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“My wife is ill. We are here for cancer treatments. We’re from Chicago. We need to go because she has appointments here at the clinic.”
Brady carefully whispered, “We got two more.” He heard a faint, ‘Roger that.’ He continued,
“Somebody get the drone footage to Charlie please and somebody else take a picture of this?”
Fredo piped up. “I got you. It’s on its way.”
Another gentleman and his two sons also came forward. “I think this is outrageous how we’ve been treated here. You have no right to detain us. I happen to have connections in Washington DC. We’re here on holiday, but you’ve got us stuck here in this terminal. How long are we going to be held, and why are we being held?”
One of his teenage sons added, “We’re supposed to be out there fishing, man. Just what the fuck’s going on?”
His father calmed him down and asked him to be quiet.
Another woman and her father also stepped forward. “I have an appointment with the American Consulate. I was supposed to fly to Mexico City, but you have shut down the airport. I demand to be put on a plane and released immediately, or I will have the authorities in Mexico City investigate this. I see no reason for this delay. And you have guards and trucks. This is starting to look like a military operation. We have done nothing wrong. We are just innocent people traveling.”
Her father added his two cents, “You can’t hold people against their will. You have elderly, you have babies, and you have pregnant women. You have no right to do this.”
Slicing through the room like a speedboat on a lake, a gentleman with medals covering half his chest sashayed and made a beeline for the guard.
The guard was immediately berated. He was asked to leave the room, and the gentleman identified himself as Colonel Gonzalez. He bowed to the women and gave a rather cagey grin. “I am at your service. You will not be harmed. I will see to it that you are taken care of immediately.” His English was flawless, but enough of the rest of the room could understand that, instead of calming the room down, it had the opposite effect. A tug of war started in one of the corners and spread like a cannonball throughout the entire place. Brady heard comments from several team members about Americans they identified. Brady also gave instructions to get the drones focused on the windows so that the entire skirmish inside could be recorded and sent to Charlie.
“Somebody please send a message that this is getting out of control. If we get our weapons out, there’s no guarantee that everyone will make it out alive. Something else has to be done. And it has to be done quickly.”
John messaged him back saying he was relaying the blow-by-blow to Charlie. Someone else suggested that Maggie climb in one of the carts so that they could take her out of the area and scurry her through the tunnel to the waiting van.
Brady had a problem with this. “That’s not what I promised.”
The colonel overheard some of his conversation and frowned, pointing his finger at Brady’s chest.
“I hear you are also an American. What is your purpose here?”
“This is my sister, who has come to visit. I am married to a Mexican woman. I am here working temporarily, and I came to see my sister. I would like your permission for me to take her to my home.”
The colonel leaned back on his heels, inhaled, and wanted to do something that he didn’t have the guts to do, Brady noted. Without so many eyes and witnesses, Brady was sure he would have gotten a beating.
“You have papers, señor?”
Brady thought hard before he ventured his answer. Very slowly, he took out his wallet and presented the colonel with his official gold State Department seal and pass. It was admittedly the only get-out-of-jail-free card anyone in the room had. But it had the full weight of the US Government behind it, and that was the strongest thing he could do without resorting to violence.
He leaned toward the colonel as he grabbed his badge back from the colonel’s bony fingers. “I am here to assist you with whatever it is you require. I understand you have had an assassination and things are becoming unstable in a hurry. Let me help you. I can have supplies delivered, I can provide vehicles, and I can reward those who are friends of the United States. As a matter of fact, you have a very important role here.”
“And what is that, señor?” the colonel asked skeptically.
“You can be the savior of all of these United States citizens in this room. You can be the one responsible for their freedom. Your Uncle Sam would be most grateful, and I can see to it that you are adequately compensated to your liking.”
Brady didn’t smile. He didn’t show an ounce of weakness, staring directly into the man’s eyes. He knew in his heart that if this guy wanted to fuck with him and wouldn’t allow the safe passage of the American citizens in the room, his next action was going to be to put a bullet through the guy’s skull.
That was going to, of course, end everything.
The colonel looked at his shoes, scanned the crowd of people standing in a circle waiting for him to make a decision, and then he focused again on Brady.
“And what is my guarantee?”
“Brady, tell him you’ll arrange a phone call with the President of the United States,” Armando said in his comm.
That tickled Brady. He didn’t know if it was the right thing or not. But he had to go for it.
“My sister is the most important woman in my world. I will see to it that you are flown to Washington DC, and I will make sure that you are given a medal by the President of the United States. Mexico needs friends right now, and the United States needs Mexican citizens, especially citizens with experience such as yourself, as allies on our side. Just think of the possibilities.”
If Brady was right, the colonel would take the medal and the meeting. If the colonel was stupid, it wasn’t going to work and some people were going to die this afternoon. Brady honestly didn’t know which way it was going to go.
A small smile, crooked and a little bit to the left, separated the colonel’s lips. He was a man not used to smiling. But he smiled at Brady.
“Señor, I will have that sit-down with your president. I believe we have much to discuss. I accept your invitation.”
