Page 26 of Pax

He did a half-circle, seeing Moose kneeling down and talking to a group of children. They were shaking their heads vehemently, obviously not telling him a damn thing. As they ran away, Moose stood to his massive height, looking across the street at the men and shaking his head.

“Someone has to be willing to speak with us,” said Conor. “No one wants to see innocent people, children dying when their only crime is searching for a better life.”

“They’ve all died just inside international waters,” said Pax. “I wonder if that’s intentional. I mean, they could have just as easily killed them off the coast of Mexico as the coast of San Diego.”

“That’s a good point,” frowned Saint. “I think we need to keep trying to find someone who will speak with us. There has to be someone willing. If not, we know what we need to do.”

They all stared at him, frowning, and nodded.

“Someone needs to escape Mexico.”

“Admiral Denisha is in charge of the SEAL base,” said Aaron. “He’s got steel balls, hard as fuck commander, but he’s fair and hates that he can’t go after whoever is doing this. I won’t go in with you, but he was glad to speak with you.”

“Thanks, brother,” said Bogey.

Aaron knocked on the door, and they heard a loud, gruff voice behind the door that sounded vaguely like ‘what the fuck do you want.’ The two men raised their brows and stepped inside.

“Admiral Denisha?”

“Yep. Benji Pechkin and Bogey Humphreys, right?”

“That’s us. Thanks for seeing us,” said Benji.

“It’s an honor,” said Denisha. “Aaron tells me you guys are trying to figure out who the fuck is killing people off my base.”

“Well, not just the base, just in general,” smirked Bogey, “but, yes, sir. We’re struggling with this one. Why take their money and chain them to a boat and kill them? I mean, they could have killed them after taking their money. Why give them hope of freedom?”

“When you’re a sick fuck, you don’t really give a shit,” he growled, pointing to the two chairs. “As far as we can tell, there’s no specific delineation. Men, women, children, old, young, it doesn’t matter. He takes their money, tells them it’s safer to chain them to the boats, and somewhere between where he picks them up and where they’re left alone, the boat is sunk.”

“Always intentionally?” frowned Bogey.

“Yep. And always in a different way. Only one appeared sunk by hitting rocks off the island during a storm. The few survivors we’ve had have confirmed that they’re not all coming from Mexico. We’ve got Central Americans, mostly El Salvador and Guatemala, and a few were from Cartagena, Ecuador, and Colombia.”

“None of it makes sense,” repeated Bogey.

“Between you two and me? One of our survivors said that one of the men that took their money was American.”

“American? Why would Americans do this? The way our world is working right now, most Americans are up in arms about people crossing our borders. Those who aren’t are sympathetic and would help them. Why would someone do this, help them by taking their money, building up their hopes, and then kill them?”

“My opinion?” he asked Bogey and Benji. “I think whoever is doing this is eradicating as much of the race as they can.”

“Genocide?” asked Bogey.

“Maybe. There’s a fuck ton of population down there. They’re overcrowded, poverty is rampant, no jobs, no hope. We’re talking over three hundred million people just in Mexico and Central America. The median age is under thirty. We’re talking young people who have a lot of time left on this earth, with no jobs, no homes, and no prospects.”

“So, you think it’s some sort of ethnic cleansing?” asked Benji.

“I’m not sure what to think. Much like you guys, I’ve seen a lot of horrible shit in my day, but this might just take the cake. According to the boys in Washington, I can’t do shit to help, but if you were to ask me nicely, I’ll do whatever you need.”

“We don’t want to jeopardize you or your career,” said Bogey. “We want to find some answers to this, but we’ll have to do it under the radar.”

The admiral stood, shaking their hands.

“You know how to reach me if you need something. I don’t mind sticking my neck out for something worthwhile. Besides, it’s been bugging the shit out of me why they wouldn’t want us involved. I’d like to figure that out.” Benji and Bogey nodded. When they reached for the doorknob, Benji turned to him.

“Us too, brother. Us too.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

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