Black Ops Brotherhood: Tightrope Part 33

"f.u.c.k! Go! Get the charges planted inside like we planned, and I'll get a diversion going, so we can get those two in here."

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

"Get Friday to help you cover. I won't be long."

"Are you out of your f.u.c.king mind? No! Get your a.s.s back here. We have a plan for this. Stick to the plan!" Shaq said, grabbing him.

Breaking the hold, Dan glared at his dive buddy. "That's a f.u.c.king order JG. Get your a.s.s back there, and provide cover for my shooter team."

"If those motherf.u.c.kers don't kill you, I will when I see you again."

Dan left without a word. He remembered the plans of the facility where some of the old equipment was located. He had a couple of grenades that he could use to bring down some of the slews that were attached to the ceiling on the opposite side of the tunnel entrance. He glanced at his watch and knew he had four minutes before the charges went off all over the compound. He also knew what direction the security would be coming from because he knew the location of their compound in relation to the old mine. He guessed the compound served as the base of operations for Montenegro's private army, so these guys would be on point and not easily distracted. He had to time it so that, when they came pouring in, the slews would block their path and allow him to get back to the tunnel before they collapsed it from the other side. They'd be slowed down by the falling metal, and that would create enough of a diversion that his sniper and spotter could get the h.e.l.l out.

Waiting was the hardest part, and he'd gotten so hyped up from the small battle they'd just had, he willed himself to calm down and focus on this new objective. From his vantage point he saw Country and Rick make it into the tunnel and the hail of gunfire overhead that followed them. He heard the truck skid to a stop, threw his grenades, and ran for the tunnel. He stumbled when fire suddenly ripped through his shoulder. He remembered hearing the first explosion rip through and then the sound of crashing metal before he blacked out.

Chapter 27.

Undisclosed Location Sonora, Mexico November 10, 2010/1217 Zulu When Dan became aware of his surroundings, he shook his head. He had to be the unluckiest b.a.s.t.a.r.d barely alive. He involuntarily screamed when he was roughly lifted to his feet and blinding pain shot through his left arm. He couldn't hear because of the ringing in his ears after the explosion. Apparently they'd managed to drag him out before the whole thing came crashing down. When he was thrown into the bed of the truck, someone grabbed him by his neck as he reached for his sidearm strapped to his leg. He managed to get the man underneath him as he punched him in the face over and over again. His left arm was weak, and he could barely hold on to the struggling man as he wrapped his fingers around his throat and squeezed his windpipe in an effort to crush it. A sharp blow to the back of his head knocked him unconscious.

When he awoke, a swift kick to his solar plexus made him curl into a fetal position on a concrete floor. He had a hard time focusing as blinding pain overwhelmed his senses. His left shoulder was on fire, and his head ached, making it so he couldn't focus, not to mention the a.s.s kicking he was currently getting from some b.a.s.t.a.r.d's foot. When it stopped, he fought to catch his breath and sensed someone close to him.

"I'm taking you apart a piece at a time, and after that, I'm going back for her. This time I won't fail."

Dan's eyes flew open, and his pain faded when panic set in. What did this son of a b.i.t.c.h just say? Rio was in danger again. He recalled the last thing he'd done before he'd found himself here. He'd been on a mission, and there would be no reason why she should be around. He tried to focus on the face next to him and was roughly lifted to his feet by his injured shoulder. The man spoke in English and had a slight accent but could've pa.s.sed for someone who grew up in a predominantly Hispanic neighborhood in the United States. The blows were designed to create maximum pain with little effort. He fought to remember why he should know this man.

"I want her, and I almost had her until you came along. After my boss is done with you, it'll be my turn," the man said with a vicious punch to Dan's kidneys. "Pray he kills you."

Bingo! Eli Reyes.

"Who are you?" Reyes asked with a gut punch that sent Dan back on his knees.

The pain almost made him black out, but he dug deep, forcing himself to stay conscious and aware of his surroundings. As much as he could, he a.s.sessed how many people were in this s.p.a.ce with him and his interrogator. His abused body was racked with so much pain that he had to force himself to put the pain out of his head and find an opportunity for escape. Dan said nothing and was lifted to his feet again by his injured arm. This time he knew what to expect and knew how to deal with it. While he waited for the next blow, he braced himself to avoid falling again. When it came, he doubled over and almost threw up but was able to stay standing and look forward.

"Who the f.u.c.k are you?" Reyes asked with another blow to his midsection. "DEA? CBP? CIA? Who do you work for?"

