6
Getting Ready for Business
MEANWHILE BACK IN THE AMAZON.
The group stood transfixed at the edge of the wilderness with Mason the only one able to see what was going on by way of his sight enhancing optical glasses. Raina straining her eyes across the horizon complained to Benton, “Too bad they didn’t make a pair for all of us huh?”
Mathew Benton shrugged, “Well—it doesn’t matter.”
Benton then slapped Mason on the back as he added, “As long as Mace here can be a good set of eyes for both of us, it doesn’t’ matter one bit.”
Raina putting a hand on Mason’s back, even while keeping an eye on the handcuffed Brian Nelson beside her, softly spoke into the ear of their fearless leader, “Alright Mason, so what do you see?”
Mason replied, “Okay their both inside the house.” He then stepped forward and motioned for them to follow as he instructed them, “Now’s the time—let’s move to a closer vantage point.”
Mason already getting the hang of the glasses, automatically began toggling the lens with his right eye to zoom back out, even as he was boldly traversing back through the brush. Following Mason’s lead, the group then ran in a somewhat crouched position, a classic maneuver that was taught by the SEALS, that served to significantly lower a person’s profile while sprinting across a landscape.
No one was quite sure after all, just what kind of “eye in the sky” the drug lords might us to spy on them. They could have drones lurking in the jungle, or even their own helicopters sent out on patrol to peer down into the rain forest canopy for potential intruders. If any of these were tipped off to their presence it wouldn’t be long before a small army of narcos would be sent to their position to take them out. Being spotted was simply a risk they couldn’t afford to take.
Fortunately for them, they managed to make it back to the house just in time to take cover behind the back wall before another narco stepped outside. The guy was apparently on a satellite phone and was busy airing his dirty laundry and grievances to whoever was on the other end.
Mason heard the man inform the other party, “Yes, Carlos—I’m well aware of the danger I signed up for. But you are not seeing what I’m seeing. There’s a whole freaking deer stand over here that was blown to pieces. and two men that were ripped to shreds. This isn’t paranoia—this is war, and somebody is out to get us for real.”
The man then paused as if listening to further instructions, before issuing a solemn, “Alright…”
He hung up the phone and called to the other man inside, “Reuben! What you doing in there brother?” He then rather unceremoniously asked, “Are you taking a shit?”
Prompting the man referred to as Rueben, to step out, as he announced, “Hey—I’m here Juan. What’s up man?”
Juan shook his head, “I don’t know brother you see what happened out here don’t you?”
The carnage was undeniable, Rueben had no choice but to answer in the affirmative, “Yeah—I do.” Rueben then quickly asked, “Are they sending anyone else over or what?”
To which Juan answered, “Not yet—but they will.”
Rueben asked, “When?”
Juan scowled at the thought, “Probably in the morning.”
Reuben questioned, “The morning? Really?”
Rueben then looked up at the decimated tree stand upon which the remains of their fallen comrades had been smeared, and sighed rather presciently, “Who knows what might happen by morning.”
Upon hearing all this Mason gave Raina and Benton a knowing look—there was no way they would wait until morning before taking these guys out. What the men said next then got Mason’s attention.
They listened in as Juan complained, “Yeah—it’s just unbelievable, first they take our whole cadre of drugs and now this.”
Mason and company didn’t take anyone’s drugs. Were the narcos under attack from someone else in the Amazon? Juan then all but confirmed this thought as he provided, “Yeah brother, I feel like a hunted animal out here. They’ve already killed nearly all my men, and have taken almost all my money.”
It was this last bit of information that tipped Mason off to the fact that he most likely wasn’t talking about law enforcement. Because even as corrupt as Bolivian police could be, the days of them wholesale robbing drug dealers of their drug money were mostly a thing of the past.
Whoever was after this group of drug banditos was most likely another gang of drug runners. Now this was interesting.
The men then heard a third man calling from inside, “Hey hombres! Get in here!” The two then dutifully went back inside the house and shut the door behind them.
Once they were in the clear Mason then grabbed his ear piece and asked Kyle on the comm link, “Hey Kyle buddy, did you get all that?”
Kyle came on the line loud and clear, declaring, “Affirmative.”
Kyle then added, “Both the visual input from your optical glasses as well as your commlink made me a veritable eyewitness to the scene.”
This was the first Mason realized that Kyle was able to look through the very lens he looked out of, as he muttered, “Shit—you see everything I see?”
Kyle although intimidated by Mason, couldn’t resist the opportunity to tease him, as he quipped, “Yeah man—and boy, do I ever see how you look at Raina!”
This was followed by Raina shouting into the comm link, “Hey Kyle! I know you get bored manning the control center all by yourself, but just try to keep your mind out of the gutter okay?”
Sounding startled at Raina’s rebuttal, Kyle stuttered, “I’m not alone—Chris is here…” Before completely buckling under the pressure and backpedaling, “Sorry guys… Just a joke—just a joke.”
Mason growled, “Enough jokes. Let’s get serious here.”
A now much more subdued Kyle responded, “Yes sir.”
Mason then thought to ask, “Is Chris listening in too?”
Chris Bradley was indeed present at the command post in
