“They didn’t tell you who we were to kill?” Ricardo asked, surprised.
Miguel shook his head. “Only that Luis and his team already had them pinned down.” He snorted in derision and bounced to his feet. “Call Raul and have him send us the target information.”
Eduardo scooped his phone from the bed and began to dial. He spoke in hushed tones as Miguel paced in the small room. He snapped his fingers then covered the phone. “They are in the park. A cabin.”
Miguel’s lips pursed as he fought the urge to curse. “That place is huge. We need more than that.”
Eduardo nodded as he spoke. “Check your phone.”
Miguel fished his phone from his pocket and unlocked it. He saw the email notification and clicked on it. Photographs and short Bio’s scrolled across his screen. “These are from government files?”
Eduardo covered the phone. “Raul said they are from the NSA.” He hiked his brows as he listened and turned away from Miguel. “But where in the park? It is a big place.”
Eduardo stared out of the hotel window at the tree covered mountains then nodded. “We will do our best, but you realize we are hunting a needle in the forest.”
“Haystack,” Miguel corrected. He sat down heavily on the bed and continued to scroll through the files. “There is a lot redacted here, but we have the main thing.” He held the phone up. “Pictures.”
“At least we’ll know who to shoot at,” Ricardo grumbled. “If we can find them.”
Eduardo hung up and tossed the phone back to the bed. “All Raul knows is that they were in a cabin in the park.”
Ricardo snatched the stack of brochures from the plastic stand next to the TV. He rifled through until he found a crude map of the park. “Look. They drew us a map and the cabins are all here.” He tossed the folded paper to Miguel.
He scanned the map and shrugged slowly. “Then I guess we drive by each one and hope that they show their faces.”
Eduardo scooped up the burner phones and dropped them into his leather duffel. “We have to try something. It’s better than facing el jefe empty handed.”
Miguel sighed as he pushed off the bed. “Failure is failure to him.” He ran his finger under his chin in a cutting motion. “Luis and his crew knew better than to return with the job undone.”
Ricardo snatched his bag from the bed and reached for the door. “Then we make sure we get the job done.”
15
Southeastern Oklahoma
“That’s where you plan to attack?” Laughlin asked, his eyes wide. “You have a death wish?”
Bridger stood over the table and squared his shoulders. “That’s where they are. I thought about sending them an invitation to a gunfight but somehow I don’t think they’d accept.”
“This place is a fucking fortress.” Laughlin fell back into the chair and barely noticed his pilot going through the pre-flight checklist. “You need to stop thinking with your heart and start using your damned head again, Bridger.” He pushed the satellite images and the topographical map to the side.
Bobby glared at the man. “Come again?”
“You’re so hellbent on revenge that you aren’t thinking.” Laughlin sighed heavily as he swiped his hand across his face. “Do you even have a clue the layout inside those walls?”
“Fuck the layout,” Mauk muttered. “You get us ordnance and we flatten the whole mountain. We’re back home in time for breakfast.”
Laughlin shook his head and glanced to Lisa, hoping for somebody to agree with him. “You okay with this plan?” He pushed away from the table and came to his feet. “You ready to never see your family again?”
“What are you proposing, Laughlin?” Vasquez asked, crossing her arms and glaring at the man.
“I’m proposing doing your homework.” He stared down at Bobby and slowly shook his head. “It’s one thing to fly over their fields and dump herbicides from the air, it’s another to kick in the door and think you actually have a shot at finding this ‘ghost’ without getting yourselves killed.”
Bridger crossed his arms over his chest and narrowed his gaze. “Get to the point.”
Laughlin eyed each of them. “You need a trainer. We get as close of a mockup as we can get of this location and…train.”
“Train?” Lisa asked as she continued to glare at him. “What’s to keep them from pulling up stakes and taking off to the next villa?”
Laughlin shrugged. “They won’t.” He raised a brow at her. “As it sits now, they’ve sent two teams after you. If you were them, wouldn’t you expect an attack? Wouldn’t you be fortifying your position and preparing for a team to come knocking?”
Bobby slowly shook his head. “I hate to say it, but he’s right.” He eyed each of them carefully. “You want to defend a place you already know.”
Mauk cleared his throat. “And who’s to say they don’t have another place that is more defendable? A better place? One that they’re holed up in already?”
Bobby came to his feet. “Then we wouldn’t know where that place is anyway. We’d be standing at the airport with our dicks in our hand wondering where the fuck they went.”
Lisa groaned as she fell into the chair. “And I don’t know about you, but my dick is too damned big to risk having it shot off by these assholes.” She turned and shot Laughlin another hateful glare. “So what are you suggesting?”
“Train.” He stepped around Mauk’s long legs stretched across the aisle and reached for the wet bar. As he poured himself a drink he thought aloud. “I still have some pull. I might be able to get the layout to the villa. Possibly.” He turned and took a sip of the amber liquid. “I still have some friends at SOCOM. They could have us a mockup built in a matter of hours once we get them the layout.” He tossed back the drink and winced slightly. “So, what do you say? Do you want to actually prepare for this
