Chapter 6

Chapter 5

2341 Word Update date:2022-04-15 12:52:37

“Hello sir,” the boy manning the store called out to Jason. “Can I help you?”

“No,” Jason answered, without even glancing at him.

“Um.. what exactly do you need?”

“An M110, three HFC glocks, a pretty big hunting knife, two burners, a type III Kevlar armored vest, a couple hand grenades and as much ammo as I can carry.”

The boy stared open-mouthed at Jason as he called out the items.

“Now,” Jason turned to him, "can you provide me with all of that or are you gonna inform your dad of the arrival of a special customer?”

“What special customer?”, demanded a gruff voice from behind Jason.

“Hello Morton,” Jason smiled, his back still turned to the man. “You've got a pretty smart kid here, but he still has a lot to learn about the things you sell.”

“Jake,” the man called to his son, “go to the outhouse and don't leave till I call for you.”

The boy obeyed, but stole glances at the strangely special customer as he walked away.

“What do you want?”

“You know what I want, Morton,” Jason replied, finally turning to face him. “You have changed much now, haven't you?”

“That's what happens when the FBI doesn't knock on your door. You get a chance to live in peace,” he spat back.

“I'm not here to arrest you, Morton.”

“Then what are you here for?”

“I just listed them to your kid.”

“I don't do such business anymore,” Morton quickly said, blinking rapidly.

“Yeah," Jason yawned. "Tell that to your kid, he'll surely believe you. You heard my needs. I need them today.”

“Keep dreaming. A week's the best I can manage.”

“You've got 3 hours max or the FBI will annex your place for use as an armory. Don't play games with me, Morton. Three hours. I'll take these.”

Jason exited the store with the burner phones he had taken. He had no doubt Morton that would provide him with all he needed. The man had a lot of connections, most of them underground of course since he was apparently living a double life. There was a time when all he did was weapons dealing, but an FBI raid led by Jason put a temporary end to his activities. Morton had not been the principal target, he was only in the wrong place at the wrong time. But he promised to mend his ways, so Jason let him go, even though he knew that the man would never change. He figured he might be of help someday and he wasn't wrong, was he?

Jason had totally made up his mind to rescue his daughter from Carlos' grip and there was no way he could do it without Morton's assistance. Of course, he knew the risk of depending on the weapons dealer for all he needed, that was why he stripped his car of all the guns in it before abandoning it. Until he would be ready to move on Alvarez's position, he'd have to use taxis and stick to densely populated areas.

Leaving Morton's area, Jason headed to a small bar where he knew there were no security cameras. He made sure to keep the main entrance in full focus, sitting near it, but as hidden away from it as possible. Anyone coming in would easily be spotted by him, but would have to know exactly where he was in order to find him. He ordered a drink and called Tony.

“What's the situation there, Tony?”

“Bad.. very bad,” his friend whispered. “We've just got a lead on the boy and I've been ordered to track your car.”

“Then track it.”

“Really?", Tony sounded surprised. "Well, that's comforting. So what are you up to?”

“I'll need your help to locate Carlos' hideout.”

“Right. I'm currently walking and chewing gum at the same time. I certainly can't add giving a campaign speech to that.”

“Are you gonna do it or not, Tony?”

“It's gonna take quite some time, but...”

“You've got less than 3 hours. Make it happen.”

“That's not gonna.. oh God, the boss's coming.. gotta go, gotta go.”

The line clicked off and Jason went back to his thoughts. He had wanted to ask Tony for the file on the Alvarezes, but he might be able to do without it. He could remember most of everything since he was undercover with them for close to a year, but he also knew there would be some important details in the file - details that he may have forgotten or deemed unimportant.

The Alvarez brothers, Carlos and Sergio, were US citizens who had gone off to South America as teenagers to join or start a drug cartel or both (no one knew which) and eventually crossed back into the US to continue their illicit business on a larger scale. They met with success at first by partnering with certain organized crime groups, but they were too extravagant to escape the notice of the authorities. The DEA and FBI decided to join forces to clear out the increasingly influential group. Jason, due to his connection and experience with South Americans (he was born there and his mother was Latin), was a unanimous choice to go undercover with the group since eligible DEA agents were occupied with other missions. He quickly rose through the ranks and was harvesting much needed intel, until things went south when the sensational ADIC led a premature raid on the Alvarezes. Jason was still undercover and had no prior knowledge of the raid.

Due to the lack of proper coordination and cohesion, the raid was almost a total failure. The elder Alvarez, Carlos, escaped with a small but significant number of his trusted men. The only win for Jason and the rest of the team was the arrest of the younger Alvarez, Sergio, and the limitation of the group's capacity. Somehow, it seemed the older Alvarez had found out about Jason's involvement and decided to kidnap his daughter and offer to release her in exchange for his brother. Jason cursed the day he met Landon, but he knew that apportioning blames, no matter how justified, would never help him out of the current predicament. So he turned his attention back again to the task at hand. He had to call Tony again, the assistant director must have left him by now.