Chapter 26 August 24, 2024 #2
“That cave has got to connect to a tunnel system. They probably have golf carts with long flatbeds to move the drugs from the warehouse to the cave entrance.”
“We saw those at Bananato del Sole. They were moving medical equipment with it in the underground warehouse,” Demon said.
“I’m thinking the warehouse up top is only an unloading zone for supplies coming in.
There’s probably an elevator or a staircase to where the real work is done.
When they’re ready to move the product, they load it onto the golf carts, take it to the mouth of the cave, transfer it to speedboats, then run the boats to a pickup point. ”
“There’s a security turret connected to a portion of the warehouse.
” Daleyza pointed to where the quadrangle met the turret, and the warehouse extended past the building.
“It already has a spiral staircase for the security to get to the top for their shifts. They could have put an elevator there, or even continued the stairs there.”
Steel beamed at her. “Clever girl.”
“Not really. Just knowledge of the space.” She turned to face God. “Which may be horrifically inaccurate, given the amount of time I’ve been gone.”
“I don’t think you’re wrong. Not one little bit,” he assured her. “Midas, I want that drone footage as soon as possible.”
“Cerberus is manning it now, boss.”
“Excellent. How are we doing on our mystery man?”
Steel walked over to the computer monitor closest to him and leaned down to get a better look at the photograph Midas had put up.
“Big fat zero on that one. This guy is good.”
A soft gasp came from somewhere in front of him, and he lifted his head to see who had reacted, but everyone’s faces appeared blank or irritated. Nothing that warranted a gasp of surprise. Maybe he’d imagined it.
Shaking his head, he leaned back down, one palm flat on the table, the other on the back of the empty chair.
Frustration began to take hold of him. Why couldn’t they find this fucker?
He walked through an entire tourist site that had cameras to the hilt, not to mention an entire town with modern conveniences.
Midas should have been able to catch a full front view of his face somewhere.
Collapsing into the chair, he rubbed his thumb and middle finger across his eyebrows, hoping the pressure would stem the headache he could feel forming.
Two small hands came down on his shoulders and kneaded the flesh and bone.
The scent of jasmine wrapped around him.
Daleyza. All these years, and she’d never changed the scent she wore.
It blanketed him, and he dropped his hand from his face to sit up in the chair and tilt his head back until it connected with her torso.
She always knew when he was mired in negative thoughts and feelings, and just like in the past, her gentle touch gave him the strength to push through it.
In the background, God began to give orders.
“Medusa, we’re going to need a speedboat.
Find one, and find somewhere along the lakeshore where you can unload, as well as stash a military-grade truck that can hold bodies lying down.
I want another military-grade truck at the ready, three miles out on the highway from the main gate.
“Demon. You’re getting wet tonight. I’m going to want you in the water as an extra set of eyes.”
“Fan-fecking-tastic. Just what I wanted. A case of hypothermia,” the man bitched.
Still, he was already on his way to his bag, as he always brought dive gear and climbing gear.
It was meant to be his cover story in case he was questioned about why he was in a particular country or area, but he’d needed it on more than one project in the past.
“Pack dry gear for the boat because eventually you’ll be needed for our injured men.”
“Got it.”
“Nemo, Gem. I want thermal blankets, a heater, anything you can scrounge up in that boat, ready in case someone goes in the drink or some other emergency. Also, medical kits, at least three stashed on board. Tonight, the two of you are going to ride with Medusa in the boat. You’ll be making your ingress from the cliffside.
“TB. I need you on the computer with Midas. Cerberus is running the drone, and Nova’s tracking all of you.
I don’t want to pull her because the signal on Waters is going to be at its end soon, and we need that location pinpointed as tight as possible.
That means I need both of you working on our mystery guy. ”
“You got it. I’ve got a contact or two from my days as The Collector I can check with. With most of his face covered, it’ll be a long shot, but it’s worth a try.”
“Do it. Loki? Gilgamesh? I need you two to put together a plan to get into those security towers and take out the guards. Three towers, that’s one for each of us. Then we’ll need a plan for taking out any opposition we meet along the way.
