Lost Voyage (17 page)

29

Vallejos was startled as an explosion ripped through the halls of his base of operations. The deafening sound made him jump from his chair and rush over to the large window overlooking the compound.

He was unable to pinpoint where the explosion had taken place, but was able to discern its general location from the direction his men were running in. Sensing this was the work of a certain adversary, he walked back over to his desk. Pulling out the top draw, he retrieved a revolver, and as he checked to make sure it still had all six rounds loaded, there was a second explosion. This one brought upon panic, as he could hear the compound being destroyed all around him.

Knowing Mercer would make an attempt to get to Hunt, he decided to use the one advantage he still had in order to keep the upper hand. Killing his prisoner now would put a damper on any heroics taking place.

He made his way out of the office and slowly crept down the hallway towards the staircase. Reaching the top of the stairs, he was astounded as he witnessed three of his men dropping before his eyes. Unable to see the person responsible for their deaths, he fell back a bit to remain hidden.

As he was about to take another look around the corner, a third explosion from outside echoed through the corridors of the building. This caused him to retract further and take solace in his office. Locking the door, he went to his chair and sat down while pointing his revolver in the direction of the entryway.

About ten minutes had passed, and with no signs of anyone attempting to make their way through the door, he decided this might be an opportune time to make an exit before someone came looking for him. Unlocking the door, he once again made his way down the hallway to the stairs. Seeing no opposition, he slowly made his way down to the lower level. There seemed to be no resistance preventing him from exiting the building unscathed, so he started towards the front door.

Seconds away from being in the outside air, he heard the door at the end of the hallway begin to open. He quickly took cover behind a desk that was propped up against the window and waited for whoever was on the other side of the door to emerge.

He was unable to tell exactly who it was at the end of the hall, but was relieved when he saw two men wearing soldiers’ uniforms. He had just gotten up from his hidden position and was about to call out to his men, when a third person exited through the doorway.

Something seemed out of place, so he decided to retreat once again in order to assess the situation. When the three men walked into an area of the hallway that provided more light, he suddenly went from being secure in the presence of his own men to an instant state of rage when he was able to see the faces of the two men wearing his uniforms.

***

Mercer and Vigil had taken the lead up the stairs as Hunt trailed closely behind. Vigil was still fidgeting with the clothes he was wearing. Mercer turned to look at him.

“Should we stop at the local tailor and get you properly fitted?”

“Next time we rob someone of their clothes, I’ll try and be a little more selective,” quipped Vigil. “At least your guy was a closer match to you. I can barely breathe in these pants.”

Hunt couldn’t resist the chance to take a revenge jab from earlier. “Cut back on the sweets, doughboy. That’ll help too.”

Mercer chuckled as Vigil tried to conceal the smile he didn’t want to outwardly reveal. But, his own sense of humor got the better of him and he was unable to contain it any longer, letting out his own laugh.

Mercer reached the top of the stairwell first. He knelt down near the door and waited for his comrades to join him just a few seconds later. Hunt took position at the door and gave his men a nod to let them know he was about to open it.

When the door opened, there was no activity in the hallway, giving them a momentary pause from the tense situation. Still on high alert, they began the journey down the hallway to the front entrance.

Before they could get far, a shot rang out, stopping them in their tracks. With no cover to be found in the hallway, natural instincts took over and Mercer began firing blindly in retaliation.

With cover fire being provided, Vigil and Hunt were able to make a dash back to the door and to a safe destination. Mercer also retreated while still firing down the hallway and, once back inside the stairwell, he made his statement simple and to the point.

“Whoever that is will most likely be calling for backup. I say we have about thirty seconds before the cavalry arrives.”

With a full understanding of the situation, the door was flung open and they began their assault down the hallway. They were met with a barrage of bullets as they exited the stairwell and were forced once again to take cover. This time, they were able to make it halfway down the corridor to a column protruding from the wall. Ducking behind it, Mercer fired blindly to push back the opposition. When the firing subsided from both sides, he heard a voice call out.

“There is nowhere for you to go, Mr. Mercer. You would be wise to lay down your weapons and surrender.”

