CHAPTER FOURTEEN
“B-but how? How could they be digging already without anyone knowing about it?” asked Bianca, staring at the team who’d just returned.
“Anything is possible if you have the money and the backing. I suspect that your uncle had financing from the U.S. government, and maybe others, long before they knew you would have to sign off on the land,” said Thomas.
“Right now, you are a very wealthy woman. You can openly claim the rights to that land.”
“I can’t. If I do, I’ll be dead within a week.”
“No, you won’t,” said Coop gripping her fingers in his own. “We’d protect you. But you do have the advantage right now because we have the data and data doesn’t lie.”
“He’s right,” said May. “We can prove that you gave us permission to survey the land and that our data shows greater wealth than initially suspected. We took pictures of the workers, who are there illegally, and you can stop it all right now.”
“Hey, Ham?” said AJ in that voice. It was a voice laced with a warning that whatever was coming next would not be liked. “Charlie Myles is on the line.”
“Fuck,” muttered Ham. He turned the screen so it only showed his face, Gator and Christian standing behind him, half in the screen.
“Senator, what can we do for you?” he asked.
“I was just wonderin’ where we were on finding that woman,” he said impatiently. Ham decided to play his game to the end, only he was going to hold all the cards.
“She’s just fine, Senator.” The senator’s eyes grew wide, half expecting denial and instead getting confirmation.
“In fact, she’s recently become a very wealthy woman.
See, we sent some folks down to gather data on the land that Pablo, you know Pablo Garcia, the man you’ve been meeting with to conspire to take the land.
Anyway, we found more than we bargained for and we’re prepared to announce that data to the Argentine government and of course our own government. ”
There was a deathly silence on the phone as the senators face became red, sweat beading along his forehead. He chewed the inside of his cheek, pretending to stare down at the papers on his desk.
“You all think you’re very clever,” he finally said in a low voice. “You think you have this all figured out. Except you don’t. You know nothing. If you don’t sign over the land, the U.S. will declare war on Argentina.”
“For what reason? They’ve done nothing to our country,” said Gator.
“We don’t need a reason,” he smirked. “Haven’t you heard? We suspect a nuclear weapon. We suspect they’re hiding American citizens. We suspect, we suspect, we suspect. That’s all that’s needed.”
“We’ll expose everything,” said Ham, not budging. “All the conversations between us, between you and your peers. We tell all.”
“And you’ll be labeled as enemies of the state,” he said confidently.
“We’ve been labeled worse,” said Ham letting out a long breath. “If it saves the people of Argentina and returns the wealth to their pockets, I won’t hesitate for a minute.”
Myles was once again quiet, glaring at the screen and the men behind the camera. He hated them. He hated them all and knew that they had more information than he probably had at his fingertips.
“I believe I’ll have to have some conversations with my colleagues before we continue our negotiations.”
“There are no negotiations, Charlie. You leave this alone. She will sign the land back over to the country, to someone truly in charge and who will do the right thing. If Pablo doesn’t leave the land alone, if he doesn’t remove all his little minions, we will send people in to secure it.”
“You’ll start a war of your own for some stupid fucking woman!” he screamed.
“We’ve started wars for less worthy causes,” frowned Ham.
“Or I should say you and your colleagues started wars for less worthy causes. Bianca Garcia owns that land. If one more person touches it, we’ll go to every court in the world if we have to.
But the first thing you’re going to do is stop the search for Bianca.
Claim it was a case of mistaken identity. ”
“Fine. Fine, we’ll withdraw that but nothing else right now. I hope you boys know what you’re doing because you’re about to declare war on your own nation as well as Argentina.”
The screen went black once again and Ham shook his head.
“We need to get everyone we know to open up to us,” said Gator. “Contact every senator, every military leader, all the way to the fucking POTUS. We need to know who is on our side and who knows nothing of what’s happening.”
“And if they’re all involved? If they all know exactly what’s happening, then what?” asked Coop, staring at the room of men.
“Then I guess we prepare for war.”