Chapter 493: Variables and Hope

Matt directly handcuffed the two terrified bodyguards to the door of the Suburban using plastic ties and left them a threat in Spanish, "This is a greeting from the Matamoros cartel."

Then, two pickup trucks took a hostage each and sped away.

Three minutes later, Jack finished gathering his equipment and came downstairs. Wearing a black mask, he joined Matt and the others. What he saw was a little girl blindfolded and wearing noise-canceling headphones. Carlos Reyes in the other vehicle was likely receiving the same treatment.

"It's all yours," Matt whispered.

Jack nodded and, just as he was about to get in the car, remembered something. He pulled out a bottle of cheap perfume he'd prepared earlier and sprayed it on himself and the others. 

They were playing the role of robbers, and they would need to appear in an official capacity later. It was important to pay attention to such small details. Unlike the tough guys, little girls are more perceptive.

Jack and Michael got into the car and sat next to the girl. The vehicle continued moving while Matt and Alessandro went to the second vehicle to guard Carlos Reyes.

Midway, with the help of a local CIA contact, the two pickup trucks were swapped for two inconspicuous Nissan SUVs, which headed toward a small airport. A Gulfstream jet was waiting there with its engines already running.

Two hours later, the Gulfstream landed at Corpus Christi Air Force Base. The return trip went smoothly, and thankfully, there were no further surprises.

"So, what's the next step?" Jack asked, turning to Matt, who looked like he had a toothache as Carlos and his daughter were loaded into two separate sedans.

The original plan was to lure out the enemy, but now they had accidentally captured the snake. With the Reyes cartel leaderless, they could easily disintegrate at any moment. How were they supposed to follow the plan and provoke a life-or-death conflict with the Matamoros cartel now?

"Our intel gathering was flawed, and someone will be held accountable for that. We definitely can't release Carlos now. We'll need to reassess the feasibility of the plan."

Before Matt could finish, a young sergeant walked up and interrupted him, "Sir, your operations center is in Building 5. Would you like me to take you there?"

"I know the way," Matt replied, shaking his head. He then put an arm around Alessandro's shoulders. "Sorry, I can't hand over Carlos just yet. He's probably going to be sent to Guantanamo."

Alessandro forced a smile. "Just make sure someone looks out for him later. I don't mind how I get my revenge."

Matt gave him a pat on the shoulder, visibly relieved. "Keep an eye on the girl. She might still be useful."

Alessandro gave a slow nod, his gaze dark and brooding, before getting into the car.

As the two sedans drove off in different directions, Matt took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, a smile returning to his face.

"Let's see how the Reyes cartel reacts, then we'll figure out how to adjust the plan."

The group got into a military Humvee and headed to Building 5, the operations center the sergeant had mentioned earlier. This center was much more professional compared to the makeshift setup in the small hall back in El Paso.

Inside, a dozen military technicians were busy at their computers. A large video wall covered an entire two-person-high wall.

Jane, who had been waiting there, handed out burgers to everyone and gave Jack a concerned look. It was clear she'd learned about the Dallas attack involving him in the past few days.

Jack took the burger and, to reassure her, rolled up his sleeve and showed her his uninjured arm.

Matt stood in front of the screen, staring at it for a full ten minutes. Just when everyone thought he was about to share some profound insight, he turned and loudly asked, "Can someone explain what I'm looking at?"

One of the military technicians sitting next to him pointed to the top left corner of the split screen. "This is a 1:10,000 scale map of Mexico."

"Yeah, I never saw one of those in school. My teacher always used a globe," Matt said, squinting at the technician with a death stare.

"Uh…" The technician realized his earlier comment was pointless and quickly used a laser pointer to highlight a few key locations on the screen.

"Here's the route you took during the operation. This is a nearby residential house, where the girl lived. It's currently surrounded by gang members."

"What's the Mexican police's response?" Jack asked.

"Local police, state police, and federal police are all on the scene," the technician replied, pulling up images one by one.

"We checked the mansion earlier—there's no other family there, just some staff and caretakers for the girl."

"A minor with a 30-room mansion? I wish I were a girl," Michael said, enviously, as he followed behind them.

"Can you trace calls made to or from that house?" Matt asked.

"We can, but we can't listen in on the conversations. These bastards are now using phones made in Ceris, like the North Koreans."

Matt didn't seem too concerned. "Hold on, pull up satellite images of the scene."

The central screen switched to a bird's-eye view of the street where the attack had occurred. A bunch of police cars had surrounded the area.

The image was so clear that you could see every letter painted on the roofs of the police cars. If not for the angle, it would have been easy to make out the faces of the people there. Between the overturned Suburban and the second vehicle, four bodies, already covered with black cloths, were lying on the ground.

"Did you kill everyone at the scene?" Jane asked, turning to Jack.

Jack was equally confused. He had watched the entire incident through his sniper scope and had heard Matt deliberately threaten the bodyguards in Spanish.

The first vehicle was blown over, and even if the people inside were severely injured, how had the two bodyguards tied to the door of the second vehicle ended up under black cloths?

"Rewind. Let's see what happened after we left," Matt said, his face turning serious as he crossed his arms and started issuing orders.

The technician rewound the satellite footage and fast-forwarded bit by bit. The two bodyguards tied to the door were still alive at that point.

As the footage continued, a local police car appeared on the scene, and a Mexican police officer got out and approached one of the bodyguards.

While there was no sound from the satellite, the body language indicated that the officer spoke briefly with the bound bodyguard. Then the officer walked a few steps away, took out his phone, and made a call.

The call lasted no more than thirty seconds. Then, the officer holstered his phone, turned around, and shot both bodyguards in the head.

"That's him. Lock on to him and trace all the numbers he's called. Forget about the house for now," Matt ordered, pointing at the man.

The operations center immediately went into overdrive. Matt and Jack exchanged glances, both seeing the excitement in each other's eyes.

It looked like an act of revenge and silencing, but this behavior indicated that the Reyes cartel hadn't completely fallen apart after losing their leader. Someone was still giving orders, which meant their plan might still be salvageable.

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