He knew who the voice belonged to and responded in kind. “Is that my good friend Andres? Well, since you put it so politely, I guess I have no choice but to comply. I’ll be right there.”

Vigil looked up at him, smiling menacingly. “Well, let’s not keep him waiting.”

Mercer was the first to expose himself from behind the column. With no intention of surrendering, he pointed towards the end of the hall and fired five rounds. The final shot connected with the left bicep of Vallejos, making him wince in excruciating pain.

This caused him to retreat behind a wall for safety, giving Mercer a chance to move further down the corridor. Peering over his left shoulder, Vallejos could see him advancing and decided on making his own escape at this point.

He bolted towards the stairs and made it to the top without looking back. Continuing down the hallway, he barricaded himself in his office and looked for something to wrap around his arm to control the bleeding. Then, he positioned himself in the corner and waited to unload his revolver into the first person who came barreling through the door.

Mercer was surprised to find no sign of anyone once he reached the end of the hallway. “Pat, you and the Colonel head back to the Jeep. I’ll catch up with you once I take care of Vallejos. This ends here and now.”

Hunt intervened. “Sean, there’s no time to go searching for him. We need to take this opportunity to get ourselves out of here. You don’t know what’s waiting for you up there. Don’t risk it when we’re this close to finding the gold. You’ll have your chance with Vallejos, but now is not that time.”

Mercer looked up the stairs, pondering if he should heed the advice or just make a mad dash to the top to find the dictator and end his life. His better judgment prevailed and he gave in to Hunt’s words.

“Okay. You’re right.”

“You’ve got one more C4 charge,” stated Vigil. “Now seems like as good a time as any to use it. It would take the attention off the three guys trying to make an escape, don’t ya think?”

“Alright, but when I blow this, we move and we move fast. Colonel, stay on our six once we’re outdoors.”

Hunt nodded in acknowledgement as Mercer pulled out the detonator and pressed the trigger switch, setting off the final explosive. As expected, the remaining soldiers ran towards the direction of the blast like moths to a flame, giving the NESA team a chance to make a hasty exit. When it looked like it was all clear, they made their move. Once out in the open, Vigil pointed in the direction of the pickup truck he had taken cover behind earlier.

“Sean, over there. You and the Colonel hop in the back. I’ll take the wheel.”

Trusting his friend’s instincts, Mercer hopped into the bed of the pickup and Hunt followed suit. Vigil hopped in the front cab and much to his delight, he noticed the keys were already in the ignition.

“Well? What are you waiting for?” Mercer asked through the back window. “Put this thing in gear and let’s get the hell out of here!”

Needing no further encouragement, Vigil threw the truck into first gear and sped off. With all the surrounding chaos, none of the soldiers gave the man driving off the compound a second look, especially since he was wearing the same uniform they were.

30

Geovany Rojas was struggling to make his way through the thick brush, and the blistering temperature was doing even less to help the overweight man as he trekked to the location on the map. When he finally arrived, he nearly collapsed from exhaustion. He was under strict orders to wait for Vallejos to arrive and he welcomed the chance to recuperate from the hardened exercise regimen he had just endured.

He found a large rock to lean against and had dozed off lightly. He was shortly thereafter brought out of his slight slumber by the rustle of foliage nearby. Expecting it to be Vallejos, he stood up to greet his employer, but was instead confronted by Esperanza.

“Ah, Kervin. I was expecting Andres. Is he with you?”

“Sit back down and keep quiet. I’m the one in charge now. Tell the men to start digging and not to stop until they reach the gold.”

“Andres gave me very specific instructions…”

Esperanza became enraged. “Andres is not here! I am here! And if you value your life, fat man, then you will do as I say!”

Rojas sensed something was out of the ordinary with the demands Esperanza was making, but he decided not to question the giant brute. He told the men to begin the excavation and to carry on with the orders that were given.

As they began to dig, Esperanza stood over them as if he was the ruler of the land. The blatant pompousness gave Rojas an uneasy feeling in his stomach. With all eyes on the men digging, he decided to take a few steps back and out of earshot. Pulling a hand held radio out of his coat pocket, he turned it on and was just about to call for Vallejos on the other end. He would never get the chance to speak the words.

