Page 3 of Cooper

“Yes. We are about to have a, what do you Americans say? Ah! A deluge.”

“Great, we’re all going to get wet,” he frowned.

“Yes and if we open the roof of the warehouse, so will the product. Blow the gate to the river and create holes in the roof. It will flood from up and down.”

“Fuck, she’s right. We can get on the roof, plant a few blocks of boom-boom and the whole thing will cave,” said the man.

Coop nodded. It could work and it would give the home team the opportunity to focus on the manufacturing site, the animals and the coliseum. Rodriguez was arrogant enough to think it was all just an accident caused by nature.

“You need to leave,” he said turning to Bianca.

“What? No! No, this is where I should be. I want to see him destroyed,” she whispered.

“He will be destroyed but we won’t risk your life in doing so. You need to be far from here when this happens or he’ll know you were involved.”

“But…” He gripped her arm, roughly pulling her away from the men. He wanted them to know he didn’t favor the woman and he wouldn’t risk their lives.

“No buts,” he said firmly. “I told you when you offered to help you would follow my orders or leave. Now, leave.” She stared up at him and shook her head.

“You’re like the rest. You get what you want and you throw a woman aside. I thought we were friends. I thought…”

“You thought what? I’m a United States Army Ranger doing my job, Bianca. That’s all.” He could see the flash of hurt and surprise in her face. The pain was emphasized in those doe-like eyes and it nearly made his exterior crack.

“Of course. My mistake,” she whispered. “Good luck, Cooper.”

He watched her walk away and everything in his gut told him that he should run after her, hold her and tell her that he was crazy about her. He was proud of her strength and spirit, her resilience in the face of all this evil. But he couldn’t, he just couldn’t.

Turning, he returned to his men who were all staring at him.

“What?”

“She cared for you, brother. You didn’t have to treat her like that,” said one of the men.

“She’s an informant. That’s all,” he said coldly.

“Coop, you can fool yourself man, but you’re not fooling us. You two have grown close.” He held up his hands as Coop started to speak and shook his head. “I’m not saying anything has happened between the two of you. You’d be in a better fucking mood if it had. I’m just saying she’s been valuable and faithful to us.”

“She’s an innocent and needed to leave.”

“So, you were worried about her?” said another man.

“Yes. No!” He frowned at them shaking his head. “We have a job to do. You three set the charges at the river. I’ll set the charges on the roof. You won’t see me, but I’ll be there.”

“Another family secret weapon?” smirked one of the men.

“Something like that.”

Two days ago…

“Sir? We’ve caught an intruder.”

“Bring him to me,” he frowned.

“Her, sir. It’s a her.”

Marco sat across from the woman, a towel now wrapped around her shoulders. Not because he cared whether she lived or died, but because he didn’t want his carpets to get wet.

“Why were you on my property?” he asked.