“Steel and Daleyza, you will be making entry from the bottom. I know we have no way of knowing where those tunnels lead exactly. Primary objective is to find a way to those oubliettes and get our people.”
“Are we sure Ka-Bar’s going to be there too?”
“One hundred percent? No. I’m guessing they brought both men here, though, figuring we’d have no way to track them.”
“And now that they’ve seen us,” Loki said, “they know we did.”
“Exactly. Time is running short. I hate to say it, but they could already be dead. Even if that’s the case, we are not leaving them behind for these jackals.”
“What can I do?” Daleyza asked.
“Work with Loki, Gilgamesh, and Steel on pathways out of the mission. Think about places where they could possibly have entrances to a cave system. They’d be in plain sight, places no one would think twice about.
I want you to fill in the map with notes on where every door is that you can remember, every closet, every vent, anything that might have a hidden space behind it, under it, or through it. ”
Steel reached behind him and laid a hand on hers, where it sat on his shoulder. He looked around at her.
He saw panic and uncertainty in her eyes. “It sounds like a lot. You can do it.”
“They could have hollowed out spaces, built new doors.”
He pulled her hand off his shoulder and kissed it.
“Unlikely. I bet this property was owned by a member of the Salieri and converted into a stronghold a long time ago. Hollowing out those cliffs would have taken a long time, Daleyza. Long before your father took control of the property. In fact, I’d bet he doesn’t even really own it.
My guess is he’s a front for them.” He squeezed the hand he held. “I know you can figure it out.”
She let out a long exhale. “I’ll try.”
“Go.” He nodded his head toward the table where the maps and diagrams were spread out. “I’ll be there in a minute.”
He refrained from telling her the whole truth.
While her father and brothers were still complicit in drug trafficking, they were clearly not members of the Salieri and, therefore, not truly on the inside.
If they were, she would have been killed a long time ago rather than married off to one of Hector’s sons.
It also made sense, now, why his father had chosen him to marry Daleyza.
They would have known that Steel never would have subscribed to the Salieri’s breeding practices.
When Hector needed a marriage to solidify the loyalty of Daleyza’s family, Steel was the best choice.
She had no clue how extra lucky she’d been.
Marriage to one of his brothers wouldn’t have been a possible death sentence—it would have been assured.
As she walked over to Loki and Gilgamesh, he stayed seated in the chair, watching her. Did he do right by her?
“Never doubt your choices, Steel.”
He looked up to see God standing on the other side of the computer monitor and realized he must have asked his question out loud.
He told his boss, “I’ve loved that woman from the moment I raised her veil at the altar.
I did everything from that point on to shelter her from the cruelties of my family.
Everything possible to protect her from their retribution.
Now, here she is, embroiled in an even bigger disaster. One she should have no connection to.”
“It’s a good thing we didn’t have a bet running on it because, for once, you’re wrong. The two of you have been on this path from the very beginning. You’ve suffered greatly, but you’ll come out of it just fine. If there’s one thing I do know, it’s that.”
“And if I fail her again?”
“You didn’t fail her the first time. You made choices. Tough ones. Just because you do your best doesn’t mean you’re going to be successful.”
“You know, I think I like the cranky boss better than the metaphysical one.”
God stood to his full height, haughtily looking down at him. “Too bad. This is the one you’re getting right now.” He relaxed his posture. “Does she know why you left?”
“She knows enough. I gave her the basics, but I don’t want to burden her with the details. She’s suffered enough at my hands.”
“My understanding is that couples work as a team. Together, the two of you worked to make her a fighter.”
“I had very little to do with that. She’s always been a fighter. I taught her how to shoot, how to defend herself. She did the rest on her own.”
“You taught her to be a warrior. Don’t make her less now because you feel you fucked up.
” God took two steps toward him and poked him in the chest. He lowered his voice so Daleyza wouldn’t overhear.
“Don’t be stupid. You were used, Steel. You were given a catch-22 so a fuckwitch DEA agent could get a leg up in the very cartel you’re fighting against. He wanted to get rich and wield power in both worlds. Look how that turned out for him.”
