Dylan leaned close to the screen, Jones and Segal doing the same. In the grainy shadows of the open doorway, he could just make out that bastard shoving Sister María. In the next image, she was flat on the concrete.
But Segal couldn’t let it go. “Why didn’t the other guards try to stop her?”
“Venezuela is a predominantly Catholic nation,” Shields said. “These men might be uncomfortable treating a nun as a captive.”
Dylan could understand that. “Yeah, man, nobody wants to mess with a nun.”
Tower’s voice came over the speakers. “There’s more to it than that, but, yes, that’s essentially it. She’s been in communication with the Reverend Mother at the convent in Peru. Her captors allowed her to write a letter. Sánchez’s men have made her their go-between. She’s taking care of the hostages, and they’ve given her a little more freedom of movement. In this case, she crossed the line.”
Dylan met Segal’s gaze. “Satisfied?”
Segal waved off Dylan’s question. “Sure.”
Shields appeared again. “So far, I’ve counted fifteen different men. I’ll keep analyzing the photos as you send them and see if that changes.”
With a full Cobra team of six, they could take fifteen guys with no problem.
“In the meantime, we need everything you can get us about the layout of the warehouse,” Tower said. “I need to know every way in and out of the building.”
“Want us to knock on the door and ask for a tour?” Jones joked.
“That wouldn’t be my first choice.” Tower didn’t even grin.
Dylan had to bite back his own smile. “On it, boss. We’ll set up our black-market stand today, let them get used to seeing us in the neighborhood, try to scope the place out, maybe get a game offútbolgoing.”
Tower acknowledged that with a single nod of the head. “The images you captured last night show a low level of light coming from the basement, probably from a battery-operated lantern of some kind. It’s likely the hostages are there. We don’t want to risk killing them with stray rounds, and we don’t want these fuckers killing them when we start breaking down doors. Remember Sar-e Pol.”
Sar-e Pol was a textbook example of a hostage rescue gone to hell. US special forces had moved in on an ISIS position where three Americans and one German were being held hostage. They hadn’t known that a guard was positioned near the hostages with instructions to blow them all sky high in case of a rescue attempt. The moment US operators moved in, the guard had clacked off an S-vest, killing himself, two operators, and all of the hostages.
Of course, this wasn’t Afghanistan, and these fuckers sure as hell weren’t ISIS.
Tower glanced at his watch. “Unless something comes up, our next check-in is at seventeen-hundred hours. Thanks.”
The screen went dark. The meeting was over.
* * *
Gabriela metPitón’s gaze without wavering. “What do you want Ms. Connelly to do—bleed through her clothes? Do you want to send her home in blood-stained trousers? What about when my time comes? Is this what you’d want for your mother or sister?”
Dianne had brought this up last night, and Gabriela had seen an opportunity to get outside once again. She’d had intensive HUMINT training—human intelligence—and couldn’t imagine Pitón or any of these men wanting to ask on the streets about feminine hygiene products. If she could persuade them to let her do it…
Pitón shifted uncomfortably, clearly not at ease with this topic. “I don’t know about such things. Tell her to use toilet paper.”
“You told me we didn’t have much toilet paper. She could go through most of a roll in a single day. After a week—”
“Topo!” Pitón gestured for Topo to join them. “We need some … things for the women prisoners. I need you to go and find …”
Was it so hard to say?
“Tampons or pads,” Gabriela finished for him.
Topo stared at Pitón in horror. “You want me to ask on the street about … those things?¡Mierda!”
“I’m not going to do it.” Pitón reached in his pocket, drew out US dollars. “You go—and don’t spend too much.”
Topo stepped back, shook his head. “I can’t—”
“Mary, Mother of God, give me patience!” Gabriela saw her chance. Maybe this time, someone on the street would recognize her. “If you twobravemen are so afraid of pads and tampons, then take me with you, and I’ll do it.”