Page 68 of Billion-Dollar Ransom

THE STRIKE TEAM’S first order of business: taking out that goddamned box gun hidden on Little Rami’s patio.

Plenty of locals had shared rumors about Ramiro’s fancy and expensive military toy. They also said Rami had the whole damn place booby-trapped, like some kind of nut. But neither the gun nor the traps were the top priority—the top priority was seizing Rami’s captives.

Still, there was some debate over how to take out the box gun.

Some suggested a direct hit; others thought that was too risky.

What if Rami was holding the abductees on the second floor?

Perhaps the best option would be to send someone up there to disable it quietly and slit the throat of anyone guarding it.

But others dismissed this idea. Rami wasn’t stupid, and one of the captives was famous. The smart play for him would be to lock them out of sight. Which meant keeping them on the first floor or, ideally, in a panic room. It took a while, but permission to strike was granted.

The cartel had been adding military weaponry to its arsenal for the past two decades, so it was relatively easy to secure a portable, single-shot, recoilless AT4 and position it across the street in the bedroom of a neighbor who was more than happy to accept payment for the inconvenience.

Finally, at 8:13 p.m., when the rest of the strike force was in position, the order to fire was given.

The thunderclap of the AT4 echoed through the neighborhood.

Even if Little Rami’s four armed guards had understood what they were hearing—and, lacking military experience, they did not—they would not have had the time to do more than lift their weapons before the rocket blasted apart the entire upper floor of the house.

One of Rami’s men had been stationed on the balcony, and he disappeared in a haze of fire and smoke and chunks of concrete and body parts.

The remaining three drew their weapons and searched the street for the perpetrator, believing that someone had managed to lob a hand grenade up onto the balcony. They were so focused on the street that they didn’t see the half a dozen strike team members approaching from behind the house.

All three were chopped apart by gunfire before they could turn around. They fell to the street and bled out.

Now to the primary objective: ensuring Little Rami’s captives were alive and relatively unharmed.

And locating Little Rami.