He looked down to see a machete protruding from his chest as he began to spit up blood, causing him to struggle with each gasp for breath. The blade was retracted through his backside and he summoned just enough strength to make the one hundred and eighty degree turn to see who had delivered the fatal blow.

Esperanza stood in front of him with a blank expression on his face. Rojas figured this was the same exact look many other souls had seen as their last sight before meeting their demise. Falling to his knees, he leaned forward and into the legs of his assailant.

Esperanza took the blood-drenched machete and wiped it on the back of Rojas’s jacket. With the same meaningless expression on his face, he kicked the lifeless body of the cartel’s consultant to the side and turned to walk back to the dig site. There was no remorse or guilt from the actions that had just taken place. The only thing he was thinking was that there was now one less distraction in his way.

***

The pickup truck made its way down the winding dirt road as Vigil maintained a constant speed on the way back to the airport. Hunt needed to get back to the NESA jet in order to procure the coordinates to the gold’s location. From there, they would bring the remainder of the team and begin the digging process.

Upon arriving at the airport, they were greeted by an unwelcome emptiness. The eerie silence left them thinking over every possible scenario, and while none of them wanted to think the worst, it was lingering in the forefront of their minds.

Vigil pulled the Jeep up under the nose of the jet. Mercer hopped over the side before it came to a full stop and was halfway up the stairs before his partner got out of the truck. Hunt exited the vehicle and joined his two operatives inside the fuselage, but the sight that confronted them was not what any of them expected to witness.

The pilot and copilot were hunched over with gunshot wounds in the back of their heads, and a third man was lying face down near the rear of the cabin. Vigil knelt down beside him to check for a pulse and with a simple shake of his head, confirmed he was dead as well.

Sadness came over the men as the full gravity of the situation was settling in. Hunt felt responsible for the deaths since he was the one who brought them down to Nicaragua. The despondency he felt quickly turned to hate and rage towards the man he knew to be responsible for the travesty.

Various instruments and computer equipment were thrown about the cabin and scattered around. Hunt walked over to the gravimeter display and discovered that all the documents pertaining to the location of the gold were missing.

“Well, boys,” he proclaimed, “It would seem someone else has already beaten us to the punch.”

Mercer became infuriated within and was ready to exact revenge for the murder of his comrades. He was just about to turn and walk towards the exit of the aircraft, when Hunt spoke again. There was a quiet rage in the tone of his voice this time.

“Sean, find Vallejos...then end his life.”

***

Vallejos was being tended to by a doctor while his mind raced. The wound wasn’t as bad as it initially seemed, but the pain was still unbearable at times. He took a swig from a bottle of rum as the doctor finished wrapping up his arm.

“That should take care of it for now,” he said. “Will there be anything else, sir?”

Taking another swig from the bottle in a feeble attempt to ease the pain, he stood up and walked over to the window.

“That will be all. If you see Esperanza on your way out, tell him to report to me at once.”

“Sir, Mr. Esperanza left some time ago. He hasn’t been back since.”

Vallejos turned and looked at the doctor with a puzzled look on his face. “What do you mean he left? When was this?”

“It was right before the explosions started. I don’t think anyone was with him.”

Vallejos dismissed the doctor and turned back to the window. His patience had been tested repeatedly by his head of security over the past few days, but he knew he would have to wait to deal that issue. There was still the pressing matter of millions of dollars’ worth of gold that was keeping his attention at the current point in time.

Unsure of what to think of the information just conveyed to him, he decided it would be best to go and meet Rojas at the site. Once the gold was uncovered and brought back to the compound, he would deal with other matters. He made his way downstairs, where he ordered one of his men to drive him to the site.

Once on their way, his mind began to wander about what he would be able to attain with the large mass of gold. He envisioned himself being an unstoppable force no one could touch, and was positive with that much money on his side, there was no way he could fail.

When they arrived at the trailhead of the site, he told the driver to grab his bag and they departed into the brush to rendezvous with Rojas. As he made his way by some of the other parked vehicles, he took notice of one in particular. It looked like every other truck in his outfit except for one small detail – this one had an insignia sticker on it, displaying it was the personal vehicle of his second in command, Esperanza.