David Golemon - Ripper

Sarah stepped closer to the bars. “I really don’t give a flying fuck what you think. Your men shot and killed two friends of mine and two other good men. So if you would just ask your men to sit this one out, and you allow me out of this cell, I’ll kick your ass from here to the border.” Sarah actually grabbed the cell’s bars tight enough to make the skin on her fingers turn white with the pressure.

Juan Guzman laughed out loud and then looked back at his men. They didn’t take Sarah’s threat to their boss as well as he did. “If my madre heard you speak that way she would wash your mouth out with lye soap little woman.” He stepped closer and the smile disappeared. “The raid across the border will not happen, so lower your hopes. El presidente has had a change of heart. He has canceled all plans to rescue you. He instead will send out the local police to investigate the incident at the archeological site this afternoon, of which I have guaranteed him personally that all attempts will be made to get to the bottom of that despicable crime.”

“You slimy bastard,” Sarah said staring a hole through the fierce Anaconda. “At least get the professor and my friend to a doctor.”

“I have many questions to ask our French friend here, but,” he gestured to one of his men, stepped forward, and unlocked the cell, making Sarah step back. “Professor Stansfield I can assist right now.”

The cell door opened with a loud screech and Guzman stepped in, followed closely by his men. He easily reached out and removed the sawed-off shotgun from the first guard and then placed the barrel to the blonde professor’s head. He looked up and smiled at Sarah.

Second Lieutenant Sarah McIntire couldn’t believe the ruthlessness of what she was about to witness. Sarah started forward, trying desperately to get to Guzman, but she was grabbed by the ankle and stopped. She looked down and couldn’t believe the man holding her back from attempting to save Stansfield was Henri Farbeaux. He was holding on with both arms as she tried to kick away from him. Sarah stopped struggling when the sound of both barrels of the shotgun reverberated in the closed space, sending Sarah down to the ground. Out of frustration she started crying and nearly vomited when she looked up and saw that the professor from Baylor University no longer had most of her head.

“You murdering son of a bitch!” she cried as she lowered her head, kicking Henri’s grip free of her ankle.

“Now, Señora, remember this lesson when I come back to ask you more pointedly just who you are. And this act of being a simple geologist, well, as you can see, I don’t take disappointments well at all. This woman was an employee, as you are not, so I will be very straightforward with my questions to an outsider.” He tossed the still-smoking shotgun to the guard and then stepped out of the cell and started up the stairs.

The guard looked at Sarah and then gave Farbeaux a hard kick to his stomach, making him curl up into a bloody ball. Sarah noticed he didn’t even let out a grunt. He did however look up at the guard with murderous eyes. The fat man smiled and then followed his boss out of the cell and the basement.

Sarah lay on the floor a moment trying to regain some of her composure. Her ears were still ringing from the blast of the shotgun, but that ringing was also successfully drowning out the cries of the frightened young girls sitting on mattresses lining the walls.

“You … have a tendency … to drive men a little … mad, dear Sarah.”

“Shut up Henri, you stopped me. I could have—”

“Gotten yourself … killed,” said Henri, stopping her complaint before it was fully voiced. He tried to sit up but fell over.

Sarah eased herself over to the Frenchman and pulled his head off the cold floor. She remained silent for a moment as she cradled his head in her lap once more.

“And what are you going to do when he comes for these girls?” she asked, giving Farbeaux a small test of her own. She looked straight ahead, knowing in advance what his answer was going to be.

“Nothing, dear Sarah.” He opened his eyes and looked at her as she stared ahead. “They mean nothing to me.”

“I really find you heartless and disgusting sometimes, Colonel.”

“Thank … you, my dear … Sarah.”

Sarah looked down and saw that the Frenchman had passed out once more from his pain.

The three men had passed several openings in the ancient culvert as they made their way south toward Perdition’s Gate. Mendenhall used these large openings that were obviously used by the illegal immigrants for entering the concrete tube. As everyone passed he would hoist the small global positioning unit that was part of the equipment. Thus far they were on a straight line toward their final destination.

It was at one of these openings that Jack’s cell phone vibrated. He held up a black gloved hand and Carl and Will stopped behind him, taking the opportunity to drink some vitamin water. Jack opened the phone as he drank energy drink from a small aluminum package.

“Colonel, we’ve landed back at the airport. Imagine our surprise to see that the hostage rescue team hasn’t budged from the hangar. The Mexican element is no longer on station. Jack, their mission is on hold.” Niles Compton became silent after delivering the bad news.

“There goes our cover,” he said as he angrily tossed the energy drink into the moving water at his feet.

Everett glanced at Mendenhall and saw the young lieutenant just shake his head, knowing without being told that the diversion they had hoped for was no longer an option.

“Jack, I think I should come clean with the president. He could possibly get this Guzman’s attention and give you some time to move in.”

“That would end up costing you your job. No, I’m sending Will and Carl back now.”

Everett smiled and shook his head. He set his jaw, a look Collins knew well. “Tell Dr. Compton that I quit.”

“Me too,” Will added as he tried to get comfortable in the curving tune of the culvert.

Collins shook his head. “Okay, we’re going ahead; do what you can without letting the president know you were involved. This is my thing and I’ll be the only one to hang for it.” Jack closed the cell phone and looked at the other two men who waited for his angry rebuke at their failing to follow his orders. He opened his mouth to speak, but Everett stopped him by holding up his own gloved hand. No words needed to be exchanged after that.

Colonel Jack Collins nodded his thanks and then turned to finish the last three miles to Perdition.

Niles waited in front of the large-screen television for his call to be answered. It didn’t take the president long.

“I answer my phone, but you don’t answer yours. Is that the way things work now, Niles?”

“You have my apologies, we…,” Niles paused and removed his glasses, “… I was in the air as a diversion for Colonel Collins and his two men to leave the aircraft.”

The president looked through the camera on top of the monitor on his small laptop inside the Oval Office and didn’t say a word. He waited.

“My orders,” Niles finally said. “I think it was wrong of you not to allow me to use the assets of my department to rescue one of my people. And now that this rescue mission has been suspended, delayed, I don’t believe you ever had a handle on the situation, at least as well as you thought you did.”

The president stared at the face of the best friend he ever had. The polar opposite of himself in most everything except politics, Niles usually knew just how far he could push his buddy from their college days. And as usual, his conscience, as he called Compton while by himself, was right.