Each question was asked with successive blows to his battered body. He found himself on the verge of pa.s.sing out again but managed to stay upright. The man moved away, grabbed him by his shirt, and pulled him in close.

"No, you're not any of those, are you?" he said, releasing him. "So, that's how she likes it? I knew it. I could tell when we talked," he said, grabbing Dan's jaw and focusing his gaze on him. "Don't worry, I'll take good care of her."

The blow to his already abused ribs made his knees buckle, and he couldn't help but go down this time. Before he could stand, Reyes landed a kick to his midsection. He rolled onto his back, and when the next kick came, he grabbed Reyes' foot and bring the son of a b.i.t.c.h to the ground. The momentary stun was what he needed to get on top and wrap his hands around Reyes' throat. Not being able to focus his vision, he couldn't gauge how effective he was being. He knew he was having some effect because Reyes clawed at his hands and kicked underneath him. Using all his energy to kill this motherf.u.c.ker took a lot out of him, but he was determined not to let go. One of them would die, and he was resolute in stopping this s.a.d.i.s.tic a.s.shole from going after Rio again. He didn't see or hear the guys that came up behind him but had to let go when a sharp blow came down on his injured shoulder and sent him back to the concrete.

The men who'd just entered hauled him to his feet and dragged him out of the room where he'd been. His captors forced him down onto a bench and tied him down. They stretched a towel over his face, and before he could take a gulp of air, he found himself almost drowning from the water being poured over his face. He tried to gauge when the water would come again. Instead he found himself coughing up the water once it stopped. His captors knew what they were doing and measured their torture so he could never catch a breath. He fought for consciousness as his waterboarding continued. He focused on surviving and just breathing.

Finally, they stopped and hauled him to his feet again, this time they stripped him from the waist up and hung him by his bound wrists to a hook. He must've drifted because a blow to his left side jerked him awake. This time he stared into the eyes of an older man. In fact, there were two men standing in front of him, one in uniform and one in civilian clothes.

"Who sent you?" the man in uniform asked.

Dan closed his eyes and dropped his head. There would be no way in h.e.l.l he'd tell them s.h.i.t. They'd have to kill him, which they clearly planned to do. A sting under one of his arms brought him alive and awake. His heart raced, and he suddenly found it hard to catch his breath. When he turned his head he saw one of his captors back off with a syringe in his hand. They'd drugged him with something that made him experience some sort of rush.

"Make this easy, and tell us what we want to know," the man in uniform said.

Dan didn't answer. The man nodded, and Reyes came back into view. With a s.a.d.i.s.tic smile, Reyes started his beating in earnest. With the second blow, he knew by an internal crunch that Reyes had inflicted serious damage to his ribs, and the drug he'd been given intensified the sensation of the torture. After what seemed like an eternity, the beating stopped. He inhaled, and the pain that followed with the simple act of breathing was unlike anything he'd ever known. Breathing had become the hardest thing he could ever remember doing in his life. The combination of being suspended, and the damage they'd exacted with the steel pipe they'd beaten him with, made it almost impossible to breathe. He tried to swallow and tasted blood.

"Tell me who sent you." Dan moved his lips unconsciously and the man came closer. "Let's end this; tell me what I want to know, and then beg me to kill you," the man said, pointing a gun to his head.

Dan mustered every single ounce of saliva and blood in his mouth and spat in the man's face.

"f.u.c.k you!"

The man grabbed the steel pipe from Reyes, raised it to swing, and Dan braced himself.

"Caesar! Get him down, and put him back in the cell. I have an idea, and if this man is who I think he may be, he's more useful alive than dead right now. I'll know within twenty-four hours. After that, do what you want," the man said before he turned around and walked out.

Caesar threw the pipe in his hand across the room and walked away to a towel near a sink. He wiped his face and glared at Dan.

"Do you really want to rest for twenty-four hours? It's only dragging out the pain, and by then she'll be gone forever," Reyes whispered close to him.

"Then you'd better kill me motherf.u.c.ker," Dan whispered.

Dan mercifully pa.s.sed out before he reached his cell. When he woke again, he found himself lying on a cot instead of concrete, and someone was tending to him. He wished he could close his eyes and go back to the bliss of blackness that had taken him under earlier because the pain had become unbearable. Thankfully, he was still able to move, but flashes of blinding pain shocked his senses every time he did. Even though his cell was dim, he could still see the man and grabbed his hand when the man got close to his face.

"Be still, hijo," the man said gently.

