Page 48 of Running Scared
“Okay, then,” Dean said.“We should have a complete division.No civilians in this part of the compound.Marcus and I break the Russians out, making a hell of a ruckusin Russian,and then we get those boys to a Jeep.Then, while they’re standing on it and distracting the rest of the compound, Bird, you’ll have our exfil prepped and the C-4 ready to blow.We’ll spend the night shift out and about getting the lay of the land—maybe dropping some C-4 nodules if we’ve got time—and then catch eight hours here.It’s not used a lot, is it, Bird?”
Birdie indicated no with a jerk of the chin.“Did you spot the dust on the file cabinet?”
“Yes, and the drawers are empty.I could tell.No, this place doesn’t get many visitors.”Dean let out a puff of breath.“Which is good news.Between the club chair and the couch and one person sitting on guard at the table, we might get some sleep.It’sglacialin here.”
“Glorious,” Marcus mumbled.Dean smiled at him wearily as Marcus’s chin touched his chest.
“Well, maybe you and Marcus can rest here for an hour or two,” he said to Birdie.“I’m going to take a cruise around the compound and see if I can’t get some uniforms while nobody’s at the commissary.”
Birdie’s plans had indicated barracks and a commissary—much like any military organization anywhere.Well, why not?So much of South America had been destabilized by American CIA interests in the eighties and nineties that building up a dependable government had taken sweat, blood, and lives.The cartels had filled in the vacuum—and often offered a stability that the governments at the time hadn’t.Unfortunately their brutal origins bred brutality, and the now-thriving government of Mexico was having a hell of a time fighting what amounted to small fascist regimes in the middle of their country.
It was a mess.Dean, for all the numbers that fell behind his IQ, couldn’t untangle it.All he knew was that he didn’t like it when people got hurt.Trafficked people.People who fell susceptible to drugs.People hurt in violent crimes.He and Marcus had long since started to work on the least violent options to help people not involved in the cartels just live their damned lives—and that included Bailey.
The fact that he wanted to see Bailey again, longed to spend some time with Bailey in peace—or making love, which wasnotpeaceful—made this the most important mission Dean and Marcus had ever attempted.
It was absolutely imperative that Bailey be allowed to live his life in peace after this, whether or not that peace included Dean.
With this in mind, he scouted the complex and found the laundry and the closed commissary.Quietly, he let himself into the commissary and stole three of the requisite uniforms—green khaki, ribbed tanks, red kerchiefs, and hats.It was a simple getup, without stars and bars, and Dean thought part of the reason a uniform was required was to delineate people in the military part of the compound from people in the civilian part.
He was pretty sure that when cartel personnel were sent off campus to do business, they dressed in civilian clothes, the better to sneak into people’s lives and homes and perpetrate mayhem.
He changed into one set of the uniforms and grabbed two AK’s from the armory, also located in the commissary.He thought about giving one to Birdie but thought Birdie would be better off with a service revolver.The AK’s had a massive pushback that the revolver didn’t.Birdie was probably strong enough to wield one, but Birdie’s real strength relied on stealth.
Besides—carrying one buddy’s extra weapon over his shoulder while strapped with a personal revolver was one thing, but carrying two was ridiculous.
He returned to the staff room well and truly exhausted and more than ready to catch his nap, slipping in a mere breath before a claxon blared over speakers placed all over the compound, probably to indicate changing of the shift.
“Jesus,” Marcus blurted, sitting bolt upright from the couch.“Bird, you couldn’t have warned us?”
“Didn’t know!”Birdie snapped, scrambling to stand by the comfy chair that had served as a sleeper.“Holy shit!How long were you gone?”
“Couple hours,” Dean said, yawning.“Brought you guys presents.Next person who sneaks out needs to bring food.”
“I slept all day under the fucking truck,” Birdie muttered.“Had cold packs most of the time.Comfy as a kitten.”
“I’ll do it,” Marcus volunteered, standing and starting to strip.He used the small sink and the faucet to dampen his tank and wipe his pits down as he did so, because he’d always been meticulous.“I’m starving.”
Dean yawned and nodded as he stripped off his overshirt and used it to cover himself when he took Marcus’s place on the couch.“Same,” he said.
“Yeah, you get some sleep.”Marcus chuckled.“Knowing where to find the dining hall will be essential for what we’re doing tonight.”
Dean grunted and closed his eyes, as safe here as he’d been under the parachute in the desert but admittedly more comfortable.“Plan later,” he muttered.“Bird, water’s in the plane.”
“Will do, boss,” Birdie told him, and that’s all he had to remember for a few.
Restless Hearts Sleep Alone
“BAILEY, SON,”his father said in a pained voice.“Do you really think you want to spend your time helping?”
To his credit, Connor Dodge didn’t put any emphasis onhelping,although yesterday’s repeated accidents in the mother-in-law cottage had proved that Bailey was anythingbuthelp.
“Fine,” Bailey muttered, gazing at the two spilled buckets of nails and screws in dismay.He couldswearhe was a competent adult when he was in the hospital, but something about working side by side with his own father….
“Son,” Connor said, his voice set onextrakind, “why don’t you go relax?Spend some time reading by the pool?I know you don’t get a lot of chances for vacation, but why not make this one?”
Bailey stared at his father like he’d sprouted another head.A burst of sheer frustration drove him to his feet, and he stalked out of the mother-in-law cottage snarling, “Fine!I’ll sit and be useless, and you can go ahead and rebuild the Taj Mahal!”
Behind him he heard his father sounding dismayed and Dean’s father soothing him.Yeah, well, Bailey got the feeling Ed Royal was used to calming volatile tempers.
