Page 15

The border checkpoints at Tijuana were never very good. There were hundreds, if not thousands, of people coming in and out of San Diego every day for work. Most returned home every night because the cost of living was ridiculously low on the other side of the border. But there were always those who had no intention of returning.

“It’s been years since I’ve been down here,” said Luke. “Don’t tell Ajei, but I may have gotten into a little mischief down here.”

“Same,” muttered Cam.

“Same,” said the Jordan brothers, smirking.

“It’s easy to do here,” said Eric. “We need to remember that. Watch what you drink and eat, and keep your eyes peeled. We might not be in uniform, but we damn sure stick out like a sore thumb.”

They’d taken two vehicles down, Pax, Saint, Brax, Conor, and Moose, making their way to the poverty-stricken neighborhoods that might be bringing people in. Luke, Hex, Eric, Cam, Patrick, and Christopher were in the other vehicle, hoping to get information from the shops and restaurants. Back in Coronado, Bogey and Benji were meeting with leaders from the SEAL, Marine, and Coast Guard communities.

“Over there,” said Hex, pointing to a small parking lot. “A dollar to park here. Do you think they take the car?”

“It’s possible,” smirked Cam. “On the other hand, they wouldn’t have a lot of business if that was happening. Besides, this is a rental.”

They handed the attendant their dollar and an additional three to watch the car. He was gracious, smiling at the men as they walked the street lined with small shops and restaurants. It was always busy and bustling, but as summer neared, it was even more so.

“ Senor ,” nodded Hex, speaking to the first shopkeeper. “Have you heard about people paying to come to America and being chained to ships?” Hex knew that his Spanish was perfect, but the man stared at him, shaking his head. There was fear in his face, and he turned, going to the back room.

“That’s not strange at all,” frowned Luke. Walking to the small coffee shop next door, he and Cam walked in and asked the same question. The woman made the sign of the cross and then turned, leaving the men standing there.

“This is going to be a long day,” said Cam.

On the other side of town, the other team was parked in the worst possible area of Tijuana. They weren’t worried for themselves as much as they were worried about anyone stupid enough to confront them. With all the stealth netting, they’d gone across the border with plenty of armor.

“A dollar, senor, por favor,” said the boy. Pax pulled out a twenty-dollar bill, waving it in the air.

“For you. If – you give me some information.” The boy stared at him and then nodded. “Who is charging people to go across the border and chaining them to the boats?”

The boy stared at the men and started to back up, shaking his head.

“We’re trying to help these people,” said Pax. “We want to save them.”

“You can’t help them,” said a teenage boy walking toward them. He was skinny, dirty, and looked identical to the little boy. “We can’t say anything. Come on. It’s time for lunch.”

“Wait,” said Saint. “These people are dying. They’re being left on those boats, chained to the decks, and the boats are sinking. They’re dying!”

“We know,” he said.

“You know, and you won’t help them?” asked Saint.

“We can’t help them. If we do, we die. They’re not from this part of Mexico. They don’t know what they’re doing.”

“What the fuck?” muttered Pax. “This doesn’t make sense. These people can’t possibly afford to pay much money. Why take their money and kill them? They’d be smarter to take their money, get them across, and if they get kicked out, take their money again!”

“That makes sense to you, gringo. Not to us.”

He took his brother’s hand and turned, leaving the men staring after them.

“What the hell is going on?” asked Brax.

He did a half-circle, seeing Moose kneeling down and talking to a group of children. They were shaking their heads vehemently, obviously not telling him a damn thing. As they ran away, Moose stood to his massive height, looking across the street at the men and shaking his head.

“Someone has to be willing to speak with us,” said Conor. “No one wants to see innocent people, children dying when their only crime is searching for a better life.”

“They’ve all died just inside international waters,” said Pax. “I wonder if that’s intentional. I mean, they could have just as easily killed them off the coast of Mexico as the coast of San Diego.”

“That’s a good point,” frowned Saint. “I think we need to keep trying to find someone who will speak with us. There has to be someone willing. If not, we know what we need to do.”

They all stared at him, frowning, and nodded.

“Someone needs to escape Mexico.”

“Admiral Denisha is in charge of the SEAL base,” said Aaron. “He’s got steel balls, hard as fuck commander, but he’s fair and hates that he can’t go after whoever is doing this. I won’t go in with you, but he was glad to speak with you.”

“Thanks, brother,” said Bogey.

Aaron knocked on the door, and they heard a loud, gruff voice behind the door that sounded vaguely like ‘what the fuck do you want.’ The two men raised their brows and stepped inside.

“Admiral Denisha?”

“Yep. Benji Pechkin and Bogey Humphreys, right?”

“That’s us. Thanks for seeing us,” said Benji.

“It’s an honor,” said Denisha. “Aaron tells me you guys are trying to figure out who the fuck is killing people off my base.”

“Well, not just the base, just in general,” smirked Bogey, “but, yes, sir. We’re struggling with this one. Why take their money and chain them to a boat and kill them? I mean, they could have killed them after taking their money. Why give them hope of freedom?”

“When you’re a sick fuck, you don’t really give a shit,” he growled, pointing to the two chairs. “As far as we can tell, there’s no specific delineation. Men, women, children, old, young, it doesn’t matter. He takes their money, tells them it’s safer to chain them to the boats, and somewhere between where he picks them up and where they’re left alone, the boat is sunk.”

“Always intentionally?” frowned Bogey.

“Yep. And always in a different way. Only one appeared sunk by hitting rocks off the island during a storm. The few survivors we’ve had have confirmed that they’re not all coming from Mexico. We’ve got Central Americans, mostly El Salvador and Guatemala, and a few were from Cartagena, Ecuador, and Colombia.”

“None of it makes sense,” repeated Bogey.

“Between you two and me? One of our survivors said that one of the men that took their money was American.”

“American? Why would Americans do this? The way our world is working right now, most Americans are up in arms about people crossing our borders. Those who aren’t are sympathetic and would help them. Why would someone do this, help them by taking their money, building up their hopes, and then kill them?”

“My opinion?” he asked Bogey and Benji. “I think whoever is doing this is eradicating as much of the race as they can.”

“Genocide?” asked Bogey.

“Maybe. There’s a fuck ton of population down there. They’re overcrowded, poverty is rampant, no jobs, no hope. We’re talking over three hundred million people just in Mexico and Central America. The median age is under thirty. We’re talking young people who have a lot of time left on this earth, with no jobs, no homes, and no prospects.”

“So, you think it’s some sort of ethnic cleansing?” asked Benji.

“I’m not sure what to think. Much like you guys, I’ve seen a lot of horrible shit in my day, but this might just take the cake. According to the boys in Washington, I can’t do shit to help, but if you were to ask me nicely, I’ll do whatever you need.”

“We don’t want to jeopardize you or your career,” said Bogey. “We want to find some answers to this, but we’ll have to do it under the radar.”

The admiral stood, shaking their hands.

“You know how to reach me if you need something. I don’t mind sticking my neck out for something worthwhile. Besides, it’s been bugging the shit out of me why they wouldn’t want us involved. I’d like to figure that out.” Benji and Bogey nodded. When they reached for the doorknob, Benji turned to him.

“Us too, brother. Us too.”