Page 66 of Javier

After a few additional clicks, King’s face showed up on the screen.

“Hey,” he said. “To avoid detection, I gotta make this quick. See the timer running at the bottom of your screen?”

“Got it.” I gave him a thumbs up. “Are we getting out today?”

“No, bro.” He seemed to sense my internal deflation. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine.” I concealed my impatience but only barely. “What’s the status on the nuns?”

“I’ve delivered them to the convent, but I gotta stick around.”

“Why?”

“I’ve detected suspicious patterns of surveillance around the place.”

My red flags went up. “You’ve got mercs on you?”

“Scouts, maybe.” King shrugged his wide shoulders. “The police are on alert, but I can’t leave the nuns at the convent without protection, and I can’t make a run your way if there’s a risk I could lead Snake and his mercs to you and Missy.”

I gave a curt nod. “Agree.”

“Omega’s set on no comms,” King reported. “We’re on radio silence protocol, but I managed to smuggle the evidence you got from the mercs to Mina. She processed it and came up with a few useful bits. She delivered her latest intel report using a video game we both play.”

“Smart lady.” Our spectacular cyber-wizard was Tracker Team’s top asset. “And?”

“I’ve got the dirt on your boy Snake,” King announced.

“At last, something interesting.” He had my undivided attention. “Go.”

“Real name, Wilbur Bekker,” King reported with his usual efficiency. “Born in South Africa. His IQ is impressive. Trained with the French Foreign Legion. He’s highly skilled and experienced. Did well, worked himself up the ranks until he got kicked out for massacring civilians.”

“Always the case with narcissist killers who pretend to be soldiers.” I eyed the countdown. “Keep rolling.”

“He worked for Bruckner for a while,” King said. “Remember the assholes?”

“How could I forget?” I rolled my eyes. “Brutal outfit.Genocidal mercenary group. Based out of Russia, but their field of action is the world. We’ve fought them several times before.”

“Yeah, those assholes,” King continued. “Bekker got all tattooed and shit when he worked for Bruckner. We think the Russians funneled him into the NWO. Our intel suggests he’s a new favorite of Li, who, as you well know, is the main agent for the NWO.”

“I remember Xao Li from our last mission.” The memory fueled the violence building inside me. “You got a solid connection?”

“Mina does,” King said. “She reversed engineered the financial ties from Bekker to Bruckner, to Li. Turns out that Li uses Bruckner to staff the NWO’s also brutal ranks.”

“It figures.” Mina always got her verifications right. “What else do we know about Li?”

“Not much,” K-man said. “No pics. Lots of security. Dagger’s on him. It’s possible he goes by several names. But I do have more on Bekker.”

“Tell me.”

“He’s obsessed with reptiles,” King said, fingering through the report on his screen.

“Yeah, no shit. He’s got them tattooed all over his body. Tell me something new.”

“Omega sent assets to sniff out the details on the ground,” King said. “Snake’s father, Bekker Senior, was a reptile catcher who amassed a large collection of venomous species in his house. Senior was a violent alcoholic. He wasn’t exactly father-of-the-year material, but he and his son shared a fascination for reptiles. He died when Junior turned eighteen.”

“How?”

“A massive python escaped its cage. Senior was found strangled to death in his bed and half eaten.”

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