"I'm not your f.u.c.king son," Dan whispered, shoving the man's hands away. The small effort made him groan in agony.

"I'm here to help you. Please be still. We still have some time."

"Like h.e.l.l. Get the f.u.c.k away from me."

"Blast Furnace, 4687," the man murmured as he reached over him. Dan didn't react even though he'd just heard some highly cla.s.sified information. This man had just given him the code to the doors of the tunnel and the name of the operation that had landed him here. At first, he thought he was hallucinating, but he realized he wasn't by the way this man studied him. To his knowledge, only four people knew the code. Two of them were in the United States. He was here. That only left one other person who was the deep cover agent within Montenegro's compound. "They change the codes every ten days. The one I gave you was the new one. You moved up the timetable without telling me."

"I don't know what the h.e.l.l you're talking about," Dan said, closing his eyes.

"Yes, you do. Who do you think has been getting you all your information?"

Dan didn't react or answer. This could be a trick, and this man could've been sent to try and gain his trust in order to betray him later. The man sighed heavily.

"Can you sit up? I think they might have broken a couple of your ribs. Let me wrap them."

"What the f.u.c.k for? So they can have a better target for round two?"

The man chuckled. "Eli used you like a pinata while you were hanging there. You're tough. How is Dixie?"

Dan didn't want to move, and he sure as h.e.l.l didn't want this man's kindness. He wanted to believe that someone would be here any second now, but the reality of his situation was that he couldn't rely on anyone but himself. As hard as he clung to his life, he wouldn't see his next birthday. His biggest regret was that he wouldn't be walking down the aisle with the love of his life in a few weeks.

It was a sad realization that he'd never see her again. His chest grew heavy with emotion, and a lump formed in his throat at the memory of her smiling at him and them laughing together. He couldn't afford to focus on Rio and how much he missed her right now. He remembered right after she'd gotten out of the hospital and he'd offered to watch Twilight with her and her reaction. He swallowed hard when he thought about all the little pranks he pulled on her and how good natured she'd been about them. Mostly it was the laughter that made his breath catch and his eyes sting. They seemed to joke around about everything. He even missed that d.a.m.n dog of hers. How would Schotzie do with him being gone? He recalled how he'd walk through the door, and she'd run to get her ball because it was time to play when he got home at night.

Then he remembered his one-sided conversation with Reyes and how he threatened to go after Rio. What the h.e.l.l did it mean he'd take good care of her? The way he'd said that had been creepy. Did that sick b.a.s.t.a.r.d have some kind of twisted thing for her? If that was the case, Rio was in worse danger than he'd first realized. With renewed strength, he was determined to get out of this h.e.l.lhole and get back to her before that psycho b.a.s.t.a.r.d did. He considered his options in overpowering this man and wondered how much of his twenty-four hours had already pa.s.sed.

"Hey! Nacho's calling for you."

A guard at the door. Dan filed the information for later. He would need it when he tried to get out of here.

"I'll be there in a few minutes; I'm almost done," the man said. The guard grunted and shut the door. "Sit up so I can wrap your ribs."

Deciding to be more cooperative, he tried to sit but struggled to move with blinding pain. The man helped him up. Dan lifted his arms as best he could and found that his left shoulder had been cleaned and bandaged. His head hurt like h.e.l.l, and he was sure he had a concussion. After the man had gone, he lay down and tried to get comfortable, which turned out to be impossible. The last thing he remembered as he drifted again was a picture he'd taken of Rio and Schotzie. It was the background wallpaper on his home screen and his favorite picture of her smiling and hugging her dog.

Chapter 28.

Fort Huachuca, AZ Military Intelligence Detachment November 2, 2010/1033 Zulu Rio paced her small office at Fort Huachuca. She couldn't wait at home, and Schotzie wasn't helping her mood. The dog constantly lifted her head and whined because something was wrong. Rio knew it, and so did her dog. She'd been through enough operations both with the military and with the CBP to know that Murphy's Law could be a b.i.t.c.h and seemed to govern everything no matter how well planned. Something always went wrong. She stopped when she heard rapid footsteps coming down the hallway. She heard a bang outside her office as if someone had dropped something huge. She ran out to see a chair in the middle of the hallway and Captain O'Malley entering Gavin's office. She quickly went into the office where the two men were talking. They stopped, and both looked at her when she reached the doorway. Gavin was clearly upset, and from the look of Captain O'Malley, so was he.

"Come in, Rio," the captain said.

