Page 46 of Operation: Silent Angel
Garcia counted down on the fingers of his left hand, his right still aiming his weapon straight at the door. Three, two, one. He raised his right leg and thrust it at the door. The door exploded inward. At that moment, Mac dropped to a knee in front of the now-open doorway. Inside, a man held a gun to one girl’s head, his left arm wrapped around her chest. To the left and the right of him, Mac saw three other girls.
Mac squeezed off one round, striking the man in the center of his forehead before the boat hit a wave and lurched right. Thank God that movement hadn’t struck a second earlier! Mac was aware of the screams of the girls. They jerked away from the man, who had collapsed onto the bunk, and they clustered in the corner of the small bunkroom.
“One Tango neutralized,” Garcia transmitted.
“It’s okay, we’re here to rescue you,” Mac said.
“Estamos aquí para rescatarte,” Garcia translated his message to Spanish, unaware that Mac spoke fluent Spanish.
“Bella Sanguino?” Mac asked. All the girls resembled each other, same hair color and length, same complexion and eye color. And they were all about the same age.
None of the girls admitted to being Bella.
“We’re friends of your Uncle Raphael,” Mac said.
“Somos amigos de tu tío Rafael Moreno,” Garcia again translated.
One of the girls made eye contact with Garcia, and the expression on her face was hopeful.
“Bella, estás a salvo,” Garcia said, telling her she was safe.
She went to him and embraced him. The other three girls joined in the group hug.
“We’ve recovered Bella and three more girls,” Mac transmitted as he turned back to the passageway to be sure it was still clear. Mother had just descended the stairs. He pointed to the last door on the aft wall. “Engine compartment is the last that needs tobe checked. We’ve got Bella and three other girls in here.” He pointed to the room he stood in the doorway of.
Mother nodded. Then his Sig P226 9mm led the way towards the doorway of the last room that needed to be searched. Mac followed. Mother dropped to a knee in front of the door, gripping his weapon in both hands, ready to fire. “Open it,” he told Mac.
Mac flattened his back to the left of the door and reached his hand over. He quietly turned the knob and threw the door wide. Mother rushed into the room, going right to view the area behind the door. Mac entered behind him, going left. They swept the entire compartment, which was indeed the engine room. No one was there.
The entire boat was secure.
The three men led the girls up to the living room area of the boat, where they had them sit on the plush couch. Mother got them water bottles from the galley. “Tienes hambre?” Mother asked them if they were hungry.
They all shook their heads.
“Hay alguien herido?” Mother then asked them if they were hurt. No one looked injured, just traumatized.
They shook their heads again .
“Te llevaremos con tu tío,” Garcia told Bella and the other girls that they’d take her to her uncle.
Bella told the other girls that her uncle would take care of them all and get the others home. A feeling of satisfaction filled Mac. They’d saved these girls, four fewer girls whose lives would be ruined by Ruiz.
Now they had to get back to the resort, finish interrogating Ruiz, and bring the rest of the network down.
Lima
By the time the three boats made it back to the marina, they had formulated a plan. The marina was as vacant as they’d left it, given the hour of night it was. The marina hosted mostly fishing vessels, pleasure craft, and catamarans that offered day cruises and snorkel packages over to Isla Mujeres.
After docking the three vessels, Mac called Moreno. “We’ve got her,” he said when Moreno answered. “And three other girls around her age.”
“Is she okay?” Moreno asked hesitantly.
“Appears to be,” Mac answered. “They are all traumatized, but I don’t think they’ve been hurt or violated. Though I’m not sure they would have confessed it to us if they had been. That might be a conversation for Christy to have with them.”
“Yes, agreed,” Moreno said. “Should we come to you?”
“No, we’ll pick you up. The DEA agents we’re working with have a room at a kid-friendly hotel nearby. They’ll give that room to you and the girls so you can arrange to return the other girls home. You’ll handle that for us, won’t you?”
