“Affirm. Nonlethal force unless absolutely necessary. Estefan, coordinate with Harv. I’ll sit tight with the girl.”
“I’m parking behind the church right now.”
Harv said, “Estefan, bring G3’s assault rifle with you. How long?”
“Two mikes.”
“Standing by. Two mikes.”
Raven made a flawless approach to Macanas’s compound in southern Jinotega. He set the Bell 429 down on the concrete pad, throttled down to idle, and watched his men jog over from the small hangar. Ducking low, they climbed into the passenger compartment. The ship could carry seven passengers, but he wanted only five men, including himself, for tonight’s operation.
Thirty seconds after touching down, he lifted off and flew a course of 18 degrees toward Santavilla.
Fortunately, Macanas spent the majority of his time at his mansion in Managua, and that’s where he was right now. Raven didn’t plan to tell his boss the Tobias situation had escalated. Antonia said she’d thought Estefan had killed his men. She hadn’t said it with certainty, though. Either way, he intended to end this unfortunate chain of events tonight and bury Estefan Delgado.
Harv’s ear speaker came to life with Estefan’s voice. “I’m ready to go.”
“Head north along the main road, and let me know when you have the lumber trucks in sight. Can you duplicate that same whistle Franco’s men used?”
“Absolutely, it’s not difficult.”
“Practice a few times, but not loudly. The digital pattern on your combat uniform is slightly different from what Franco’s men wear, but the darkness works in our favor.”
“What do you think spooked the guy at the gas station?”
“It’s hard to say, but it was probably my size. I’m not as big as Nathan, but none of Franco’s men are over six feet. It could have been my body language. These guys know each other well. They’ve been living in the barracks together. Here’s what we’re gonna do to avoid what happened before.” Harv laid out his plan. “Nate?”
“I think it’s solid. Look, we don’t have a book of rules in play here. I’d like to avoid more killing, but if the sentry makes an aggressive move, you drop him, Harv. Clear?”
“Copy that. I think if we play this just right, it should work.”
“I’ll let you know when I have the trucks in sight,” Estefan said.
“You’ll be able to see them once you’re past the ore-processing plant. They’ll be on your right at two o’clock — you can’t miss them. The sentry is on the east side of the parking area, sitting in the backhoe’s seat. He’ll be able to see and hear you as soon as you’re past the processing plant.”
Guillermo was bored to tears. What a total waste of time. Jaime and the others were probably laying their girlfriends while he sat in this lousy backhoe and watched a sleeping town. Someone had fired a gun — big deal. Franco’s paranoia went beyond ridiculous — the guy saw demons around every corner. Guillermo tossed his cigarette butt and fired up another. At least it wasn’t raining. He was about to climb down and stretch his legs when he caught movement to his left and focused on the spot. It looked like someone was slowly walking up the road using a cane.
He leapt from the backhoe and hurried over to a lumber truck, taking cover behind it. What idiot would be walking down the road in the middle of the night?
Ducking slightly, Guillermo eased down the length of the truck’s flatbed for a better look. When he reached the cab, he heard the familiar whistle Franco had taught them.
Harv keyed his radio. “He’s on the move, Estefan.”
Estefan had untucked the front of his shirt to conceal the radio clipped to his belt. Feigning a stomach wound, he bent at the waist and used the deception to respond. “I’m ready.”
“He’s coming around the truck nearest to you. You’ll have a clear view of him in five seconds.”
Estefan clicked his radio and used the assault rifle as a crutch to take another labored step. He knew the darkness prevented the sentry from seeing any real detail.
Weakly, he issued the whistle again.
The sentry called out, “Jaime? Is that you?”
Estefan dropped the rifle and fell to his hands and knees.
“What’s wrong with you?”
Completing the act, Estefan collapsed to his left shoulder.
The guy cursed, slung his rifle over his shoulder, and ran out from between the trucks.
Harv couldn’t have played it better himself. Estefan’s act was totally believable.
The sentry ran over to Estefan and bent down.
In return, Estefan swept his foot and took the man to the ground.
Harv abandoned all stealth and sprinted across the gravel.
The two men were locked in a wrestling contest when Harv arrived. The sentry had a grip on Estefan’s throat and drove his knee at Estefan’s crotch, but Estefan closed his legs in time to avoid what would’ve been a crippling blow.
Estefan elbowed the guy in the nose and seized the guy’s groin. The man howled under the sudden compression but didn’t let go of Estefan’s neck.
Screw this, Harv thought, and he pistol-whipped the sentry on the side of the head hard enough to draw blood.
The guy reacted by thrusting his foot at Harv’s knee. The pistonlike move nearly caught him off guard. Had he not taken the weight off his leg in time, the blow would’ve sprained the joint. Fortunately, the force of the kick harmlessly swung his leg around. Harv recovered his balance and kicked the guy in the ribs. Amazingly, Estefan’s throat remained connected to the guy’s hand. Drawing on a hiss for strength, the guy tried desperately to twist away from Estefan’s grip on his testicles.
Harv admired the sentry’s toughness, but enough was enough. He clocked the guy again, producing a dropped-melon sound. That sounded bad, he thought and hoped he hadn’t swung too hard. He didn’t want the man unconscious, only stunned.
The sentry grunted before going limp.
Estefan coughed and spit blood. He shoved the guy aside and half laughed. “Damn, Harv, it’s a good thing you got here when you did, I might’ve killed the SOB. How’s my lip?”
“Not bad. Your teeth okay?”
Estefan tongued his mouth. “I think so. The asshole nailed me with an elbow on the way down. Shit, he was fast.”
“I saw that. Do you have any concussion symptoms?”
“No, it just stings.”
“Don’t worry. You did okay.”
“Let’s just say I was glad to see you… And leave it at that.”
“Deal. Let’s get him out of the road. Grab an arm. I’ll get his rifle.”
They dragged him over to the trucks and sat him up against a tire.
Harv updated Nathan via radio. “We took the sentry down without shooting him.”
“Can he answer questions?”
“Barely.”
“Do whatever’s necessary to obtain information you can use to secure the office and barracks… in short order.”
Harv caught Nate’s unspoken meaning. “Understood.”
Their prisoner didn’t want to cooperate at first, but two dislocated fingers convinced him otherwise. According to the sentry, there weren’t any other men outside. The barracks was empty, but there were two more men in the office. One of them was a white shirt, in command of the men in Santavilla. The other was an accountant, a bean counter who wouldn’t offer any real resistance.