Raiden glared at his patient as he pulled out his med kit. “Nic, go get—”
It wasn’t a great surprise to anyone but Nic when Max dropped Kane’s backpack next to Raiden. “Kane said to grab what you need out of his kit.”
Raiden’s expression didn’t change as he began rifling through Kane’s rucksack. “Asher, cut his pants from the bottom to his knee, let’s see what we have.”
“I think he’s trying to give birth.” Asher cut a slit in Leo’s pants, then moved out of the way so Raiden could inspect the damage.
“Well, it isn’t a big bruise, so that’s something,” he said as he gently prodded Leo’s knee. “I’d say it’s a burst bursa. How painful?” he asked as he examined Leo’s face.
“Nothing I can’t handle,” Leo said confidently.
“You’re so full of shit,” Raiden said as he twisted the cold pack to activate it. He handed that and the stretch bandaging to Asher. “Apply it.”
“Serves you right for taking your belt off early,” Asher said as he carefully bandaged up his friend.
“It does,” Leo agreed. His voice was tight.
Raiden leaned down, holding water and some pills. “Drink all the water with the pills,” he commanded.
“Only the anti-inflammatories,” Leo said.
“You’ll take the ones for pain, too.”
“Don’t need it,” Leo protested.
“You’ll slow us down if you don’t take it,” Asher said. “We’ll watch over you and make sure you don’t trip on your third ball.”
“I don’t—”
Asher pushed his index finger into Leo’s inflamed knee. Leo hissed.
“Jesus, God! Fine. Fine. I’ll take the pills. I’ll take the help.”
“Are we going to have to set up a hospital ward here in the jungle?” Cullen asked as he walked over.
“Not for me,” Asher said wryly.
“Put that compress back on your head,” Raiden ordered. Asher grimaced and did so. He watched as the rest of the team gathered around. Kane sat down on the log next to Leo, giving his knee a surreptitious glance.
It always amazed Asher how Raiden didn’t roll his eyes at Kane’s tendency to double-check everything. As if he could read his mind, Raiden looked up at Asher and sighed. “He can’t help it, he’s just wired that way. God help A.J. when they have kids, she’s going to have to slap him upside the head a couple of times.”
“Nah, she loves me too much,” Kane said confidently.
Everybody laughed. It felt good.
Too bad it couldn’t last.
Chapter 2
“Things have changed in Caracas, and not for the better,” Kane started the briefing. “The security force that was hired to babysit the coalition failed to get the group to the empty American embassy as planned.”
“Why not? I thought they were just transporting them from the Venezuelan Central Bank?” Ezio frowned. “That was only ten kilometers at most. Who stopped them? Do they know if it was Maduro?”
Somebody has been doing their homework.
Max cleared his throat. Ezio rubbed the back of his neck. “Sorry, McNamara,” he said to Kane. “Not my place. If I have any questions after you’re done with the briefing, I’ll ask.”
Somebody also knows when they’re out of line. Asher liked it. This was Ezio’s first mission with Night Storm. He was normally second-in-command on his own team, so he was used to questioning everything. But it was nice he knew when to take a backseat. It was nice to know that there was good sense under those pretty-boy good looks.
Kane began again. “Nobody knows. Not US Intelligence or any of our alliance intelligence agencies. It’s a crapshoot if it’s Venezuelan-backed Special Action Forces or those fuckers out of Columbia that waylaid the group.”
“That security team totally fucked up when they went to the American Embassy a day early to get it ready for the coalition’s arrival,” Kane continued. “Hell, nobody’s occupied the place for a year, and having them trying to get it habitable all of a sudden was a dead giveaway. So that definitely tipped their hand that something was going on.”
“Or there could have been a mole.” Raiden threw down the leaf he’d been twirling between his fingers.
“Supposedly, nobody from the Venezuelan government knew about the coalition.”
“I call bullshit,” Asher said.
“I raise your bullshit, with a load of buffalo turds,” Cullen said disgustedly. “There isn’t a fucking chance in hell that the CEO of the USForce Bank setting foot on Venezuelan soil escaped the notice of either Maduro, or for that matter President-elect Guaido. Who signed off on this operation?”
“This wasn’t a government-sanctioned trip. It was a humanitarian effort from the international community,” Kane reminded everybody. “This group has been working together in Geneva for the last month, trying to find a way to fix the Venezuelan economy. You know this country is in turmoil. There’s been a mass exodus due to starvation, disease, and crime. It’s a humanitarian crisis and both Maduro and Guaido want it to stay that way until one of them is declared the winner of the contested election so they can magically fix things and take credit for it. Then they’ll declare themselves a national hero.”
“That might not be true,” Asher disagreed. “The way I’m hearing it, Guaido is on the up-and-up.”
“Kane is a cynical bastard. He always believes the worst until he’s proved wrong.” Max reminded everyone. “What we do know for sure is that Maduro is bleeding his country dry.”
“How many Venezuelans have died because of that asshole?” Cullen asked bitterly. “It’s almost government-sanctioned genocide.”
After everything Cullen had seen in one of their last missions in Africa and being engaged to a woman who worked for Doctors Without Borders, the man was incredibly attuned to the atrocities that happened around the world. Despite his easy-go-lucky demeanor, he truly wanted to save the world. Time to change
