Fate´s Redemption Chapter 2

They put Cyrus King, his bodyguards, and the men Pin had captured inside one of the warehouses into the limo. They had to put some of them in the trunk. Just before leaving the Warehouse district, Pin thought about what happened during the operation. She was angry with Charlie for breaking radio silence.

Breaking radio silence was a flagrant breach of security. If the authorities were monitoring their frequency, he could have given away their position. The police could have figured out where they were and come. Even worse, had the police come, they might have had to shoot their way out. She decided to take care of Charlie on the spot. She walked over to him and with the friendliest of smiles, she said, "Charlie, what mean radio silence?"

Before he could answer, she slapped him with the back of her hand. Charlie's head snapped back and to the left. Her smile had distracted him just long enough to get the blow in. Then she kicked him in the groin. Charlie doubled over. He was trying to explain but Pin wouldn't have any explanations.

"What mean radio silence, Charlie?"

Then she continued the vicious beating. The other men watched in fear. They knew this was going to happen sooner or later. Pin was thorough and disciplined. They knew it was a gross breach of discipline to be talking in Jericho's ear just before they engaged the enemy. Pin kicked Charlie in the stomach; he screamed in pain. The more he tried to explain, the more she beat him mercilessly. With every blow she delivered, she screamed, "What mean radio silence?"

Charlie rolled on the ground groaning. He was barely conscious. Pin bent down and whispered in his ear, "Can you hear me, Charlie?"

"Yeah," he groaned.

"What mean radio silence?"

"No unnecessary chatter," Charlie said, in a voice riddled with pain.

Jericho didn't know what provoked her even though he'd heard Charlie talking on the radio. Victor was at a total loss for words. He had no idea what Charlie could have done to provoke such a beating. He knew she probably had a good reason, but what could it be, he thought. Both of them looked at her waiting on an explanation. Pin left Charlie on the ground and went over to Jericho and Victor. They all got into the limo. They always talked among themselves at times like these. It was necessary to discuss these things in private so the men would never see division among the leadership. There was always unity in front of the men, no matter what.

"Charlie weak link in operation."

"How?" Victor asked.

"He talk on radio during operation."

"I did call for radio silence," Jericho agreed with his wife. "And he was talkin' unnecessarily."

"Yeah, and he complains too goddamn much," Victor added. "Fuck it. That's what the hell he gets for breakin' the discipline. He knows the rules of engagement."

"Let's roll," Jericho said. "Have somebody drive Cyrus's limo outta here."

"Have Charlie drive limo," Pin quickly added.

Victor got out of the limo and gave the orders to Charlie and the rest of the men. Then he got back into the limo with Pin and Jericho. Cochise pulled off and the van followed. Charlie struggled to his feet and got into Cyrus's limo. The limo had gotten several blocks away from the Warehouse district when Jericho frowned.

"What's on yo' mind?" Victor asked. He could tell he was thinking about something and he sensed whatever it was, it was more than random thinking.

"What do you think Cyrus meant when he said something about us all dying tonight?"

"Yeah," Victor wondered also. "That's some strange shit to be sayin'. He must have meant somethin' by it."

Suddenly, they heard a big explosion. It shook the limousine violently. They knew instantly it was Cyrus's limo that exploded. Whipping their heads around, they could see what happened. Many of the warehouses had been completely leveled by the blast. Others were in a blaze.

Then it occurred to Jericho, Pin had said to have Charlie drive the limo. He looked at her and she was sitting there peacefully filing her nails like she knew all along what was going to happen. A wicked grin covered her face. Cochise pulled the limo over. Victor got out. He could smell the C-4 in the coolness of the night air. He got back into the limo.

"I can smell C-4."

"C-4?" Jericho repeated. "Where the hell would Cyrus get C-4?"

They all looked at each other questioningly for a couple of seconds. Then it came to them all at the same time.

"Hawthorne!" They said in unison.

"Yeah, but why would Hawthorne give him C-4?" Victor asked, as though he were thinking out loud.

"To regain control. That's why," Jericho deduced.

"No wonder Cyrus was being so bold," Victor continued. "He thought by gettin' rid of us, he'd have the Agency runnin' interference for him."

In Vietnamese, Pin said, "We should be concerning ourselves with how he even knew Hawthorne. And when was he approached by him?"

"Yeah. And why was it so important to meet at two in the morning?" Jericho answered in Vietnamese. "Victor, take the van back and make sure Charlie's dead. If he's just hurt, they might turn his ass."

Victor got out of the limo and into the van. The van turned around and sped back to the blast area. They could hear sirens blaring in the distance. Time was of the essence. They had only minutes to get back to the blast, check it out, and then get out of there before being seen by the police.

"Give me your radio," Jericho told Pin.

"Nighthawk, this is Raven, are you monitoring?"

"Raven, this is Nighthawk, that's affirmative. I say again, this is Nighthawk, I am monitoring."

"Start the engines, Nighthawk. We're comin' in hot."

"Roger, Raven. Starting engines now. What's your E.T.A.?"

"E.T.A., twenty minutes."

"Roger, Raven. Nighthawk understands twenty minutes. Out."

"Break, Break," Jericho continued. "Condor, Condor, this is Raven."

Victor answered, "Raven this is Condor. Go ahead."

"What's the status of the situation?"

"There's nothing left."

"Roger, will meet you at the rendezvous point in twenty minutes."

"Roger, understand twenty minutes."

Jericho looked at Pin and said in Vietnamese, "We gotta figure this out. What was the plan here? What could Hawthorne get out of this?"

"Do you think he had access to a satellite?"

"Maybe. That way he has whoever comes outta this thing in one piece."

"Yeah, but did the satellite pick up everything?"

"I don't know, but we'll find out soon enough. Even if they did, it would be inadmissible in court. The CIA isn't supposed to be runnin' domestic operations. Besides, they're probably trying to get control of things; especially since the President issued a new war on drugs policy. The President's putting pressure on to stop the drugs from coming into the country. They have to make it look like they're making an effort without getting themselves indicted. Cyrus would have been easier to control so they could continue financing their dirty little wars."

"That means we've become expendable. Maybe even a liability to the Agency. This is dangerous for us. We need to get some Intel fast."

"I doubt we're expendable now that Cyrus is dead. They still need a liaison to sell weapons for them. That is their most profitable way to finance dictatorships and justify developing state of the art weaponry. They don't want to willingly give that up."

"I agree," Pin told him. "By getting rid of the wild card, we've made ourselves viable because we can deliver. The Agency knows this. That'll buy us some time."

"Yeah, it will. But we better start making some moves of our own and secure our own future. They might try this shit again. We'll make plans when we get back to the Renegade."

The limo pulled into the airport and headed out to the runway. The van came in about two minutes later. They boarded the Nighthawk and took off for the Caymans.

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