Chapter 16
Link watched Bean and Stanley move to the door and place charges. He was set up on the roof of a building fifty yards away, ready to fire if anyone stepped out of those doors. The safety of his men was paramount. He would do anything for them, and he knew they would do the same for him.
They were in South America, and it was hot.
He couldn’t wait to get home and spend a day in sweats and sweatshirts.
The heat mixed with the humidity was brutal, and there wasn’t any wind to cool him.
Wind was a mixed bag. It could alter the path of a bullet fired this far away if it was blowing hard.
He didn’t have to worry about that today.
“Setting the charge,” Bean said before stepping away from the door. Stanley moved out of the way as the countdown started.
Once the doors blew, his team would rush in and retrieve the man they'd come after. He was a terrorist that the government wanted to talk to. They had to take the bastard alive. It was much easier to just pop them and leave, but this mission wasn’t that.
“Time,” Bean said two seconds before the charge blew, popping the doors open.
Link was ready, his scope trained on the door, just waiting for anyone dumb enough to come running out. No one did, and the rest of the guys moved in.
Link watched the street, looking for anyone headed their way. He saw a guy on the left moving closer to the building. The man didn't look like he was involved in the terrorist group. He didn't seem to have any bulges where firearms would be. Then again, he could be hiding the weapons well.
“Man on the left side, coming down the street,” Link said.
“Got it,” Keel replied.
Keel left the building and headed out to intercept the man. He would be encouraged to turn around, unless Keel recognized him as one of the people involved with this group. They had photos of everyone, but sometimes new people joined up and didn’t make it into their photo spread.
Link searched to the right, then back to the left, tracking over the roofs to make sure no one had crawled up top. It seemed clear, at least for now.
Keel was headed back to the compound. “Checked the guy, he was clear. Just some old man out for a walk.”
“Strange timing,” Chase said.
“Maybe,” Mick said.
“Old people do strange things,” Keel said.
Link heard some gunfire coming from the building, and he could hear his team over coms as they took care of the guy who’d shot at them.
“Got the target,” Chase said after another minute.
Link called for transport and checked the roofline and streets again. They would meet the helicopter pilot in an open area about a hundred yards away. So far, it seemed like this mission was going to go off without a hitch.
He didn’t want to celebrate too early, but they were so close to success he could taste it.
Before he left the roof, he saw his team members leaving the building.
He climbed down the ladder and headed to their pickup location.
Elation slithered through him, but he pushed the feeling away.
He couldn’t count his wins before they were out of here.
He turned the corner and could see his guys with the prisoner. Link looked past them and spied a man moving fast in their direction. It wasn’t the old man, so Keel hadn’t been wrong about the old guy.
Staying up on the roof wouldn't have helped since they were leading the guy away from the compound and into an area he wouldn't have been able to see. Still, he wished he had a better position. Worry filled Link as the man closed the distance.
“Got a bogie on your six,” Link said as he picked up pace.
Stanley turned along with Keel. Link watched as the approaching man lifted a weapon. Link wanted to take him out, but his position was compromised.
“Put the gun down!” Keel bellowed.
The stranger didn’t lower his weapon. Link approached a set of stairs and ran up, stopping on the fourth step. He had the height and the angle. He raised his rifle, ready to shoot.
“I have the shot,” Link said.
“Wait,” Keel said.
“He is pointing a gun at you,” Link pressed.
“No, it’s not a gun.”
"What the hell?" Link was ready to shoot the man, but Keel took the thing from the man, and he turned and walked off. "What was that?"
“Bread. He was giving us a loaf of fucking bread,” Keel said.
Link shook his head. “Shit. That guy almost got himself killed for some bread.”
Keel grunted. “Maybe this community is glad to get rid of the terrorists.”
Link caught up with the group as the helicopter approached and landed right in front of them. He was still weirded out by the man bringing bread for them.
“That didn’t make sense,” Link said as he loaded onto the chopper.
“No, it didn’t. The man was really old,” Keel said.
“He said thank you,” Mick added.
Chase shook his head. “Getting thanked with bread. This guy must have been abusing the locals.”
“Glad we got him. Now we just need to drop him off.”
Link sat back, resting his head against the wall of the helicopter.
The things that happened because of war were awful.
Ansley had been taken because someone was a jerk.
No one should have to put up with that kind of treatment, not Ansley, and not that old man.
But it was a worldwide problem. He wasn't sure why some people were bad, and no motivation to change, like prison or loss of money, could convince them to change.
It was like they were just bad through and through, and the only solution was not allowing them to live.
He hated that truth for the world. Some people were just bad, and no amount of threats would ever make them decent people.
The knowledge that there was evil out there further cemented his desire to stay in the military.
He knew Ansley had her reasons for getting out, but he had his reasons for staying in.
He was well equipped to bring down terrorists, and he owed it to himself and others to keep doing the work to make the world a safer place.
Even when the problems seemed more like Hydra, the water snake with many heads, it was worth it to keep fighting so that old men could offer them bread.
They landed and handed their prisoner off, then took a moment to eat something, but not the bread because they had no idea who had given it to them or if it was safe. It was a kind gesture, but kindness sometimes hid deep cruelty.
The sun would be up in about an hour. He wondered what Ansley would be doing today. She had about two weeks left in the Marines. Hopefully, her day was going well. When he got home, he wanted to call her up and just listen to her talk.
“What’s that smile for?” Scott asked.
“Just thinking.”
Scott chuckled. “You’re thinking about your woman, right?”
"Technically, she isn't my woman. We are just friends."
“Sure,” Scott said. “A smile like that doesn’t say friends.”
He wasn't going to try to convince his buddies of anything. He would make sure they were respectful toward her, but he knew better than to argue with them about Ansley. Soon enough, they would see how good she was for him, and maybe they would see how good they were together.