Mason then informed him, “Alright, tell Chris I’m going to plant his gift he gave me.”
An outside listener might think Mason was talking about flowers, or perhaps planting a tree in the rainforest. But such pleasantries were far from Mason’s mind, the gift he referred to was something that Chris Bradley, the team’s explosive expert had given him shortly before leaving. It wasn’t any kind of shrubbery Mason wished to install—he planned to plant a bomb.
Kyle remembering as much, remarked, “Oh yeah—the plastic explosives he made.” Kyle then offered, “I already saw what you did with that grenade Mason—that sniper installation no longer exists--nice work.”
Mason replied, “Yeah but I can’t just level the place—the plastic bombs are a much lower grade explosive, aren’t they?”
Kyle answered, “Yeah—they are small and direct, creating just minor explosions to very specific targeted areas.” Kyle then added, “You have three of them so I would suggest placing one on the back and sides of the house. That should drive the bogeys out without immediately killing them.”
‘Just what we need—more prisoners.’ Mason couldn’t help but think to himself.
Looking over to their current charge, Nelson, he shook his head in disgust. If things continued as they were, pretty soon they would have a whole caravan tramping through the rainforest.
Nevertheless, he was determined to go forward with the plan. He handed both Benton and Raina each a plastic explosive, before declaring on the comm link, “Alright we’re about to move in.”
Just as Mason was preparing his team to make a break for it however, Marshal Oliver’s voice cut through the transmission and squawked, “Wait! Wait! They got kids in there Mason! Don’t be stupid! Do not plant the explosives yet! I repeat—don’t plant the bombs!”
Mason cursed, “Damn—what? Kids?” Marshal then readily informed him, “Yes, I just got intel that kids were taken from a nearby village and are being used as hostages.”
Mason feeling sickened and enraged, glared at Nelson and barked, “What the hell man?! Why didn’t you tell us there were kids in there?”
Nelson seeming to be honestly taken aback, protested, “Hey man—I didn’t know. I swear.”
Not having time to argue, Mason grunted, “Alright—whatever.”
Mason then roughly grabbed Nelson by the wrist and told him, “Come over here a second.”
Startled, Nelson protested, “Wait—where are you taking me?”
As Raina and Benton looked on, Mason pulled Nelson up to a nearby tree and finding a sturdy branch slapped a pair of handcuffs to it. As Nelson groaned in a mixture of pain and despair, Mason raised Nelson’s arms over his head and locked the other end of the cuffs hanging from the tree around the cuffs on Nelson’s wrist.
Seeing the sorry sight of their captive practically dangling from a tree branch, Raina questioned, “Is that really necessary?”
Growing weary of Raina questioning and critiquing his every move, Mason was beginning to really wonder if it was the closeness between them that elicited such a response. Before she would take to his instruction like water, but now she seemed like she wanted to make everything into a diplomatic debate.
He didn’t have time for the discussion however, as he insisted, “Yes, it is. He ran away last time. Pretty soon we’re going to have our hands full. And when push comes to shove, we won’t have the luxury to play nurse maid. In the meantime, he’ll remain safe and secure right where he is.”
Brian Nelson had another idea though, and slightly struggling against the thick branch he was chained to, interjected, “Hey! What if you guys get killed or captured?! What happens to me then? Who’s gonna come get me? I’ll just be left here to rot?!”
A faint smile crossed Mason’s face as he advised the man, “Well then Brian—you damn sure better hope we’re successful.”
Mason then spoke into the comm link for everyone to hear, “Okay folks—before everything goes completely FUBAR up in here, we are going to have to have a slight change of plans here.”
He took a breath and directed, “We are just going to have to rescue the kids first and then take out the baddies after that!”
Raina smirked as she thought to herself, ‘Really? Baddies? Just who are you Mason? An Adam West version of Batman?’
Nevertheless, she admired him all the same. It was truly an inspiration to witness his selfless service and sacrifice. And the fact that he was just a little bit flip in referring to armed drug runners as “baddies” only showed just how tremendously brave and confident he was in the role he was about to play.
It wasn’t a confidence that stemmed from hubris, but rather one that was borne out of several years of worth of successful missions under his belt. Mason knew what to do—and he did it well. It was as simply as that. And furthermore, Raina knew full well that he was more than willing to go the extra mile in order to make sure that the lives of the innocent were protected. In that sense he really was a superhero.
Raina never knew anyone quite like Mason. And despite their frequent disagreements, Raina could never be upset with him for long. No matter what happened—she knew that deep down his heart was in the right place. With a fiery fierceness forged in the heat of battle, yet a deep-seated compassion hidden within—he was one of a kind.
Raina quietly relished these thoughts of her man—even as Mason was hurriedly directing the group to a side door of the compound. They bolted out of their rainforest cover, and keeping a low profile to the ground, raced to the side of the building.
Kneeling down, Mason put an ear right to the door. He couldn’t hear a sound. Looking at the door jam, Mason’s eyes then caught sight of a metal latch secured with a heavy padlock. Mason of course knew that this lock wasn’t to keep people out—it was to keep people in.
Mason motioned
