Meanwhile, the coast guard troops rounded up the crewmembers and directed them above deck and commanded them onto their knees with their hands behind their heads. They also did a head count, to make sure everyone was accounted for.
None of the crew was armed, and none verbally or physically challenged the boarders. Most of the crew was innocent merchantmen trying to make a living, either genuinely or willfully ignorant of any contraband aboard the ship, and they reacted to the boarding with surprise, terror, and confusion.
The subsequent search of La Orca yielded no missiles and no sign of the Viper, but over a ton of cocaine was discovered in specially designed, hidden smuggler’s compartments.
After the crew’s names were run through the Bunker’s databases for matches, two were identified as known La Empresa members and arrested.
When questioned, none of the crew reported ever seeing Arianna Moreno, but one of the Empresa men acknowledged having been in contact with Sean Nolan. He also revealed to his interrogators one other interesting piece of information that explained La Empresa’s sophisticated ambush of the DEA and National Police forces in Buenaventura that day.
In statements made to the media later that day by American and Colombian officials, the DEA operation in Buenaventura and the seizure of La Orca were publicized as counter-narcotics interdictions, and no mention was made of the Viper, Sean Nolan, missiles, or terrorism.
Immediately upon arrival at the Coast Guard Command’s Buenaventura station, an unconscious Sean Nolan was placed on a gurney and transferred to the military treatment facility’s infirmary, where he was treated alongside the DEA agents who risked life and limb to bring him out.
US Navy hospital corpsmen performed emergency surgery to reconnect or close Nolan’s damaged blood vessels, and remove the bullet fragments. Nolan spent the remainder of the day in an isolated room in the intensive care unit, under armed guard by Colombian marines. He was pumped full of morphine, connected to IVs, and given a blood transfusion. By night, his condition was stabilized, but he would still require additional surgeries to repair the scapula, and, with his spheroidal joint shattered, he’d probably never regain full use of his arm.
Nolan spent a day heavily sedated and disorientated, and Daniel had so far acquiesced to the doctors’ insistence that Nolan wasn’t yet well enough to be questioned. Daniel had no concern for Nolan’s well being, but he was pragmatic enough to understand that there was no point in interrogating him when he was doped out of his mind and mostly incoherent during his brief periods of consciousness.
But Nolan was awake now and had grown increasingly responsive over the morning hours, starting to ask questions and make demands of medical staff. He was still fatigued and confused, his judgment clouded, defenses lowered, and Daniel had ordered that they cut off the administration of morphine late the previous night. He wanted Nolan in painful discomfort, both to soften him up and, if necessary, to use as a bargaining chip
“I want to talk to him,” Avery said, growing impatient. He’d barely slept, and had spent much of the previous day recovering from the post combat high and adrenaline hangover, while faces of the dead continued to revisit him. He was determined to move forward now, deciding that maybe putting Moreno down would help the ghosts rest a little easier.
“Perhaps it would be best if my people handle this,” Daniel said, assessing Avery’s appearance. He had the look of a man who had been through a lot and was on the verge of losing control.
And Avery sensed Daniel’s reluctance and the reason for it.
“Look, I only want to talk to him. Give me a few minutes alone with him. Then your guys can do their stuff.”
Avery didn’t plan on getting physical or rough with Nolan, who knew a thing or two about interrogations — PIRA had been brutally efficient at rooting out informants within their ranks. Nolan had also done time in Long Kesh, the Northern Ireland prison where paramilitaries were detained. Neither MI5 nor the Royal Ulster Constabulary had been able to break him, and they’d had the better part of three years to try.
Besides, having witnessed firsthand what it took to get Cesar Rivero to talk, Avery didn’t doubt that Nolan shared Rivero’s loyalty to the Viper. Breaking that loyalty was the key to getting Nolan to betray the Viper.
Daniel relented, and an hour later Avery was alone with Nolan in his room. There were no cameras watching, no hidden mikes recording, and no one-way glass for outside observers. Daniel had even instructed Nolan’s marine guards to take a break.
Nolan wore a white hospital gown that was practically falling off him, and his hands were tied to the bed frame on either side of him, giving him no space to lift or move his arms. His wounded shoulder was likewise immobilized by a harness. Within reach, he had only a remote with a button to call for a nurse. He appeared pale, weak, and sickly from the blood loss and dehydration. Intravenous tubes were stuffed into his veins, while other equipment to which he was hooked up constantly chirped and beeped.
Nolan’s glazy eyes stayed on Avery as the unfamiliar American entered the room and stopped at the foot of his bed.
Seeing Nolan up close now, Avery’s hands clenched into fists, and he wanted to completely let loose on the Irishman, but he reminded himself that there was a job to do.
“Is this where you offer to turn my morphine back on if I answer your questions?”
Nolan was aware that his mind became increasingly lucid, and the pain abruptly and rapidly more acute, over the past couple hours, and his earlier request for more morphine was ignored. The pain was now borderline intolerable. He fought to keep his voice steady and not show weakness in front of his interrogator.
“No,” Avery said. “It’s simple. You’re going to answer my questions because you’re the type to hold a grudge. You’re not going to protect someone who sold you out. You’d rather fuck them over right back.”
Nolan’s brow furrowed. His mind was still in a haze, and he couldn’t quite make sense of what the American said. He responded simply, “Fuck off. I’m not telling you shit.”
“Why are you protecting her, Sean?”
“What the hell are you talking about?”
“You know goddamn well who I’m talking about. Look, it’s simple. If you’re not going to talk to me, then I have no use for you, and you’re just a piece of shit who got nine American and Colombian cops killed for no good reason, and that’s going to make it real hard for me to restrain myself. Maybe when I’m tired of beating the shit out of you, I’ll let the Black Eagles have a go at you. They don’t take kindly to foreigners coming here and siding up with their enemies.” Avery paused. “Moreno. Why are you protecting her?”
“I doubt you’d understand.”
“I think you’re the one that doesn’t understand. What the fuck do you think happened back there in Buenaventura? Look at yourself. Those aren’t our bullets that fucked you up.”
Avery saw some clarity resonate in Nolan’s eyes now.
“Those Empresa fucks weren’t there to ambush DEA agents, you stupid fuck, and it wasn’t a coincidence they had a small army on hand. They came for you, and they nearly succeeded.”
“What the fuck are you on about?” Nolan asked.
“Think about it. You really think we’d send a SWAT team to execute your arrest warrant? We had intelligence that the Empresa was sending a hit team to take you out. Phone intercepts matching Moreno’s voice. She wanted to silence you before we got to you. All of this was just corroborated by those Empresa captured aboard La Orca yesterday morning. We went in to save your fucking life.”