Although he looked like a meek, bookish doctor or lawyer, Reyes had personally ordered the deaths of over a hundred people. The Colombian government sentenced him in absentia for the killings of seven police officers, four judges, two congressmen, two presidential aides, and one minister of culture.
The Americans wanted Reyes just as badly as the Colombians, and the FBI and the DEA have been working to that end for the past year. The State Department offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his arrest, and INTERPOL placed him on its red list of international criminals.
Three months ago came a major breakthrough in the manhunt. A high level penetration agent, codenamed Canastilla, run by Colombia’s National Intelligence Agency, produced a telephone number he claimed belonged to one of Emilio Reyes’ satellite phones.
One of the National Security Agency’s Magnum communications/signals intelligence satellites took over from there, and monitored all calls received and made by this phone. The first intercepted call provided a confirmed voice match of Reyes. By monitoring his phone, the American and Colombian agencies were then able to track Reyes’ movements.
But Reyes never stayed in one location very long. He constantly travelled between Colombia, Ecuador, and Venezuela and never stuck to a consistent routine or pattern. If the Colombians launched a strike to capture or kill him, they risked arriving on target too late, after Reyes had already left, and alerting the FARC leader to the fact that the government had a highly placed agent in his organization and that his personal communications were compromised. He’d go to ground and disappear.
Three days ago, Reyes placed a call to the Venezuelan president in which he announced his impending return to the Venezuelan camp to meet with an officer of SEBIN, Venezuela’s Servicio Bolivariano de Inteligencia Nacional, or Bolivarian National Intelligence Service.
This was the first time the Colombian government possessed advance knowledge of Reyes’ travel itinerary. President Santos authorized Operation Phoenix, a cross border military action by the Colombian Special Forces Brigade.
Commonly referred to lanceros, or lancers, in reference to the Colombian army’s intensive School of Lanceros jungle insurgency training facility at Tolemaida, the Special Forces Brigade is the elite of a military already recognized and respected as one of the most professional and physically demanding in the world. These troops are trained specially in counterinsurgency. They’d deployed to Afghanistan to battle the Taliban, to return the favor to their American and British allies who had helped them against FARC and the cartels over the decades.
Now the Americans and Colombians in the ops room at Palanquero anxiously awaited the satellite burst transmission from their man on the ground that would announce the arrival of Emilio Reyes at the camp.
Before his deployment, Avery met with Captain Felix Aguilar and his squad leaders, so that they’d recognize him and not accidently shoot him during the assault. Avery trusted the competence and professionalism of the Colombians, but he also knew that once the shooting started, shit happened. Fortunately one of the squad leaders, a senior NCO named Jon Castillo, remembered Avery from when he trained alongside 75th Rangers back in the day.
It was 14:23 Wednesday.
The intelligence indicated that Emilio Reyes was due to arrive this afternoon, and so far it looked like his visit wasn’t going to be cancelled. There’d been increased activity at the camp and patrols in the surrounding jungle since first light.
Avery hoped Reyes wasn’t delayed or called the thing off. It didn’t matter to Avery whether the Colombians waxed their target or not, but he didn’t want to stay here any longer than necessary. He’d also much rather be picked up by helicopter and fly out with Aguilar’s troops than hike all the way back across the border.
If Reyes didn’t show, then Avery was to wait until midnight and turn on the SATCOM to receive the word from the Palanquero ops room that would either tell him to stay in place or exfil. This was based on the assumption that the only way Operation Phoenix would not take place was if either Avery never reported the arrival of Reyes or if the signals intelligence people heard Reyes announce a change of plans.
Very close by, leaves rustled. A twig snapped.
Avery tensed. He’d grown familiar with the natural sounds of the jungle and knew man-made sounds when he heard them.
His instincts were proven correct when he heard Spanish speaking voices grow slowly louder. One of the patrols was coming back, approaching from somewhere behind Avery’s hide site.
Avery drew a sharp intake of breath and held it. Every muscle in his body tensed and froze. His rifle, machete, and Cold Steel combat knife were all within quick reach, but wouldn’t do him any good. If someone stumbled upon his hide now, was right on top of him, it was unrealistic to think he’d get into a firing position and take his targets down before they got him. And to move now and be ready for such an eventuality was too much movement and would definitely compromise him. Besides, if he did fire, he’d be dead anyway. Even though his M4 was suppressed, the weapon was far from soundless. The muffled shot still travelled, but at a reduced radius, and the troops in the camp might still hear the shots.
The voices grew farther apart as the patrol dispersed, and Avery soon saw two FARC soldiers spread apart and descend the hill, returning to the camp. They moved slowly. Their eyes scanned the jungle for irregularities, any shape or color that didn’t belong. One of them turned around, twenty feet away. He panned from left to right, and for a split second was looking directly at Avery without seeing him, then his eyes looked elsewhere and he continued walking.
A new party of travelers arrived on foot later at 15:37.
They emerged from the jungle, dressed in camouflage fatigues and carrying rucksacks bulging at the seams. Two guerillas toting M16 rifles led the group, with another pair bringing up the rear. In the middle of the pack, there were two more men. One of them was taller than the others, slender and older. The man beside him was shorter, but heavier, with significantly more muscle packed around his frame. Avery, looking through his scope, wasn’t offered a good view of their faces.
Without stopping the newcomers, the guards opened the gates and allowed them into the camp. Before entering, the tall and lanky man turned his head around to speak to the gunmen in back, finally offering Avery a clear view of his long and angular face. He recognized the face immediately, having studied dozens of pictures of Emilio Reyes during pre-mission preparation.
Avery shifted his scope onto the younger man and identified him as Aarón Moreno, Reyes’ lethal and personal killer. Reyes had ordered the killings of numerous people, but he never got his hands dirty. That was Moreno’s job, and, by all accounts, Moreno enjoyed his work.
The camp commandant greeted Reyes and Moreno, and ushered them into his hut.
Making imperceptibly slow, deliberate movements, Avery unpacked the miniature satellite radio and a collapsible antenna sixteen inches in diameter. He switched on the satellite radio, then unfolded the antenna, plugged it into the radio, and carefully positioned it in the proper direction and angle. He pressed a button on the radio’s panel, and softly but clearly said “Hide One for Eagle Control. Echo Romeo on-site. Repeat Echo Romeo on-site. You are clear to launch.” He hit another button, and, in less than half a minute, the encrypted message was compressed and, in the form of a one second long burst transmission that was undetectable and impossible to intercept, was bounced off an orbiting satellite and relayed to the Phoenix op center at Palanquero Air Base.