"What are you doing here? It's four in the morning," Gavin said.

"Are they back?" The two men exchanged glances, and it was evident by the look that pa.s.sed between them that something had gone terribly wrong. "I'm a part of this team and if something happened that I can help with, then I need to know," she said calmly.

"I don't think you can help," the captain said.

As Gavin explained what had happened, she didn't remember sitting down or how she got back to her office. She didn't recall her brother, Van, and Alan all arriving to comfort her or how she got home. She did remember thinking about the one person who'd betrayed them and how she needed to make sure the son of a b.i.t.c.h never took another dime from the cartel again. When she found herself sitting at her kitchen table, she methodically focused on a plan to get the b.a.s.t.a.r.d she now blamed for Danny's situation. She dressed in her CBP uniform, checked her weapon, and loaded up Schotzie.

The clock on her dash read six in the morning. Her target didn't arrive at the office until about eight, so he'd be at home. She had to find out who else could be involved, so she could figure out a way to save Danny. From what she could remember, Danny was still alive, and they were planning a rescue mission. However, she understood this cartel better than anyone on her team because she'd studied it long and hard to figure out how to antic.i.p.ate their moves. She'd learned their methods, and every time she discovered a new name, she'd build a profile, so she'd be able to think like them.

All of her work had found a supporter in Gavin. They'd been able to do things that the CBP and ICE couldn't do. The team started the process of shutting down the cartel's vast holdings in the United States, which put her in the unique position of understanding the reality they were facing. She also understood that by the time they got there, Danny could be dead. The cartel had resources, and she knew they didn't end with CBP. Once they discovered who Danny was and what kind of damage he'd done, they'd kill him. Knowing their methods and having found the dead bodies of those the cartel had tortured, his current condition was tenuous at best. She didn't want to think about how they were exacting their revenge. It would break her if she did.

Since the events of last night, she had a hunch that someone would reach out to the mole in the CBP to find out who Danny was and who he worked for. The downside was this man knew Danny, and it would be up to her to get the team the time they needed to get Danny out even if it was for his funeral. She opened her Navy-issued laptop and activated the program that Danny had installed to help her tap a phone through a Bluetooth device. Six phones in the neighborhood showed up on her list, none of them belonged to her target, indicating she was too far away. She pulled up a little closer and heard a familiar ding when the program locked on to more signals. When she found what she was looking for she downloaded his e-mail and text messages.

A new, second phone that showed up on her list, but this one wasn't as sophisticated as the one she'd just hacked, and it had been registered to a dead cartel mule. She went ahead and tapped into it. While she scrolled through the call logs and text messages, she realized she'd hit pay dirt. There were texts clearly from the cartel, and one of them had a picture of Danny she knew she'd never be able to scrub from her memory. The message was from Eli Reyes asking if Danny belonged to CBP or ICE. The picture showed him suspended by his tied wrists from what looked like a meat hook. A sudden wave of nausea hit her as she stared at the picture. She took a drink of her tea and refocused as she composed a secure message to Gavin. She sent the picture and text message to him, along with the phone's information, so it could be traced.

Getting what she'd come for, she took a spin around the block and waited for her target to emerge from the house. So far, he hadn't tried to make contact with the cartel. She'd locked on to the phone and monitored the activity. In the hour that she waited for him to emerge from his house, Gavin had called her a dozen times, and she ignored every call. He could pinpoint her in an instant, and had probably already done so, but he was busy planning the mission to extract Danny from Mexico. This time Van called, and she decided she could handle him a lot easier than her FBI partner.

"Yes?" she answered.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing, and how the h.e.l.l did you get that picture of Danny? Bada.s.s is going bat s.h.i.t crazy here."

"Tell him I got it from the person we were talking about yesterday."

"He wants to talk to you."

Ending the call before Gavin could demand that she get her a.s.s back to the base, she tossed the phone on the seat next to her computer. Just as she watched the door open to the house, there was activity on the phone, another text from Reyes demanding an answer. Knowing that if he got the answer Danny's life would become more h.e.l.lish than it already was, she jammed the phone with the program she had used to download the data.

When a person was under incredible stress, it was more than a little strange about some of the stuff that popped into one's head. Being hooked up with the SEALs had some perks. They had some pretty cool technology and tools. She wondered in an offhand way if Danny had written this program, like he'd done for her on the tablet he'd given her. Her eyes stung with tears at the memory of all the little things he did for her.

