Page 72 of Lash

We all do.

"Alright then," he says. "Let's go get Inez."

Tatiana crosses to me and hugs me. "I am frightened, Nico."

I breathe in her scent. "I know, Lovely One. But you will be okay."

"I wish I could go with you."

I sigh. "I know. But it is better this way. If I am with you, my focus will be on you. And my focus is needed elsewhere. Scarlett will not let anything happen to you. Nor will Kane."

Kane gives her a reassuring smile. "No worries, baby girl. We got you."

Scarlett meets my eyes and nods, then pulls Tatiana away. “C’mon, it's time to move. You're a badass, Tatiana. You've got this."

Tatiana nods, lets out a harsh sigh, and then shoots me one last longing look. "I love you."

"I love you as well," I answer. "See you on the other side."

Scarlett, Kane, and Tatiana filter into the forest and are soon gone. Within seconds, everyone else is vanishing into the jungle.

Chance, Solomon, Rev and I make our way along the narrow path in a V formation. Once the lights of the compound arein sight, we inch carefully forward until we can almost see the compound itself.

The dirt road is narrow, the jungle forming a thick canopy of foliage over our heads, blocking out the sky. Ahead, we can see the whitewashed adobe walls lit by the floodlights. The gate is high, arched, and of black metal. If I squint, I can almost make out movement within. We only have to wait a few minutes before the perimeter guards meet where the road exits the rainforest and move up to the gate. They stand there for a few minutes, watching, talking, and smoking cigarettes, and then they start their walk this way.

They walk four abreast, chatting in low tones in Spanish, assault rifles hung on their shoulders. They are alert but not expecting trouble. After all, who would be so foolish as to assault Mercado's home compound?

Solomon uses hand signals to direct me and Chance to one side and him and Rev to the other. More hand signals indicate that I take point on the elimination. I acknowledge and prepare.

Clipping my MP5SD to my vest, I draw my pistol, check the load, check the suppressor, and then crouch in wait; Chance looms behind and above me, a mammoth, watchful shadow. The dim light from the courtyard behind the approaching patrol casts long, faint shadows of each figure along the low, narrow path. Insects whirr and chirrup; an owl hoots in the distance. I hear their voices first, occasional desultory mutters, and then the crunch of their boots on the hard-packed dirt road. They scan the road and the edges with their flashlights; one of them sweeps the beam of his light across the path and then lifts his fist to call a halt, crouching and focusing on something in the path—a boot print.

Time is up.

They are a little over fifteen meters away, so not close, but within range even with a suppressor. I shift my weight so I amkneeling with one knee in front, brace my elbow on my knee, and draw bead on the farthest guard. Inhale, hold my breath.

POP-POP.

He drops, two red spots blossoming on his forehead.

Before the others can figure out what's going on, I shift my aim to the next.

POP-POP.

POP-POP.

POP-POP.

Each man drops silently, crumpling heavily to the ground as if a puppeteer had cut their strings.

I wait a moment or two, listening for an alarm, and then key my mic. "This is Nicolae. Gate and perimeter patrol neutralized. Proceed with east and west patrol neutralization."

"Copy," Lorenzo and Scarlett say at the same time.

Chance and I each grab a guard and haul them off-path, and Solomon and Rev do the same, bringing their corpses to the opposite side. I grab the walkie and earpiece from one of the guards and clip it to my belt, running the earpiece up under my vest—I’ll have to be careful about which mic I'm keying, but it will be helpful to hear what they are saying.

The four of us jog up the path foursquare, slowing when we near the opening of the clearing around the compound. We split again, kneeling in the dense undergrowth just off-path and inside the tree line.

"Nicolae—you eliminated all four guards?" Scarlett asks.