“She deserves better.”
“Don’t start spouting that bullshit. Why do you all insist you’re unworthy of these women?
You’re more than worthy. All of you.” He ran a hand through his hair and sighed in frustration.
“Look. Moments ago, you told me you loved that woman from the moment you saw her. You’ve never stopped loving her. So why are you denying yourself?”
“Because it can’t just be me who wants her back!
” He glanced over to the table where Daleyza was working with Loki and Gilgamesh, worried that he’d yelled.
He didn’t speak loudly. Ever. Again, he was losing his precious control, the very thing that had kept him alive all these years.
What had kept him from withering away to nothing.
The only way he’d known how to survive. “She has to want me in her life as well.”
“You are many things, Steel, but you are not a fool. But if you let her get away? You will be.” God exited the room.
Years ago, when they’d all been recruited, they’d been told that to accept Tribe’s offer meant you “died” in your real life and became nothing more than a ghost. You would live in a shadow world where you owned nothing, loved no one, and you could never leave.
If you tried to leave, you would be hunted down and killed. Erased for real.
For Steel, acceptance of the job meant the opportunity to get out from under the government’s thumb. To be free of their punishment. He couldn’t return to Daleyza and his life before, so this was his best option.
However, he’d merely traded one prison for another. He was still an outcast. He was still the father of a dead child. He was still without his belleza.
Nothing had changed. Had any of it been worth it?
Memories rolled through his mind like the muzzle flashes when a bullet left a gun.
The first glimpse of Daleyza behind her veil.
Protecting her with his blood staining their sheets on their wedding night.
Making love to her for the first time in the candlelight.
Teaching her how to shoot and her glee when she hit her target.
Self-defense lessons that ended with them making love on the floor of their suite.
Hearing her say she was pregnant with their child.
Holding her and his son for the first time.
Hearing Tobias calling him Papá for the first time.
Picnicking with them on the beach and teaching his boy how to swim.
It occurred to him that he hadn’t jumped to the bad memories first, as he had in the past. All the memories had been good ones, filled with love and happiness, even when the moments were put in place by concern for her safety.
For the first time since Tobias had been killed, he felt happy inside. Not about his son’s death—that would always hurt. And not about leaving Daleyza, which hurt just as much.
He’d never been a particularly good man. You couldn’t be if you were under the influence of the Colonels. There was a mean streak in their DNA, and they had planted that seed in him. Fed it. Nurtured it. Then they had used it to suit their own purposes.
He became vicious and cruel. Often, when he committed acts of violence, he felt nothing. Not satisfaction that someone deserved justice from his hands. Not guilt when the person was innocent of nothing more than displeasing his father.
The same held true of the Navy. He had been nothing more than a tool. A soulless assassin who never failed an assignment, and who never lost a night of sleep over what he’d done.
He’d brought those traits with him to Tribe, making him a natural at coldly immobilizing targets and disposing of what was left behind.
But for Daleyza? He’d wanted to be a good man. For Tobias, he’d wanted to be a good father. In trying to make that happen, he ended up throwing it all away and reverting back to the man he’d been.
Waters once told him he wasn’t that man.
That he’d done what he’d needed to do to protect his family.
That he’d done things for the Navy to keep their world safe from men like his father.
That what he’d done in his role with Tribe was to protect others since he couldn’t protect his wife and mother.
Until now, he’d never truly believed him.
Waters believed in him so much that he offered to make the ultimate sacrifice so Ildefanso Colonel, his friend, had the opportunity to make right what, in his head, felt wrong.
Yes, they hoped this might draw out the Salieri puppeteer, but Waters would never have suggested this sacrifice, knowing it might be his last act on earth, if he felt Ildefanso wasn’t worth saving.
Tonight, standing here, he felt hope for the first time. Instead of running from the belief they could succeed, he committed to believing they would. He would fight for another chance for Daleyza, the woman who meant more to him than his own life. He would fight for her until the day he died.
For the first time, he understood that he’d been running his entire life.
It was time to stop.
He’d been running long enough.