Recalling a conversation they had one day, he'd hara.s.sed her about ignoring him while they were at work. She knew it drove him crazy that she didn't follow him around like a puppy, but as stressed out as he'd been about them working in the same s.p.a.ce, she wanted to respect the request he'd made. Every time she saw him in uniform she realized just how much of a man he'd become. He'd never know how many times she had to fight the urge to touch him when they found themselves working or sitting in a meeting together. He'd never guess how hot and s.e.xy it was for her to watch him work, and the erotic feelings that raced through her when she saw how serious and focused he could be were overpowering at times. As mission commander, he never wavered taking control of the groups he managed and keeping it. He didn't realize that during those times he ignored her.

When she pointed out to him that he'd been doing the same thing, he denied it and told her he knew where she was every second of the day. Danny always left the house before she did, and when she arrived at her office the next day after their discussion, there had been a flower on her desk with a note from him telling her to think about him for the rest of the day. Since then, she'd find a flower or a caramel latte waiting in the morning, or when she'd work through lunch, he'd leave her something to eat. He'd always leave her a note with some snarky remark that made her laugh. Last night when she couldn't sit still and went to her office, she'd walked in to find a bouquet of sunflowers sitting on her desk and a note in his handwriting that simply said, I love you.

Hardening herself to sharpen her focus, she saw the door open and watched her target look at the phone to see if the signal would be better outside his house. She clicked on the icon to jam the phone to prevent him from using it as long as she was in the area. He wouldn't be able to make calls, send or receive texts. She was reasonably certain he wouldn't be stupid enough to use his CBP phone to make a call or send a text like that. A short time later, he left the house, and she followed him to the station.

Completing part of her objective, she'd bought Danny a little more time, but she still had the rest of the day and most of the night to go. She walked inside the station, her mission to keep this traitor on his toes the rest of the day or at least until the SEALs could get back into Mexico and get Danny out. She found him, pulled him aside to speak to him, and gauged his reaction to seeing her. Achieving another objective, he confirmed her suspicions because he wasn't comfortable seeing her. She'd achieved the element of surprise.

"Rio? What are you doing here? I thought you were FBI now."

"Not yet, I'm still CBP for awhile. I need some help with part of the investigation that I'm doing. I'll need a lot of your time today," she said with a charming smile. "I'll even treat you to lunch for all your time."

"Of course, anything I can do to help, and you don't need to take me to lunch."

"No, if I'm taking all your time today the least I can do is take you to lunch."

Dan drifted in and out of consciousness. He wasn't sure how long he'd been there, but he recalled having a meal and something to drink. At least for now, the beatings had stopped, and he'd been treated decently considering his situation.

Twenty-four hours had to be closing in, and he'd made peace with the fact that he'd be dying very shortly. For the last few hours he'd struggled with saying his good-byes. At some point he'd made peace and didn't have the anxious reactions whenever he heard footsteps outside his cell. He wondered how long this would last and hoped his captors would simply execute him and not drag this out any longer. The man who'd nursed his wounds earlier came back. This time he could see him better and realized he looked familiar. He searched his memory to figure out where he'd seen this man before today.

"Why are you doing this? f.u.c.king with my head isn't working. We both know I'm a dead man."

The man changing the bandage on his shoulder stopped, sat back, then quicker than Dan expected, he grabbed Dan's injured arm and jerked him, making Dan wince in pain at suddenly being moved. The swiftness behind the old man's movements made Dan reevaluate him.

"Failure is not in your creed. You will persevere and thrive on adversity," the man sharply growled at him.

The statement made Dan blink and pause. This f.u.c.ker sounded like JJ. Those words were tattooed on his soul. They were words he'd had to repeat on a daily basis during training. Then it clicked, Dan had seen a much younger version of this man's face in his admiral's office, in a group of pictures. The words reached him and sparked hope. Is this son-of-a-b.i.t.c.h a...SEAL?

"Don't you dare give up on me! Too much is riding on you getting back-alive." He released Dan and went back to tending his wounds. "I've convinced Nacho that you're more valuable alive and in good health. If he's good to you he could trade you for information about his daughter. Don't worry, he's looking into my story right now. You'd better hope he doesn't get an answer before your friends get here."

"Bulls.h.i.t. He's got more money than G.o.d. He can buy whatever information he wanted. So why do you keep f.u.c.king with me?"

"He's close, so he won't risk doing anything that prevents him from finding her. You're a p.a.w.n until he figures out who you really are and if you can be used to get his daughter back."

"You're very free in here when you talk, isn't this place under surveillance?"

"No."