a special package on Cozumel. If there’s a second team in play, we haven’t heard about it before now.”
“Good hunting, my friend. I’ve got a small team on the island. I’ll put them on alert in case you need backup...or clean up.” Ed smacked Jack’s shoulder. “Tell Mateo I’ll be over for breakfast and pick up all our gear, Primo.”
They embraced in that loose man hug, back pounding thing. “Take care, cuz. See you in the morning.”
“Going to be a tight fit,” Luke warned minutes later at the helicopter. “I usually only carry three.”
“Stacie can sit on my lap,” Craig offered with a devilish smile.
She threw her arm around Jack’s shoulders. “Jack and I are old friends. I know he won’t start grab assing me. He’s getting married Saturday.”
“I think we can all squeeze onto the back seat,” Jack suggested as Craig climbed in. “Weight distribution is important in this little bird.”
“Too bad your nephew isn’t a teenager,” Stacie explained. “They all have cell phones permanently attached to their hand. We could call him and ask where he is.” She climbed in.
Josh and Jack glanced at each other. “Fuck!” they said in unison.