Page 112 of Marks of Rebellion

We take some breaths together.

"All right. Let's get your suit. But can we do it over a fancy frozen drink?" I clasp my hands as if I'm praying.

He grins. "Whatever you want, I'll make happen."

We go to the shop and get Hunter a pair of trunks and a cover-up for me. It doesn't take long to change. We sit at a table with drinks in our hands and no one near us. The resort is quiet, and the other couple who were eating earlier left.

"Where do you want me to start?"

"At the beginning."

The beginning.I briefly close my eyes, but I can't avoid it any longer. When I open them, Hunter is patiently waiting and stroking my hand.

"Six years ago, I met Carlos Garcia. Within one year, I sold my house and moved in with him. By year two, I lost my family, friends, and career. After I had nowhere to go and no one to turn to, he began taking me to dinner parties and other events with Global Leaders."

"Who are they?"

"The most powerful men in the world. They run countries and illegal operations and hide their true affiliations."

"Affiliations to what?"

"The New World Communist Party."

"What's that?"

"The global movement to transition countries to communism, but it's not true communism in the definition."

He nods. "Communism never is. It's always resulted in being led by dictators."

"The wealth won't be distributed to the people. It'll go to the Global Leaders. They will have full control over trillions and dictate how the world runs. Once in control, they will seize businesses and property. Anyone who opposes them will be thrown in prison and held there, without a due process. And it doesn't matter if the society runs on democracy, socialism, or another current political system. They will all crumble, and by the time the world understands what is happening, it will be too late."

A deep line forms between Hunter's eyes. "How would they do that? Checks and balances would surely stop them."

"It's already happening."

"How?"

My heart pounds harder. "Because of the War on Drugs campaign."

20

Hunter

Vanessa's breathingis erratic again, and I'm afraid she's going to have another attack. I scoot my chair closer to hers. I make her inhale deeply for a few minutes. When she seems stable again, I ask, "What does the War on Drugs have to do with this?"

"Everything. Trillions of dollars a year are collected annually from taxpayers to fight the war. Militaries are mobilized, and personal property gets seized from drug busts with ease. All the drug czars in those countries have to claim is that they found drugs, and everything is up for grabs. We're talking about billions of dollars per country from seizures. And that is only what gets reported."

"But the War on Drugs is to take down the drug cartels."

Vanessa shakes her head hard. "No. They all negotiate with them. That's just public perception."

"I don't understand."

She stands up and goes to the bar and picks up a napkin. She says something in Spanish to the bartender, and he hands her a pen. She sits back down. "It's a rinse and repeat cycle of corruption."

She writes A, B, C, and D in a square shape. "A are the drug cartels. B is your government leader. C is the military. D are the agencies who get funding from the War on Drugs." She draws a curvy arrow between each set of letters so it looks like a circle. "Following?"

"Yes, so far."